Syerleena Abdul Rashid
Syerleena Abdul Rashid (born 1980) is a Malaysian politician and a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which forms part of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition. She is currently the elected State Assemblyman for Seri Delima in Penang. Syerleena had previously been appointed as a Councillor of the Penang Island City Council, serving for over three years between 2015 and 2018. In addition to her involvement in politics, Syerleena had been a columnist for The Malaysian Insider and contributed extensively in various online news portals. She was also formerly a member of Aliran, a local non -governmental organisation, as well as an anti-human trafficking movement. Political career. Syerleena joined the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in 2013, after being encouraged by her associate, Chris Lee Chun Kit. Both Syerleena and Chris were subsequently appointed as councillors of the Penang Island City Council, with Syerleena taking office in the local government in January 2015. On 26 April 2018, prior to the Penang state election that year, Syerleena stepped down as a Councillor of the Penang Island City Council and was selected to contest the state constituency of Seri Delima. She faced a three cornered tussle for the  constituency, and had to endure personal attacks and harassment by her opponents, especially Barisan Nasional (BN) far-rights from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). In spite of these, Syerleena prevailed in the election, winning by a margin of 13,211 votes. Syerleena continued to face harassment by Muslim extremists after the election. In July 2018, she received a death threat accompanied by two slanderous messages, accusing her of wanting to weaken Islamic institutions and make Christianity the country's official religion. DAP Penang. Syerleena formally joined DAP in 2013 and is currently the Assistant Publicity Secretary for DAP Penang and  a National Executive Committee Member for DAP Wanita (the national women’s wing of the party). Syerleena is one of the DAP leaders being sued for defamation by UUM lecturer, Kamarul Zaman Yusoff for a statement she had written in 2017 “Save yourself first and leave the rest of the nation alone” which was published by several online news portals. Awards and Recognition. YSEALI. In 2015, Syerleena was selected to participate in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, also known as YSEALI a highly-competitive cultural exchange program for Southeast Asian emerging leaders sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Education  and Cultural Affairs under the U.S Department of State. Under the Fall of 2015 cohort, Professional Fellowship Program, she spent 4 weeks with the Des Moines City Council, Iowa. ACYPL-US State Department Exchange Delegate. Syerleena was selected as a delegate for the American Council of Young Political Leaders Exchange Program in collaboration with the United States government's State Department and observed election rallies of presidential candidates including that of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders as well as observed a caucus in Iowa. Personal life. In February 2021, Syerleena married Tom Osborn, and is the guitarist and  song writer for local rock band, Priwayat that she formed with fellow DAP member, Zairil Khir Johari and guitarist for Post-Rock Pioneers of Malaysia, DDA, Shankar. Education. Syerleena was a Graphic Communication graduate from School of Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, but prior to that she had received her primary and secondary education from Convent Green Lane.