Abroad
Syed Saddiq hits back at Indonesian ex-minister's haze accusations, says he'll not shield polluters in M'sia
The Indonesian ex-trade minister accused Syed of using the haze to score political points and argued that Malaysian plantation companies should also be held accountable.
October 22, 2026, 05:44 PM
Cover via syedsaddiq, m.lutfi/Instagram, Reuters, Greenpeace Report
Malaysian MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has hit back at Indonesian former trade minister Muhammad Lutfi.
This was after Lutfi criticised the lawmaker’s call for stronger regional action against Indonesia over the haze.
In a video posted on Oct. 21, the Muar MP said companies proven to have started forest fires should face action, regardless of whether they are Malaysian, Indonesian or Singaporean.
“I will not shield polluters, even those from my own country,” he said in Malay.
His response came after Lutfi criticised his call for Indonesia to be treated as an “outcast” in ASEAN over the recurring transboundary haze.
Lutfi: Haze is not a stage for “cheap political theatre”
On Oct. 20, Lutfi uploaded an Instagram video alleging Syed called on ASEAN to treat Indonesia as an “outcast” over the haze.
His remarks came in response to Syed’s call in Malaysia parliament for ASEAN countries to exert diplomatic and financial pressure on Indonesia over the recurring haze.
In the caption accompanying his Instagram video, Lutfi wrote: “Wildfire smoke is a tragedy, not a stage for cheap political theatre.”
He claimed Malaysian plantation giants controlled up to 3.4 million hectares in Indonesia, with financing from Malaysian banks, while profits from downstream processing flowed to Kuala Lumpur.
Lutfi said corporations should be held accountable regardless of nationality, but objected to criticism directed at Indonesia as a whole:
“But never insult an entire nation that gave your industries the land and licences to thrive,” he wrote.
At the end of his video, he added: “If you don’t understand how this business works, don’t make my whole country a target.”
Syed's response
In a response video, Syed said he supported punishing Malaysian or Singaporean companies if evidence established their involvement in the fires.
However, he pointed out that the companies operating in Indonesia were subject to Indonesian law, saying: “The power is in your hands!”
Syed added that he had called for action against Malaysian companies involved in the fires in the same parliamentary sitting, and urged Lutfi to watch his full speech.
“Don’t cut my speech to the point that you cut out the truth,” he said.
Addressing Lutfi’s reference to Malaysian plantation group SD Guthrie, Syed argued that having large plantations did not itself prove wrongdoing.
He said there was no evidence so far that the company had started the fires.
Syed challenges Lutfi’s use of Greenpeace figures
Syed also challenged Lutfi’s interpretation of a Greenpeace report, accusing him of presenting only part of the picture.
He contrasted the 19 smoke-source points recorded in a concession linked to Malaysian plantation group Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) with the wider figure of 6,811 cited in the report.
“Do you want us to focus only on the contributor accounting for 0.3 per cent, rather than the other 99.7 per cent?” he asked. “Don’t speak out loudly against one name, then stay silent about the others.”
Greenpeace’s report recorded 6,811 smoke-source points across Indonesia between Aug. 8 and Oct. 1, 2026.
These are locations where smoke from forest and land fires was detected.
The 19 points recorded within a concession linked to KLK formed part of that total, accounting for approximately 0.3 per cent.
Infographic taken from the 2026 Greenpeace Indonesia Forest and Peatland Fire Facts Report
Call for unity
Syed said the issue was about people who wanted clean air standing against those polluting it.
In his accompanying caption, he wrote: “The profits go into companies’ accounts. The smoke goes into people’s lungs.”
He also stressed that children in both Malaysia and Indonesia were struggling to breathe.
“Our flags may be different, but our need to breathe is the same,” Syed said.
Lutfi's string of accusations
Lutfi’s remarks are part of a series of criticisms and allegations directed at Singapore and Malaysia, which he has accused of benefiting from businesses operating in Indonesia while leaving the country to bear the environmental costs.
In earlier Instagram videos addressing Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, he questioned whether Singapore would pursue influential business owners and corporate groups linked to the fires, rather than stop at issuing notices to companies in Indonesia.
Separately, Lutfi alleged, without providing evidence, that GIC and Temasek had pressured global index provider MSCI to threaten a downgrade of Indonesia’s stock market status, triggering panic so foreign investors could buy Indonesian assets cheaply.
Who is Mohammad Lutfi?
Lutfi served as trade minister under then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo from December 2020 to June 2022.
He left the post when Jokowi appointed Zulkifli Hasan as his replacement in a cabinet reshuffle on Jun. 15, 2022.
He had previously held the same portfolio from February to October 2014 under then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
In August 2023, Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office questioned Lutfi as a witness in a corruption investigation involving export approvals for crude palm oil and related products, including cooking oil, Antara reported.
The case concerned export approvals issued during a domestic cooking oil shortage in 2022.
According to Reuters, prosecutors alleged that permits had been issued to companies that had not fulfilled domestic supply requirements.
Antara reported in August 2023 that five people, including the Trade Ministry’s former director-general of foreign trade, had received prison sentences in the case.
