KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli said he may personally ask authorities to halt investigations into the syringe attack on his son if the case continues to show no meaningful progress more than six months after the incident.
The former economy minister said he would wait a little longer, but warned that he was prepared to write directly to the prime minister, the home minister and the police to propose that the case be classified as no further action, or NFA.
“If it becomes clear that the investigation is going nowhere, I will write to propose that it be stopped and NFA-ed,” he said, adding that there was no justification for wasting the time of police officers on the ground who were “only carrying out orders”.
Rafizi noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had earlier called for a swift and transparent investigation, but questioned the lack of visible progress more than six months on.
“If more than six months have passed and nothing has come out of it, it reflects badly on the prime minister,” he said, adding that he would rather volunteer to ask for the case to be closed than allow the matter to cause embarrassment.
The attack occurred in August 2025, when Rafizi’s 12-year-old son was jabbed with a syringe outside a shopping mall in Putrajaya. Rafizi later revealed that his wife received a threatening message warning her to remain silent or risk being infected with AIDS.
Rafizi said he had deliberately refrained from publicly pressing for updates on the investigation, choosing instead to place his trust in Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, whom he described as a long-time acquaintance.
He said updates were limited to media reports until Saifuddin requested a meeting, which took place in Parliament on Dec 1. During the meeting, the minister shared information on the direction and angles of the investigation, although the details could not be disclosed publicly.
Rafizi later submitted a parliamentary question to allow the minister to confirm the meeting and the sharing of information on the record. He said the reply delivered this week was administrative in nature and constrained by the need not to interfere with ongoing investigations.
“I did not take offence,” Rafizi said, adding that the response at least confirmed that the meeting took place and that information had been shared privately.
He said his family had accepted what had happened and no longer placed their expectations solely on the system.
“What has happened has happened. I accept it,” he said. “God willing, my family now places more faith in prayer than in human discretion, so that this does not happen again to anyone else.”
Rafizi also said accountability lay not with his son, who was the victim of the attack, but with those in positions of power.
“The one whose reputation is at stake is not my child,” he said. “Those who will eventually have to answer to the people are those at the top.” – January 30, 2026