INTERVIEW | Gone are the days where you would find former Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) chief executive officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan having meetings at the upscale Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) in Kuala Lumpur with corporate figures, top civil servants and politicians alike.

Because, with his entry into Bersatu, the youthful and ever smiling Wan Saiful is now technically, as described in his own words, part of the statistics of the country's "unemployed graduates".

"From someone who headed an organisation with the title of CEO with a relatively comfortable life, I'm officially now in the statistics of unemployed graduates, so it's quite a big leap," Wan Saiful said, matter-of-factly, in an interview with Malaysiakini.

He hopes that his decision to join the party would spur others who know him to realise that he was, indeed, taking a big risk.

"So when are you going to do the same? I have a lot to lose; in order to do this, I had to leave the organisation that I set up.

"If someone like me can do it, those earning six-figure salaries, what's your excuse?...