He is a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, and has served as the state chairman of its Johor branch since May 2024.
He was the chairman of Gerakan Mansuh ISA (GMI), a movement of non-governmental organisations against the Internal Security Act.
He has also been associated with IKRAM, an Islamic non-governmental organisation as an activist.
In 2019, Syed was appointed state chairman of the Johor branch of the People's Justice Party after the resignation of Hassan Abdul Karim.
[2] He succeeded by Rafizi Ramli in the lead-up to the 2022 Malaysian general election[3] and reappointed in May 2024.