Dato' Sri Saifuddin bin Abdullah ( Jawi: سيف الدين بن عبدالله; born 27 January 1961) is a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who has served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Indera Mahkota since May 2018. He served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

for the second term in the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

(PN) administration under former Prime Minister

Ismail Sabri Yaakob Malay styles and titles#State titles, Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob ( ms, اسماعيل صبري بن يعقوب, label=Jawi alphabet, Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; born 18 January 1960) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian lawyer and poli ...

from August 2021 to the collapse of the BN administration in November 2022 and the first term in the

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...

(PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from July 2018 to the collapse of the PN administration in February 2020, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia in the

Perikatan Nasional The National Alliance ( ms, Perikatan Nasional; abbreviation, abbrev: PN) is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). This coa ...

(PN) administration under former Prime Minister

Muhyiddin Yassin Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Muhammad Yassin ( ms, محيي الدين بن محمد ياسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ), is a Malaysian politician who serv ...

from March 2020 to the collapse of the PN administration in August 2021, Deputy Minister of Higher Education II and Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur and Co-operatives Development in the BN administration under former Prime Ministers Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak as well as former Ministers Noh Omar and Mohamed Khaled Nordin from March 2008 to May 2013 and MP for

Temerloh Temerloh is a municipality in central Pahang, Malaysia. Temerloh has been proven to be the "centre of Peninsular Malaysia" (Malay: ) 3TS, which is situated at Kampung Paya Siput, Lanchang. Located about from Kuala Lumpur along the Kuantan–Kua ...

from March 2008 to May 2013. He is also a member of the

Malaysian United Indigenous Party The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( ms, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia (). It is a major c ...

(BERSATU), a component party of the PN coalition, was member of the

People's Justice Party The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

(PKR), a component party of the PH coalition and was member of the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...

(UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He is also the State Chairman of BERSATU and PN of

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

Personal life

Saifuddin was born to an ustaz father and a schoolteacher mother in

near

Mentakab Mentakab (alternately ''Mentekab'', Jawi: منتاكب, Pahang Malay: ''Mentekak'') is a town, a mukim (commune) and a state assembly constituency in Temerloh District in central Pahang, Malaysia. It is northwest from downtown Temerloh and n ...

, Pahang.

Education

Saifuddin was educated at Sekolah Kebangsaan Abu Bakar Mentakab (1968–73),

Malay College Kuala Kangsar The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (abbreviated MCKK; ; ) is a premier residential school in Malaysia. It is an elite all-boys and all- Malay school in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. It is sometimes dubbed "the Eton College of the East". ...

- MCKK (1974–80), obtained BA Honors from

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

(1984), Diploma in Translation from Malaysian Translator Association /

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka ( en, Institute of Language and Literature, Jawi: ديوان بهاس دان ڤوستاک), abbreviated DBP, is the government body responsible for coordinating the use of the Malay language and Malay-language litera ...

(1985) and followed by the Executive Course at Harvard Business School (1995).

Political career

Saifuddin was elected to Parliament in the 2008 election, and was immediately appointed as a deputy minister, being cited as a future ministerial prospect. He had previously been the Secretary-General of the Malaysian Youth Council. After the election he was appointed as a deputy minister, and was the Deputy Minister of Higher Education in Najib Razak's first term as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. During his ministerial tenure, Saifuddin was one of the more moderate and liberal-progressive politicians in Najib's administration. He criticised his own government's handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally in 2011, in which over 1,600 protestors were arrested on the streets of

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

. In early 2013, he also stood up for a student who was humiliated by a government-linked panellist at a student forum at the

Universiti Utara Malaysia Universiti Utara Malaysia (literally meaning Northern University of Malaysia, abbreviated as UUM) is a management university established on 16 February 1984 under the Universiti Utara Malaysia 1984 Order. It has a main campus in Sintok, Kedah ...

(UUM). Saifuddin's ministerial career was cut short by the 2013 election, when he lost his parliamentary seat to a

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...

(PAS) candidate by 1,070 votes. Saifuddin has written four books on Malaysian politics. After leaving Parliament he joined the

as a research fellow, but in 2014, he resigned his position in protest when Malaysia's Education Ministry forced a well-respected professor at the university to resign, reportedly due to research findings critical of the government. In 2015, Saifuddin quit UMNO and joined the

(PKR) over disagreements with the government's handling of the

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, often referred to as the 1MDB scandal or just 1MDB, describes a corruption, bribery and money laundering conspiracy in which the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) w ...

. In February 2020 political crisis dubbed "Sheraton Move", Saifuddin quit PKR along with deputy president

Azmin Ali Mohamed Azmin bin Ali ( Jawi: محمد عزمين بن علي; born 25 August 1964) is a Malaysian politician who served as Senior Minister of the Economic Cluster and as Minister of International Trade and Industry from 2020 to 2022. A memb ...

and 9 other MP's to form an independent parliamentary block.

Health

In April 2021, he was tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and was admitted in the Sungai Buloh Hospital. He was discharged from the hospital after his full recovery 16 days of treatments.

Election results

Honours

* : **

MY-PERA Order of the Perak State Crown - lower classes

Knight Commander of the

Order of the Perak State Crown The Most Illustrious Order of the Perak State Crown ( Malay:''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Negeri Perak Yang Amat Mulia'') is knighthood order of the Sultanate of Perak. Background It was founded by Sultan Yusuf Izzuddin Shah on 12 December 1957. ...

(DPMP) – Dato' (2002) * : ** MY-PAH Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang - Knight Companion - DSAP

Knight Companion of the

Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang The Most Illustrious Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang ( Malay: ''Darjah Kebesaran Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang Yang Amat Di Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang. History The order was founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah on 24 O ...

(DSAP) – Dato' (2009) ** MY-PAH_Order_of_Sultan_Ahmad_Shah_of_Pahang_-_Grand_Knight_-_SSAP

Grand Knight of the

(SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2021)

External links

* *

References

← {{DEFAULTSORT:Saifuddin, Abdullah Living people 1961 births People from Pahang Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims Government ministers of Malaysia Foreign ministers of Malaysia Members of the Dewan Rakyat People's Justice Party (Malaysia) politicians Former United Malays National Organisation politicians University of Malaya alumni 21st-century Malaysian politicians