Isham Jalil

Hizatul Isham bin Abdul Jalil ( Jawi: ; born 11 June 1976) or more commonly known as Isham Jalil is a Malaysian politician who is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He is currently a Member of the Supreme Council of UMNO since June 2022, and has previously served as the Information Chief of UMNO from November 2022 to March 2023.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Paya Jaras, Isham is the third child of seven siblings and was brought up in a low-income family. His father had to juggle various jobs to make ends meet where he had worked as a gardener, truck driver and night market trader to raise his family. Despite all the adversities, Isham was a hardworking student where he exceled with straight As throughout his schooling days. Isham studied at Sekolah Alam Shah and was noted to be the best student there.

He eventually received a scholarship to study for his bachelor's degree abroad where he graduated with first class honors in engineering at the University of Bristol. Isham then furthered his postgraduate studies at Ivy League universities where he completed his first master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) with a minor in Law from Harvard University, and a second master's in Business Administration (MBA) from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. At Harvard, Isham Jalil wrote a book titled "Malaysia Beyond 2020: Ideologies and Institutions for Growth" where this book is archived in the Harvard University library.

Early career

Isham has over 20 years of shared experience working in the civil service and the government-linked company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). His career peaked when he was appointed within the Prime Minister's Office under the former Prime Minister Najib Razak as his Special Officer, and in 2008 he was promoted and sent to the Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister's Department as a Director (JUSA B) to help the government enact national energy policies, especially those involving petroleum, electricity and gas.

During his time working at the civil service, he has been involved in the formulation of the 10th Malaysia Plan, the National Energy Policy 2010-2030, the subsidy rationalization program, and the restructuring of the country's electricity industry. Isham had also worked as a part-time lecturer at University of Technology MARA (UiTM) and University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) for three years between 2000 and 2003.

Political career

History with BN and UMNO

Isham has had a long history with BN and UMNO ever since he was at the early age of 10 where he had followed and accompanied his parents to political talks during election seasons. As he was raised by parents who are UMNO stalwarts, Isham has helped his parents and UMNO campaign where in the 1986 Malaysian general election, he started putting up BN posters and helped write speeches for his father at the branch level for election campaigns.

Currently, Isham is a member of UMNO under the Putrajaya division led by former Minister of Federal Territories and current UMNO Treasurer-General, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. Prior to that, he was a member of UMNO Sungai Buloh. Before he was appointed as Member of the Supreme Council of UMNO, Isham was also appointed and served as the State Information Chief of BN Selangor, and the Information Chief of UMNO before being replaced by Minister of Law and Institutional Reform, Azalina Othman Said.

Contesting in the 2022 General Election

In the 2022 general election, he was hinted and expected to contest for the Shah Alam federal seat. On 1 November 2022, he was confirmed to be nominated as a candidate representing the BN coalition to contest for the seat but eventually lost to Pakatan Harapan candidate Azli Yusof.

Views

Ideology

Described as a " Conservative nationalist", Isham believes that Malaysia should maintain its vision of cultural integration rather than forced assimilation in order to maintain racial and social harmony. He believes that Chinese and Indian vernacular schools should not be abolished and rejects the "Malaysian Malaysia" identity as it would exacerbate racial tensions within Malaysia. In the case of meritocracy, Isham has the stance where it breeds injustice and it would promote selective discrimination due to its incomplete nature. From Astro Awani's three way dialogue with Bachok MP Syahir Sulaiman and Sunway University Professor Wong Chin Huat, Isham has stated that:

Future of BN and UMNO

The regression of Malaysia's grand old party after the 2022 Malaysian general election due to the failure of its current president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has led Isham to advocate for BN and UMNO to persist in going solo. He believes that in order to regain confidence and relevance, BN should have not joined with either coalitions PH or PN but instead continued in parliament as a separate independent block that could provide check and balance as a credible opposition. Although, BN eventually formed a unity-government with PH, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and Parti Warisan under the behest of the King of Malaysia, Abdullah of Pahang.

He has pessimistic views over the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition particularly its largest member, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) where he claims that the party's ideology contradicts with the national constitution and blames them for their lack of commitment which caused BN to lose votes during the 2023 Malaysian state elections. Isham also has the same negative notion and rejection towards Perikatan Nasional (PN), where he believes that the current leadership of PN is filled with "frogs" and hypocrites.

Najib Razak

Isham is known to be a strong supporter and loyalist of his former boss Najib Razak and has continued to pressure the government for his release where he has described Najib's prosecution as unjust and plagued with political motives. He believes that Najib's presence was vital and crucial for BN's electoral success post-GE14, particularly in both the 2021 Melaka state election and 2022 Johor state election where BN had won two-third majorities in both state assemblies, as well as various by-elections where BN had secured and swayed various seats such as in Semenyih, Cameron Highlands, Kimanis, and Tanjung Piai. Isham ardently believes that one of the three fundamental reasons of UMNO's loss of support and growing irrelevance is due to the absence of Najib.

Election results

Publications

* ICERD dan Mengapa Semua Kaum di Malaysia perlu menolaknya. (2018)
* Halatuju Orang Melayu dan UMNO Pasca 9 Mei. (2018)
* Malaysia Beyond 2020: Ideologies and Institutions for Growth. (Harvard University, 2013)

Honours and awards

Honours of Malaysia

* :
** Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (KMN) (2017)

References

External links

Isham Jalil Official Website
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isham Jalil
Living people
Malaysian people of Malay descent
Malaysian Muslims
United Malays National Organisation politicians
21st-century Malaysian politicians
Alumni of the University of Bristol
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
1976 births