Khairy Jamaluddin

Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (, ; born 10 January 1976), commonly known as KJ, is a Malaysian politician, radio presenter, and podcaster. He is currently a presenter on Hot FM and co-hosts the political podcast '' Keluar Sekejap'' with Shahril Hamdan. Khairy previously served as Minister of Health from August 2021 to November 2022 under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

A former member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), he was the MP for Rembau from 2008 to 2022 and led the party’s youth wing from 2008 to 2018. He served as Minister of Youth and Sports from 2013 to 2018 under Najib Razak. Following the 2020 political crisis, he joined the Perikatan Nasional government. He became Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation under Muhyiddin Yassin from 2020 to 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was appointed as the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Program (PICK), before being made Minister of Health. In the 2022 general election, Khairy contested the Sungai Buloh seat, a Pakatan Harapan stronghold, and narrowly lost—slashing the majority from 26,634 to just 2,693 votes.

Early life and education

Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar was born in Kuwait City, Kuwait. He is the only son of a former diplomat, Dato' Jamaluddin bin Abu Bakar, a Malay of Minangkabau descent and Datin Dato' Rahmah binti Abdul Hamid, an ethnic Malay housewife of Kedahan ancestry. His father was a senior diplomatic officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, retiring as the Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He died of throat cancer. Khairy's mother, Rahmah Abdul Hamid, has been heavily involved in volunteer work throughout her life although she was a housewife and never had an employment history, whilst his late paternal grandfather, Abu Bakar, was a community leader in his hometown of Kampung Kota, Rembau.

Khairy had his secondary education at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore and furthered his tertiary studies at Oxford University and University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom. While at Oxford, he studied at St Hugh's College, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). In 1998, he completed his master's degree in Legal and Political Theory at UCL.

Early career (1998–2008)

After leaving university, Khairy worked as a journalist for a period. He served as a presenter on the talkshow ''Dateline Malaysia''. He also had a stint working for ''The Economist'' in 1999. Thereafter, Khairy became a Special Officer in the office of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was then the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was Abdullah's Deputy Principal Private Secretary from 2003 to 2004.

He was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He has written for major publications including ''The Economist'', ''Time'' and the ''Wall Street Journal''.

He became closely involved in football during his pre-parliamentary career. He holds a number of high-profile positions in the Malaysian football scene, and is involved in a number of football-related associations. In 2006, Khairy teamed-up with radio DJ Jason Lo (with whom he attended high school in Singapore) to produce the football-based reality TV show '' MyTeam''.

Rose to prominence (2008–2013)

Under the prime ministership of his father-in-law (2003–2009), Khairy became well-known within UMNO and Malaysian politics generally. He became the deputy chief of UMNO's youth wing and served as a close personal adviser to Abdullah. Khairy's perceived influence on Abdullah test, including from Abdullah's predecessor Mahathir Mohamad.Beech, Hannah (30 October 2006)
Not the Retiring Type
(page three). ''TIME''. On this allegation, Khairy replied that "I am a pretty easy scapegoat. utthe decisions Dr. Mahathir is unhappy with are entirely made by the Prime Minister and the cabinet."

On 9 September 2007, Khairy was chosen uncontested as the Vice-president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) during the 44th FAM Congress, to serve from 2007 to 2010, replacing Tengku Mahkota Pahang then, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.

In the 2008 general election, Khairy was elected to the federal Parliament for the seat of Rembau in the state of Negeri Sembilan. The following year he was elected as the Chief of UMNO Youth, defeating Khir Toyo and Mukhriz Mahathir.

In his first term in parliament, Khairy involved himself in contentious policy debates. He expressed his view that Malaysia should repeal the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and abolish the annual Home Ministry licensing requirement, through the creation of an independent body which will enforce a self-regulatory mechanism of the system similar to the United Kingdom's Press Complaints Commission. He also spoke against the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission's blocking of the popular and often anti-government website Malaysia Today, citing that the move was a "blatant and crude employment of state power" and "is inconsistent with the widening roads of democratic highways." He also called for an end to the Mahathir-era policy of teaching science and maths in English. In September 2008, Khairy called for the reversal of the policy, citing that the policy had failed and only caused burden to students. He regularly debated non-government and opposition figures in public, including Ambiga Sreenevasan on the transparency of the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC),Free Malaysia Toda
Khairy vs Ambiga: a heated affair
Accessed 21 August 2012. and senior Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leader, and close Anwar Ibrahim ally, Rafizi Ramli on higher education loans.The Star Onlin
Khairy: Weak Umno bad for Barisan
21 August 2006.

Ministership, COVID-19 pandemic and expulsion from UMNO (2013–2023)

After retaining his parliamentary seat in the 2013 general election, Prime Minister Najib Razak elevated Khairy to the Cabinet as Minister for Youth and Sports. Later in 2013, he was re-elected to the presidency of UMNO Youth.

During his ministerial post, Malaysia successfully hosted the 2017 SEA Games and emerged as the overall gold medals tally winner. Just before the 2018 general election (GE14), Khairy and his ministry was put in charge of Najib's launched '' Transformasi Nasional 2050'' (TN50) concept but it had somehow fallen through due to the GE14 results, which saw the downfall of the BN federal government. Khairy also lost his cabinet position despite retaining his parliamentary seat.

When Najib's statement attributing BN's loss in the GE14 to Pakatan Harapan's false promises, Khairy wrote: “We lost because of 1MDB. The End.” On 19 November 2018, he said Umno members should accept the reality of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, as denials will continue to hurt the party.

Khairy returned to Cabinet in March 2020 to serve as Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation under new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's administration led by Perikatan Nasional (PN) following the Sheraton Move. His appointment as Minister of MOSTI was during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. He has signed an agreement with China for Malaysia to be given priority access to COVID-19 vaccines developed in China. In February 2021, Khairy was appointed as the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Program. He led the Special Task Force to manage the implementation of the vaccination process.

During the 2022 Malaysian general election, Khairy was sent by his UMNO party leaders to contest Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat, he lost to Parti Keadilan Rakyat candidate Ramanan Ramakrishnan by a narrow margin.

In the aftermath of the 2022 Malaysian general election, Khairy and several UMNO leaders called for party leader, deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to resign. On 27 January 2023, he was sacked from the party by the UMNO supreme council, a month before 2023 UMNO leadership election, where he was speculated to fight against Ahmad Zahid again on UMNO president seat after losing in 2018. He was regarded as the next UMNO ''Messiah'' and savior as he promised that he would revive the UMNO back after its worst defeat in the 2022 general election.

Post-political career (2023–present)

Following his expulsion from UMNO, Khairy debuted as a radio host for a local radio station, Hot FM, in its Bekpes Hot morning segment. He also started producing a weekly political podcast, '' Keluar Sekejap'' with Shahril Hamdan. The podcast has featured a string of prominent local politicians including Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, Amirudin Shari, Azmin Ali and Mahathir Mohamad.

On 14 April 2025, he announced that the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia and his father-in-law, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi died from at the age of 85, following complications from multi-organ failure, at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur. The next day, he co-led the Abdullah's state funeral with his brother-in-law, . He has served and accompanied several VVIP guests who were attending at the state funeral, including Mahathir Mohamad, Najib Razak and Lee Hsien Loong.

Army reservist (2010–2018)

In 2010, Khairy signed-up the '' Rejimen Askar Wataniah'' or Territorial Army as a reservist after completing one month of basics recruit training in Negeri Sembilan and Johor in May 2010. He then completed a five-week basic static parachuting course conducted by the Army's Special Warfare Centre with 78 others to earn his paratrooper jump wings in February 2011. In January 2014, he was appointed as the Commander of the 508 Territorial Army Regiment located in Rasah, Negeri Sembilan. On 26 October 2016, Khairy was elevated from the rank of 'Colonel' to ' Brigadier-General' effective 14 January 2015. This makes him the first Cabinet minister to be a commissioned reserved military officer rank after going through various courses conducted by the Territorial Army, and he continues to lead the 508 Territorial Army Regiment until his resignation in 2018 after the GE14 quoting his presence was no longer welcomed.

Political views

''Journalistic Independence and the Printing Presses and Publications Act''

Khairy believes that Malaysia should and could repeal the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and abolish the annual Home Ministry licensing requirement, through the creation of an independent body which will enforce a self-regulatory mechanism similar to the United Kingdom’s Press Complaints Commission.

Internet censorship

In August 2008, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission blocked access to the popular site, the Malaysia Today. Khairy spoke against the move, citing that the move was a “blatant and crude employment of state power” and “is inconsistent with the widening of democratic space.” Khairy also said that "such move will only alienate young urban voters from the ruling party, and is at odds with the Multimedia Super Corridor Bill of Guarantees–a 10-point Bill that prescribes zero Internet censorship.”

Teaching of Maths and Science in English

Following concerns about the declining command of the English language among students, the Malaysian Ministry of Education implemented a policy whereby Science and Mathematics would be taught in English in Malaysian Government schools. The policy was implemented from January 2003. In September 2008, Khairy called for the reversal of the policy, citing that the policy had failed and only caused burden to students.

Controversies and issues

Alleged influence in Abdullah's administration

Khairy was alleged to be running the country government through his control of the 'Fourth Floor Boys' – a group of young professionals who manned the policy-making unit of the PM's office when his father-in-law, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was Prime Minister between October 2003 to April 2009. Khairy amidst then was a political novice with no experience in government himself even held the posts of ‘special officer’ and Deputy Principal Private Secretary (2003–2004) in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

ECM Libra stock purchase scandal

After resigning from the PMO in 2004, Khairy joined a merchant bank, ECM Libra. In 2005, one year after Abdullah became prime minister, Khairy helped in the merger between ECM Libra Capital Bhd and the Malaysian government-owned company, Avenue Capital Resources Bhd. A year later, around 2006, the three founding members of ECM Libra—Lim Kian Onn, , and David Chua—announced that they were each selling 1% of the company shares they owned to Khairy. The deal was transacted at 71 cents per share for a total of approximately US$2.6 million, where Khairy was able to finance it through a soft loan from the founders.

Allegation of bribery

In 2009 UMNO leadership election, Khairy contested as a candidate for the new UMNO Youth chief after his predecessor, Hishammuddin Hussein relinquished his position. He was rivalled by Mukhriz Mahathir and Khir Toyo. However, a controversy was sparked when Khairy was allowed to contest for the post even though he was found guilty for being involved with money politics by the UMNO Disciplinary Board,Pilih Khairy, Pemuda Umno hilang hala tuju
- from harakahdaily.net. Accessed on 29 March 2009. while others who were found guilty for the same offence, such as Mohd Ali Rustam who was supposed to contest for the UMNO Vice President post, were not allowed to contest for their respective posts. However, Khairy denied the allegation, as stated in his blog.Penjelasan Mengenai Keputusan Lembaga Disiplin UMNO
- from Khairy's official blog, Rembau.net. Accessed on 29 March 2009.

Racist remarks

In August 2006, The Star reported that an Indo-Chinese daily quoted that several leaders criticising Khairy for allegedly saying that non-Malays would take advantage of a weak UMNO to make demands. To this, Khairy said that "Leaders from the other parties may have misinterpreted my statement." He further said that “A weak UMNO would lead to various parties making demands and this could affect unity in the Barisan”, and referred to the issues raised by the Chinese election watch group, Su Qiu in the 1999 elections by saying that “UMNO was weak at that time and people took advantage of that.”

There was an incident in 2014, where Khairy made a controversial statement that some interpreted as insensitive toward Malaysia's Chinese community. At that time, Khairy, who was the Youth and Sports Minister in Malaysia, made a comment during a political speech in which he seemed to downplay the significance of the Chinese community's contribution to Malaysia's independence.

Youth and Sports Ministry corruption scandal

In 2016, Khairy was slammed over his responsibility as he embroiled in the controversy surrounding the RM100 million corruption scandal plaguing the Youth and Sports Ministry he led when a senior official who had allegedly to have covertly siphoned off the ministry's funds and lived a lavish lifestyle over the past six years was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Participation in 2017 SEA Games

Khairy controversially competed for the Malaysian polo team at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games he was encharged as Minister for Youth and Sports himself albeit the team secured a gold medal in the men's team polo event winning over Thailand. Somehow his credibility and contribution of the national polo team were questioned and had raised the dissatisfaction from Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar who even challenged him to play against his Johor state polo team. The event had led to Khairy seeking and granted an audience with the sultan at the palace to resolve the predicament caused immediately.

Feud with Lokman Noor Adam

Khairy and Lokman Noor Adam clashed around 2018 because of Lokman Noor defended former prime minister Najib Razak. This dispute caused Khairy to nickname Lokman Noor as "''Lobakman''". The name of this title comes from Khairy's twitter account tweet against him in 2018 which called him having a extremely low intelligence quotient (IQ). The post reads: “You better pray I don't become the president of UMNO. First thing I'll do is sack you for having the IQ of a carrot." However, in the 2018 UMNO leadership election, Khairy lost to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for the position of the UMNO president while Lokman Noor won the position of member of the UMNO National Supreme Council.

Allegation of phantom voters

During 2022 UMNO general assembly, Sungai Besar UMNO division chief, accused Khairy of attempting to bring “ phantom voters” to the assembly. However, the statement was denied vehemently by Khairy. He added that the statement portrayed him as "lacking integrity and credibility, involved in corruption for personal gain, causing him to lose business opportunities and public trust." He later filed a defamation suit against Jamal at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on 24 May 2023 and demanded compensation of RM1 million.

Personal life

Khairy is the son-in-law of the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
(1939–2025). In October 2001, he married Nori Abdullah (born 1976), the daughter of Abdullah, and his first wife, Endon Mahmood (1940–2005). The couple have three sons, Jibreil Ali Khairy (born 2007), Timor Abdullah Khairy (born 2008) and Raif Averroes Khairy (born 2015). In April 2016, Khairy opened up about his second son, Timor Abdullah who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Around mid-2006, there was a rumour that Khairy and Maya Karin, a Malaysian film actress, television host and singer, were established a close relationship and married in a private ceremony only attended by their close friends. However, Khairy later squashed and denied the rumour that saying he had taken her as his second wife. He also added that he was happy with his one and only wife, Nori.

Apart from his native language Malay, Khairy's fluency in English. He also learns some basic Mandarin. Khairy is a supporter of Manchester United F.C. and once the patron of Manchester United Supporters Club (MUSC) Malaysia.

Election results

Filmography

Film

Television

Podcast

Radiography

Radio

Honour and awards

Honour of Malaysia

* Malaysian Armed Forces :
** Warrior of the Most Gallant Order of Military Service (PAT) (2016)Yang DiPertuan Agong Kurnia 250 Pingat Darjah Kepahlawanan ATM
/ref>

Awards

See also

* Rembau (federal constituency)

Notes

References

External links

Official website
*

{{Authority control

Living people
1976 births
People from Kuwait City
Malaysian politicians of Malay descent
Malaysian Muslims
Malaysian people of Minangkabau descent
People educated at a United World College
Alumni of University College London
Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford
Government ministers of Malaysia
Former United Malays National Organisation politicians
Ministers of health of Malaysia
Malaysian polo players
SEA Games gold medalists for Malaysia
SEA Games medalists in polo
Competitors at the 2017 SEA Games
Independent politicians in Malaysia
Alumni of the UCL Faculty of Laws
Malaysian MPs 2008–2013
Malaysian MPs 2013–2018
Malaysian MPs 2018–2022
Malaysian bloggers
Malaysian radio announcers