Md Salleh bin Md Said (
Jawi: محمد صالح بن محمد سعيد; born 10 July 1957), commonly known as Salleh Said Keruak, is a
Malaysian politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
who has served as Member of the
Sabah State Legislative Assembly
The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'', ) is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the governor of Sabah. The assembly meets at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Buildin ...
for
Usukan from February 1994 to March 2004, from May 2013 to May 2018 and again since September 2020. He served as the
Minister of Communications and Multimedia in the
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...
(BN) administration under former
Prime Minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Najib Razak
Mohammad Najib bin Abdul Razak (, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. In 2020, he was convicted of corruption in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, on ...
from July 2015 to the collapse of the BN administration in May 2018, 9th
Chief Minister of Sabah
The chief minister of Sabah is the head of government of Sabah, Malaysia. Since September 2020, the position has been held by Hajiji Noor from the Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) from the coalition of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) w ...
from December 1994 to May 1996,
Speaker of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly from December 2010 to July 2015,
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
from July 2015 to July 2018 and
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Kota Belud from April 1995 to March 2008.
Educational background
He Is a bachelor's graduate from
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...
in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and holds a PhD in political science and government from
Universiti Putra Malaysia
University of Putra Malaysia ( Malay: ''Universiti Putra Malaysia''), abbreviated as UPM, is a Malaysian public research university located in Serdang, Selangor. Formerly it was named Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Agricultural University of ...
.
Career
After finishing his further studies, he was designated as Kota Belud District Officer from 1984 to 1986 and later became a
Political Secretary to the sitting Chief Minister's administration from 1986 to 1994.
In addition, he also held some positions in the
Cabinet of Sabah. For many years, he served as the Minister of Finance, Minister of Local Government and Housing and Deputy Chief Minister.
On 28 December 1994, Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who was respectively the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. He was the ...
nominated him as the Chief Minister of the state. His tenure as the state's Chief Minister ended on 28 May 1996 and was succeeded by
Sabah Progressive Party
The Sabah Progressive Party (, abbreviated SAPP) is a multiracial political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. It was registered on 21 January 1994 by dissidents led by former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee from United Sabah Party. Form ...
(SAPP) President,
Yong Teck Lee
Yong Teck Lee or also better known as ''Malay titles#Datuk Sri, Datuk Seri Panglima Mr.'' YTL ''(name abbreviation)'' ( zh, t=楊德利, s=杨德利, p=Yáng Délì; born 3 October 1958) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who has served as t ...
.
On 4 January 2010, then-Chief Minister,
Musa Aman
Musa bin Aman (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: موسى بن حاج أمان; born 30 March 1951) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 11th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah since January 2025. He served as the 14th Chief Minister of Sabah from M ...
, appointed him as his government's Science and Technology Adviser with ministerial rank. He succeeded Tham Nyip Shen, a former Deputy Chief Minister for the ethnic Chinese quota who hailed from Keningau.
Later on 31 December of the same year, he was appointed the
Speaker of the
State Legislature
A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of ...
. A day later, on the first day of 2011, he was appointed the
Chairman
The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
of Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) by the then-Federal Minister of Information, Communications and Culture, Dr.
Rais Yatim
Rais bin Yatim ( Jawi: رئيس بن يتيم; born 16 April 1942) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who served as the 18th President of the Dewan Negara from September 2020 to June 2023, 8th Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan from 1978 t ...
.
Under the party of
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation (Abbreviation, abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a Conservatism, conservative, Nationalism, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its ince ...
(UMNO), he previously served Sabah state liaison committee deputy chairperson from 2006 to 2018, serving under the long-term chairmanship of then-Chief Minister, Musa Aman who was concurrently the state liaison committee chairperson from 2003 to 2018 (but now he currently serves as its elections machinery director since the crucial party elections in 2018).
In addition, he also presides over the United Sabah Bajau Organisation (USBO).
On 6 October 2019, he admitted that he submitted a party membership application to the
People’s Justice Party (PKR) as the party is multiracial and it is in line with Salleh's political beliefs, especially focusing on the future of the Malaysian state in East Malaysia,
Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
.
On 30 June 2020, he canceled his application to join PKR in the aftermath of the
2020 political crisis. On 9 September 2020, Salleh rejoined UMNO.
Family
He is the son of
Mohammad Said Keruak
Mohammad Said bin Keruak (15 November 1925 – 17 November 1995) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 7th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah from January 1987 to December 1994 and 4th Chief Minister of Sabah briefly from November 1975 to ...
, the 7th
Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah
The Governor of Sabah, officially Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah (''Malay: Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah'') is the ceremonial head of state of Sabah, Malaysia. The Yang di-Pertua Negeri is styled ''Tuan Yang Terutama'' (TYT; "His Excellency"). Th ...
and the 4th Chief Minister of Sabah.
He is currently married to Datin Seri Panglima Datuk Raya Erom (born 21 April 1963), an ethnic
Kadazandusun woman of
Lotud descent from
Tuaran
Tuaran () is the town and capital of the Tuaran District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is located north of the state capital Kota Kinabalu, and is strategically situated along the main highway linking Kota Kinabalu with the ...
, since 18 December 1984. Prior to their marriage, she was a
Roman Catholic Christian before converting to
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...
in order to marry Salleh. The couple are blessed with two sons and two daughters: Mohd Syarulnizam (born 1986), Syazeera (born 1988), Mohd Hafeez (born 1996) and Syeera (born 2002).
In addition, Salleh is also the second cousin of
Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis, the incumbent Kota Belud MP.
Election results
Honours
* :
**

Grand Commander of the
Order of Kinabalu
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu (Malay: ''Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu'') is the only order conferred by the Governor of Sabah, Malaysia.
Background
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu is established by virtue of Section 3(a) of State Honou ...
(SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (1996)
**

Commander of the
Order of Kinabalu
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu (Malay: ''Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu'') is the only order conferred by the Governor of Sabah, Malaysia.
Background
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu is established by virtue of Section 3(a) of State Honou ...
(PGDK) – Datuk (1990)
** Justice of the Peace (JP) (2014)
* :
**

Grand Commander of the
Exalted Order of Malacca (DGSM) – Datuk Seri (1996)
See also
*
Members of the Dewan Negara, 13th Malaysian Parliament
This is a list of the members of the Dewan Negara (Senate) of the Thirteenth Parliament of Malaysia.
Elected by the State Legislative Assembly
Nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Death in office
* Noraha ...
*
List of people who have served in both Houses of the Malaysian Parliament
References
External links
Personal blogsite
{{Authority control
1958 births
Living people
Bajau people
Malaysian Muslims
People from Kota Belud District
Malaysian bloggers
United Malays National Organisation politicians
United Sabah Party politicians
Chief ministers of Sabah
Sabah state ministers
Speakers of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly
Members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly
Government ministers of Malaysia
Members of the Dewan Negara
Grand Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu
Simon Fraser University alumni
Malaysian MPs 1995–1999
Malaysian MPs 1999–2004
Malaysian MPs 2004–2008