Suhaimi bin Kamaruddin (, ) is a Malaysian politician and a lawyer by profession. He was a former chief of
UMNO Youth
The UMNO Youth Movement (Malay language, Malay: ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) or more known simply as UMNO Youth is the youth wing of Malaysia's grand old party the United Malays National Organisation. Primarily for members aged 18 to 40, the goal of ...
and a former Deputy Minister in the federal government. He is a member of the
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), the largest
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in the former ruling
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) coalition. He was the
Member of Parliament for
Sepang
Pekan Sepang is a small border town and also a mukim in Sepang District, Selangor
Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on t ...
in Selangor for three terms from 1974 to 1986 representing BN.
He was also the former president of the
Gerakan Belia 4B Malaysia youth association.
Early life and career
Suhaimi was born as the son of former Menteri Besar of
Terrenganu, Dato' Perdana Menteri Di Raja Dato' Seri Setia Raja
Kamaruddin Idris. After attending a local primary school, he later attended the
Malay College Kuala Kangsar
The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (abbreviated MCKK; ; ) is a residential school in Malaysia. It is an all-boys and all- Malay school in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. It is sometimes dubbed "the Eton College of the East".
The Malay Col ...
for his secondary education. He went on to gain an
LL.B.
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
fromrom the
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
in
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
, and obtained his Bar.
His entry into politics brought with him much acclaim as a politician, and he quickly rose up the ranks of UMNO to gain leadership of the UMNO Youth movement. His views were heavily pro-Malay, and he suggested many times in parliament for the NEP target of a 30% stake of the economic action be raised to 40%-50% to benefit the Malays. While he professed that his intentions were to support the Malays who were generally of a more impoverished background, his views were misconstrued as ultra-nationalism and his success was partially, if not intentionally, due to fulminating feelings regarding the Malay identity. In 1982, Suhaimi lost the leadership of
UMNO Youth
The UMNO Youth Movement (Malay language, Malay: ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) or more known simply as UMNO Youth is the youth wing of Malaysia's grand old party the United Malays National Organisation. Primarily for members aged 18 to 40, the goal of ...
after the fledgling politician
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim (; born 10 August 1947), also known by his abbreviation as DSAI and PMX, is a Malaysian politician who is the 10th prime minister of Malaysia since 2022. A member of the People's Justice Party (Malaysia), People's Justice P ...
wrested the control of the movement from him by a slim 10-vote majority in a bitterly fought contest. Anwar received 183, compared to Suhaimi's 173, with Hang Tuah Arshad receiving only 3 votes. In 1984, the votes were more in Anwar's favour, 226 as opposed to Suhaimi's 137. However, seeing him as a very real threat to his political career, Anwar removed Suhaimi from the movement despite the ongoing media vilification of Anwar's motivations and accusations that Anwar participated in 'politik wang' (money politics).
Despite this set-back, Suhaimi still managed to become the
Deputy Minister of Education. In 1981, he proposed the integration of the education system (at the time, split into national schools, Chinese schools and Tamil schools) so that the Malay, Chinese and Indian children would learn to integrate, resulting in racial harmony. He was lambasted for such a suggestion by
Lim Kit Siang
Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a retired Malaysian politician. Having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions, he is the longest-serving leader of the opposition, as well the second longest-serving m ...
of the
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (DAP; ) is a social democracy, social democratic and Secularism, secular political party in Malaysia, sitting on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. As one of four component parties of ...
(DAP), who denouncing such a view as "extremist and chauvinistic." Suhaimi defended his views, maintaining that racial integration was more important than catering schools to a particular race, forewarning everyone of racial polarisation in the future. He was rebuked, and the Sedition Act was cited as a threat were he to continue with such a proposal.
Later political career
In 1987, Tengku
Razaleigh Hamzah challenged the then Prime Minister Dr.
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 ...
. In the election, Dr. Mahathir managed to retain his position. However, UMNO was split into two separate entities as Tengku Razaleigh was left unsatisfied with the result. He left the party and went on his own path, founding a new political party called
Parti Melayu Semangat 46
The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or ''Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46)'' was a Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's "Team B" faction of the United Malays National Or ...
in 1989. The number 46 refers to the year UMNO was founded. Suhaimi became the secretary-general of the party, along with other big political names from the media-labelled Team B such as Datuk
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 ...
, Datuk
Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad
Mohd Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad ( Jawi: محمد رضي بن شيخ احمد; born 24 February 1942) is a Malaysian former footballer, lawyer, and politician. He was the member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for the seat of Kangar in Perlis twi ...
, Datuk
Zainal Abidin Zin
Zainal Abidin bin Zin (born 7 March 1940) is a Malaysian politician who served as Deputy Minister of Defence from 2004 to 2008 and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs from 1999 to 2004.
Election results
Honours
* :
** Commander of the Order ...
, Datuk
Manan Othman, Datuk
Ibrahim Ali, Datin
Paduka Rahmah Othman and
Marina Yusof, defected to Semangat 46. However, other key members of Team B notably Tun
Musa Hitam
Musa bin Hitam (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: موسى بن هيتم; born 18 April 1934) is a Malaysian retired politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 1986, serving under Mahathir Mohamad. He was the chairman of Si ...
, Datuk
Shahrir Samad and former Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi (, ; 26 November 1939 – 14 April 2025), also known as Pak Lah, was a Malaysian politician and civil servant who served as the fifth prime minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009. A member of UMNO, he was the party's ...
decided to remain in Umno, but silently supported Semangat 46 from behind to avoid the media's attention.
Seven years later, Tengku Razaleigh disbanded Semangat 46 and rejoined UMNO, forcing Suhaimi and his other political companions to return to UMNO or retire permanently from politics. Suhaimi rejoined UMNO and he remains active in politics to this day.
Recent activity
In May 2008, German company GUNT, represented by Datuk Suhaimi Kamaruddin, Marisa Regina Mohd Aris Rizal and Saidatun Nasihah, won against the Cheras firm, MS Instruments Sdn Bhd. The case involved the latter supplying the Education Ministry with imitation products under the guise of the genuine German article.
Election results
Honours
* :
** Member of the
Order of the Defender of the Realm
The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace of God-Defender of the Realm).
The o ...
(AMN) (1972)
* :
**

Companion of the
Order of the Crown of Selangor
The Most Illustrious Order of the Crown of Selangor (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Selangor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an order awarded by Sultan of Selangor as a reward for general services to the sultan and state of Selangor. It was foun ...
(SMS)
**

Knight Commander of the
Order of the Crown of Selangor
The Most Illustrious Order of the Crown of Selangor (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Selangor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an order awarded by Sultan of Selangor as a reward for general services to the sultan and state of Selangor. It was foun ...
(DPMS) – Dato' (1981)
See also
*
Sepang (federal constituency)
Notes and references
{{Authority control
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Malaysian people of Malay descent
Malaysian Muslims
20th-century Malaysian lawyers
United Malays National Organisation politicians
Parti Melayu Semangat 46 politicians
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Members of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly
Members of Lincoln's Inn
Members of the Order of the Defender of the Realm
Knights Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor
Malaysian MPs 1974–1978
Malaysian MPs 1978–1982
Malaysian MPs 1982–1986