Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar ( Jawi: سيد حميد بن سيد جعفر البر; '; born 15 January 1944) is a Malaysian lawyer and politician who has served as 1st Chancellor of the Asia e University (AeU) since October 2022. He served as

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Malay language, Malay: ''Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri''; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a member of Cabinet of Malaysia who administers a portfolio through the Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia) ...

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

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 Ministers

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 ...

and

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 ...

from October 1990 to April 2009. He also served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kota Tinggi from November 1990 to May 2013. He was a member of the

Malaysian United Indigenous Party The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( Malay: ''Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia''; abbrev: BERSATU or PPBM) is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia ( Malay: ) and ...

(BERSATU), a component party of the ruling

Perikatan Nasional Perikatan Nasional (PN; ) is a Malaysian Parliamentary group, political coalition consisting of Right-wing politics, right-wing and Far-right politics, far-right political parties. It is the second largest political coalition in Dewan Rakyat w ...

(PN) and formerly

Pakatan Harapan Pakatan Harapan (PH; stylised as HARAPAN; ) is a Malaysian Parliamentary group, political coalition consisting of Centre-left politics, centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has led ...

(PH) coalitions. Prior to that, he was also 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), a component party of the ruling BN coalition. He retired from politics in February 2022 and left UMNO for BERSATU in September 2018. He had also served as the Chairman of Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) which was already dissolved.

Early life

Syed Hamid was born in Kampung Melayu Air Hitam,

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, to Syed Jaafar Albar, an UMNO politician and former cabinet minister. Syed Hamid's father was of Hadhrami

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

descent, and migrated from Indonesia to Malaysia shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He had his secondary education at

Maxwell School Maxwell School () is an single-sex school, all-boys secondary school, located north of Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1916, the school is believed to be the oldest school in north of Kuala Lumpur as well as one of the oldest in Kuala Lumpur and ...

before going to

Methodist Boys' School (Kuala Lumpur) Methodist Boys' School, Kuala Lumpur (; abbreviated MBS Kuala Lumpur) is a semi-government aided Cluster School of Excellence and High Performance School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was founded in July 1897, making it one of the oldest school ...

for his Form Six education. For his tertiary education, he read law in the Inns of Court, London and was called to the Degree of an Utter Barrister by the Honourable Society of Middle Temple in 1970. As a student in London, he set up a club for Malaysian expatriates and students. He is married with 6 children.

Political career

Syed Hamid has been active in

UMNO The United Malays National Organisation ( abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a conservative, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its inception in 1946), UMNO has been known as ...

in his student days, including while studying in the United Kingdom. After returning to Malaysia he became a magistrate, and then president of the

Sessions Court A Sessions Court or even known as the Court of Sessions Judge is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries. A Court of Session is the highest criminal court in a district and the court of first instance for trying serious of ...

, before entering the corporate world. In 1986 he won election to UMNO's Supreme Council and entered Parliament in 1990, as the member for Kota Tinggi. He was immediately appointed Minister for Justice, and in 1995 became the Defence Minister. In 1999, he was appointed the Foreign Minister by Prime Minister

. In March 2008, he was appointed the Home Minister. In April 2009, he was dropped from the Cabinet. The previous month he had contested, but failed to win, one of UMNO's three vice-president positions at the party's general assembly. He left Parliament in 2013, deciding not to re-contest the seat of Kota Tinggi, which he had held by large margins since 1990. On 18 February 2022, he announced his retirement from politics and devotion of time to legal practice work and non-governmental organisation (NGO) activities.

Post-political career (2022–present)

Chancellor of the Asia e University (2022–present)

On 15 October 2022 during the 11th convocation ceremony of the Asia e University (AeU), Syed Hamid was appointed its 1st Chancellor. His appointment was made based on his "vast experience in administration and management he possesses" and confidence that he would "provide AeU with the direction and leadership to further enhance its academic standing". Responding to the appointment, Syed Hamid said that it was unexpected and that he was deeply moved, humbled and touched to get the "recognition". He also described it as a "great honour and privilege".

Election results

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : ** 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) (1984) ** Commander of the

(PMN) – Tan Sri (2009) * : ** Order of the Crown of Johor ribbon bar

Companion of the

Order of the Crown of Johor The Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Johor ( Malay: ''Darjah Mahkota Johor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an Order of chivalry awarded by the Sultan of Johor. It was first instituted on July 31, 1886. It is awarded in three classes: *Knight Grand Co ...

(SMJ) (1991) ** Order of the Crown of Johor ribbon bar

Knight Commander of the

(DPMJ) – Dato' (1992) ** Order of the Crown of Johor ribbon bar

Knight Grand Commander of the

(SPMJ) – Dato' * : ** Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Kedah (SPMK) – Dato' Seri (2008) * : ** MY-MAL Exalted Order of Malacca

Grand Commander of the Exalted Order of Malacca (DGSM) – Datuk Seri (2007) * : ** MY-PEN Order of the Defender of State - Knight Commander - DPPN

Knight Commander of the Order of the Defender of State (DPPN) – Dato' Seri (2004) * : ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - SPDK

Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (1997)

Foreign honours

* : ** Star of Yudha Dharma, 1st Class (BYDU) (1996) * : ** JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

(2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syed Hamid Albar 1944 births Living people People from Penang Malaysian politicians of Malay descent Malaysian people of Yemeni descent Hadhrami people Malaysian Muslims 20th-century Malaysian lawyers Former Malaysian United Indigenous Party politicians Former United Malays National Organisation politicians Government ministers of Malaysia Ministers of foreign affairs of Malaysia Ministers of defence of Malaysia Home ministers of Malaysia Justice ministers of Malaysia Members of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Grand Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor Knights Grand Commander of the Exalted Order of the Crown of Kedah Knights Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor Companions of the Order of the Crown of Johor Malaysian MPs 1990–1995 Malaysian MPs 1995–1999 Malaysian MPs 1999–2004 Malaysian MPs 2004–2008 Malaysian MPs 2008–2013