18 Facts About Isham Jalil

Isham Jalil is a former Member of the UMNO Supreme Council from June 2022 to December 2023, and has previously served as the Information Chief of UMNO from November 2022 to March 2023.

Isham Jalil's 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.

Isham Jalil eventually received a scholarship to study for his bachelor's degree in engineering abroad where he graduated at the University of Bristol.

Isham Jalil then furthered his postgraduate studies at Ivy League universities where he completed his first master's degree in Public Policy in Political Economy and Development with a minor in Law from Harvard University, and a second master's in Business Administration in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

At Harvard, Isham Jalil wrote a book titled "Malaysia Beyond 2020: Ideologies and Institutions for Growth" where it is currently archived in the Harvard University library.

Isham Jalil has nearly 20 years of shared experience working in the civil service and the government-linked company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad.

Isham Jalil had worked as a part-time lecturer at University of Technology MARA and University of Technology Malaysia for three years between 2000 and 2003.

Isham Jalil 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.

Isham Jalil was Information Chief of UMNO after GE-15 from November 2022 to March 2023 before being replaced by Minister of Law and Institutional Reform, Azalina Othman Said after he handed over the post to contest for the UMNO Supreme Council.

Isham Jalil contested in the UMNO election in March 2023 and won the post placing 19th out of 85 candidates with a total votes of 42,340 and 101 UMNO divisions out of 191 nationwide.

Isham Jalil 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.

From Astro Awani's three way dialogue with Bachok MP Syahir Sulaiman and Sunway University Professor Wong Chin Huat, Isham Jalil has stated that:.

Isham Jalil 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.

Isham Jalil has pessimistic views over the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition particularly its largest member, the Democratic Action Party 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.

Previously, Isham Jalil was offered board seats for GLCs twice under the PH and the PN government but he turned down the offers.

Isham Jalil 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.

Isham Jalil 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 Jalil posited that one of the three fundamental reasons of UMNO's loss of support and growing irrelevance is due to the absence of Najib.