42 Facts About Khairy Jamaluddin

Khairy Jamaluddin was the Youth Chief of UMNO from March 2008 to June 2018.

Khairy Jamaluddin served as Minister of Youth and Sports in the BN administration under former Prime Minister Najib Razak from May 2013 to May 2018.

Khairy Jamaluddin lost his parliamentary seat in the 2022 general election where he was relocated to contest in Sungai Buloh, an urban Pakatan Harapan safe seat but managed to reduce the majority from 26,634 to 2,693.

Khairy Jamaluddin 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.

Khairy Jamaluddin's late father, Jamaluddin was a senior diplomatic officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, retiring as the Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Khairy Jamaluddin'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 Jamaluddin 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 in the United Kingdom.

Khairy Jamaluddin served as a presenter on the talkshow Dateline Malaysia.

Khairy Jamaluddin had a stint working for The Economist in 1999.

Thereafter, Khairy Jamaluddin became a Special Officer in the office of Abdullah Badawi, who was then the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Khairy Jamaluddin was Abdullah's Deputy Principal Private Secretary from 2003 to 2004.

Khairy Jamaluddin was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Khairy Jamaluddin has written for major publications including The Economist, Time and the Wall Street Journal.

Khairy Jamaluddin became closely involved in football during his pre-parliamentary career.

Khairy Jamaluddin holds a number of high-profile positions in the Malaysian football scene, and is involved in a number of football-related associations.

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

Under the prime ministership of his father-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin rose to prominence within UMNO and Malaysian politics generally.

Khairy Jamaluddin became the deputy chief of UMNO's youth wing and served as a close personal adviser to Abdullah.

Khairy Jamaluddin's perceived influence on Abdullah test, including from Abdullah's predecessor Mahathir Mohamad.

Khairy Jamaluddin 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.

In September 2008, Khairy Jamaluddin called for the reversal of the policy, citing that the policy had failed and only caused burden to students.

Khairy Jamaluddin regularly debated non-government and opposition figures in public, including Ambiga Sreenevasan on the transparency of the Election Commission of Malaysia, and senior Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader, and close Anwar Ibrahim ally, Rafizi Ramli on higher education loans.

Khairy Jamaluddin lost his cabinet position despite retaining his parliamentary seat.

Khairy Jamaluddin 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 following the Sheraton Move.

Khairy Jamaluddin has signed an agreement with China for Malaysia to be given priority access to COVID-19 vaccines developed in China.

In February 2021, Khairy Jamaluddin was appointed as the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Program.

Khairy Jamaluddin led the Special Task Force to manage the implementation of the vaccination process.

Khairy Jamaluddin was regarded as the next UMNO Messiah and savior as he promised that he will revive the UMNO back after its worst defeat in the 2022 general election.

Khairy Jamaluddin started producing a weekly political podcast, Keluar Sekejap with Shahril Hamdan.

Khairy Jamaluddin 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.

On 26 October 2016, Khairy Jamaluddin was elevated from the rank of 'Colonel' to 'Brigadier-General' effective 14 January 2015.

Khairy Jamaluddin amidst then was a political novice with no experience in government himself even held the posts of 'special officer' and Deputy Principal Private Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office.

In 2005, one year after Abdullah became prime minister, Khairy Jamaluddin helped in the merger between ECM Libra Capital Bhd and the Malaysian government-owned Avenue Capital Resources Bhd.

The deal was transacted at 71 cents per share for a total of approximately US$2.6 million where Khairy Jamaluddin was able to finance it through a soft loan from the founders.

At that time, Khairy Jamaluddin, 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.

Khairy Jamaluddin mentioned the role of the Malay community, which has historically been in the majority, but his statement about the Chinese community raised eyebrows.

Khairy Jamaluddin suggested that the Chinese had not been as involved in the independence struggle compared to the Malays, implying that they had not made as significant a contribution in the context of the nation's formation.

Khairy Jamaluddin later clarified his comments, stating that he had been misunderstood, and that his intention was not to be dismissive of the Chinese community.

In 2016, Khairy Jamaluddin 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 Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Khairy Jamaluddin 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.

The event had led to Khairy Jamaluddin seeking and granted an audience with the sultan at the palace to resolve the predicament caused immediately.

Khairy Jamaluddin is the son-in-law of the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.