Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (born January 10, 1976) is a Malaysian politician, with a background in journalism and investment banking. He is the son of a former Malaysian diplomat, and the son-in-law of Malaysia's current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He is currently the deputy chief of the youth wing of the Malaysian political party UMNO, and became the Member of Parliament for Rembau at the 2008 Malaysian general election.

Background

Khairy was born in Kuwait City, Kuwait. He is the only son of former diplomat Dato' Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and Dato' Rahmah Abdul Hamid. Khairy had his secondary education at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore, and his university education at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. While at Oxford, he studied at St Hugh's College, and graduated with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).

Controversies and criticism

Khairy's political path had been marked by controversies. That had made him one of the most quoted politician in Malaysian local media.

Debate challenge to an opposition leader

In September 2005, Khairy challenged Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang to a debate in Parliament. However, Lim told him not to ask any Member of Parliament (MP) to debate unless he himself became an MP. Khairy later argued that he had meant to ask Lim to debate the matter in Parliament, and did not challenge him to a debate.

ECM Libra

Around late 2005, Khairy was involved in controversial merger between ECM Libra Capital Bhd and government-linked Avenue Capital Resources Bhd, which resulted in the creation of ECM Libra Avenue Bhd. In December 2005, he was granted a loan by some of the shareholders of ECM Libra Avenue Bhd. to purchase one percent of the firm's share at 71 sen per share.^[1] A public audit committee chaired by parliamentarian Shahrir Abdul Samad was later set up to investigate allegation of wrongdoing done during the merger. The committee on August 10 concluded that the merger was done according to procedure.^[2] On August 11, Shahrir Abdul Samad said "In principle, this can be a conflict of interest. In this case, maybe, it is a question of approval from the minister because it was probably not referred to the Cabinet."^[3] On August 12, 2006, Khairy sold his entire holding of the company at 65 sen per share.^[4]

Allegations of nepotism

In 2006, Prime Minister Abdullah and Khairy both came under heavy criticism from former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who alleged among other things that Khairy was controlling Prime Minister Abdullah's agenda from behind the scenes. The Malaysian parliamentary opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang, is also of a similar opinion, considering Khairy as the "power-behind-the-throne".^[5] Both Khairy and Prime Minister Abdullah strenuously deny this.

Khairy described himself as "a pretty easy scapegoat", but insisted that "the decisions Dr. Mahathir is unhappy with are entirely made by the Prime Minister and the cabinet."^[6]

Khairy, who once said he wanted to be Prime Minister before turning 40, had previously served as a special assistant to Abdullah. He insisted that he has no influence on Abdullah's policies, stating: "I draw a line personal, private, professional and political line with the Prime Minister."^[7]

Racial discrimination

Within a very short period, Khairy created further controversies by claiming that the Chinese Communities in Malaysia will take advantage of the Malays if UMNO is weak.^[8] This created anger and outburst not only amongst the Barisan Nasional component party such as MCA and Gerakan, but also amongst senior members of UMNO. Many viewed this speech as being confrontational in tone. In Penang, the Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon was criticised for the low income of the tsunami-prone Malay villagers in Balik Pulau.

The Prime Minister defended Khairy, saying that the media misquoted him. Khairy refused to apologise, stating that his remarks are genuine and important to defend Islam and the Malay rights. This led Jeff Ooi and Oon Yeoh, two prominent Bloggers in Malaysia to label Khairy as the new Malay-Ultra.^[9]

While there was a strong reaction to his rabble-rousing remarks^{[citation needed]}, many political analysts such as Raja Petra Kamarudin believed that Khairy was trying to distract public attention from the ECM-Libra scandal where he was alleged to have siphoned up to 9.2 million via his proxies. Dato' Seri Lim Keng Yaik, the outgoing President of Gerakan called Khairy a low standard politician who is in rush to climb the political ladder. Nik Aziz Nik Mat of PAS called the current controversy part of a strategy by UMNO to create a state of fear^[10] amongst the Malays so they would continue to support UMNO despite the corruption allegedly rampant in Abdullah Badawi's administration.

Khairy later insisted that he was not an extremist, and decried racial extremism. In an address to the People’s Progressive Party Youth wing convention at the Putra World Trade Centre on 16 December 2006, Khairy said:

That is why Umno Youth will come down hard on those who breach the limits and ignore the boundaries of the law and racial sensitivities.^[11]

Leading of protest

In 2006, during a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Kuala Lumpur, Khairy, together with members of the ruling UMNO party and some from the Malaysian Islamist party PAS, led a demonstration to the venue of the meeting where he handed over a memo to demand Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon and the suspension of the military operation there.

Support of illegal racing

Another controversy that created a stir among Malaysians was the unsuccessful attempt by Khairy Jamaluddin and Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (famous for continuous boasting of his "MBA" from the degree mill, Preston University) to rebrand "Mat Rempits" as "Mat Cemerlang".^[12] "Mat Rempit" is a derogatory term used to refer to Malay youths involved in illegal racing with the aim of winning drugs, prostitutes and/or cash using (illegally) modified motorcycles. Some analysts believe that UMNO Youth is cashing on the large numbers of "Mat Rempits" in Malaysia as preparation for the upcoming elections. The suggestion by Khairy that "Mat Rempits" should become the "Eyes and Ears" for the Malaysian Police Force has sparked anger among former victims of "Mat Rempits", who previously had their vehicles smashed by "Mat Rempits".^[12]

Jihad Ekonomi Melayu (Malay Economic Struggle)

At the Jihad Ekonomi Melayu (Malay Economic Struggle) Congress in March, 2007, Khairy's paper on "Paradigm Shift and the Malay Agenda" received a lukewarm response from the CEOs of government-linked companies (GLCs) in Malaysia.^{[verification needed]} The Congress was perceived as attempt by Khairy Jamaluddin to position his associates in a favourable position in order to secure lucrative contracts offered by GLCs in Malaysia. Among those who boycotted the Congress were the CEO of Petronas (Hassan Merican), CEO of TNB (Che Khalib), CEO of Khazanah Nasional (Azman Mokhtar), CEO of Telekom Malaysia (Abdul Wahid Omar) and the PLUS CEO, as reported by Agenda Daily.

Allegations of electoral fraud

Even though Khairy was officially announced as the new Member of Parliament for Rembau after the 2008 Malaysian general election, it was alleged that he had won the seat through electoral fraud. It was reported that during the counting process, Khairy finished 800 votes behind his rival from Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Badrul Hisham Shaharin, before a re-count was requested. After the re-count, Khairy gained a lead of 5,746 votes.^[13] It was later proved that the allegation of vote recount as untrue^[14].

Participation in soccer

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

In 2006, Khairy teamed-up with radio DJ Jason Lo (who he attended high school with in Singapore) to produce the reality TV show MyTeam. The show, which was televised on TV3, brought together a squad of unknown soccer players selected at trails held around Malaysia to form a team to take on the Malaysian national football team in an exhibition match. The event drew much publicity, and MyTeam put up a creditable performance in losing 2-1 against the national side. MyTeam were invited to enter the Malaysian Premier League in 2007. The team merged with an existing club, Perak UPB FC, to form UPB-MyTeam FC, at which Khairy became the President and Lo the Deputy President. After finishing runners-up in the Premier League in 2007, the club was promoted to the Malaysian Super League for the 2008 season. A second season of the show, MyTeam2, was broadcast in 2007 (MyTeam2 took on the Indonesian national football team, losing 2-0).^[15]

On September 9 2007, Khairy was chosen uncontested as the Vice President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) during the 44th FAM Congress, to serve from 2007 to 2010, replacing Tengku Mahkota Pahang Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.^[16]

References

External links

• "The most powerful man in Malaysia". (July 3, 2005). Malaysia Today.
• "Out of the wormhole". (July 7, 2005). Malaysia Today.
• "Looking at the real Khairy Jamaluddin". Yeoh, Oon (November 23, 2005). Malaysia Today.