Interview with Yang Berhormat Khairy Jamaluddin
(Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar), Member of Parliament for Rembau, UMNO Youth President
Biography:
Khairy Jamaluddin is a young and powerful member of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. He is also Chairman of Barisan Nasional Youth, and Leader of UMNO Youth. He has been the Member of Parliament for the federal electorate of Rembau since 2008, where he was declared the winner of a bitterly contested election and controversial vote count. There was wide reporting in the Malaysian media and in the blogosphere of allegations of irregularities and manipulation in the vote. The initial count indicated that Khairy’s opponent, blogger ‘Chegu Bard’ had won by 144 votes, but after a recount, Khairy won by a margin of 5000 votes.
Prior to his election, Khairy Jamaluddin had worked as a television presenter, journalist and as a staff member to then Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who was later to become Prime Minister. Khairy is married to Nori Abdullah, daughter of former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi. They have two children.
Born in Kuwait to Malaysian parents, Khairy received his secondary schooling in an exclusive private school in Singapore. Khairy's late father was a public servant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, retiring as the Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Khairy obtained his undergraduate degree at Oxford and his postgraduate degree at the University College London.
His rapid rise to power under the prime ministership of his father-in-law attracted the attention of many commentators and the media, who predicted that he would be a future senior leader. During this time, Khairy was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He has written for major publications including The Economist, Time and the Wall Street Journal.
Khairy is renowned for engaging the younger members of his party. He was instrumental in setting up free tuition centres and an internship programme for students, and was involved in a reality television programme on football. Khairy is also an avid user of Facebook and Twitter, and keeps in touch with his supporters and admirers using these New Media applications. In 2006, Khairy led a large group of Muslim youth from both sides of politics in street protests during the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In August 2008, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission blocked access to the popular site, Malaysia Today. The Star newspaper reported that Khairy spoke against the move, citing that the move was a “blatant and crude employment of state power” and “is inconsistent with the widening of democratic space.” Khairy also said that such move will only alienate young urban voters from the ruling party, and is at odds with the Multimedia Super Corridor Bill of Guarantees – a 10-point Bill that prescribes zero Internet censorship.”
