BN Deputy Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin on nomination day at Ijok.
'Khairy Jamaluddin' (born
January 10,
1976) is a
Malaysian
politician with a background in journalism and investment banking. Son of a former high ranking Malaysian Diplomat, and the son-in-law of Malaysia's current
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. A controversial figure, Khairy's political and financial influence has been described as substantial as he is alleged to be the one making the decision for the country rather than his father-in-law. He is married to Nori Abdullah, and is the Deputy Chief of the
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Youth wing, a post he won unchallenged in the 2004 UMNO Annual General Meeting with the influence of his father-in-law.
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).
He comments on the economic climate of Malaysia and has been often criticised as the Economics portion of his degree was very minimal.
Controversies and criticism
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.
In 2006 Khairy quote
Lim Kit Siang as an outdated politician.
[1]
ECM Libra
Around late 2005, he 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 Jamaluddin 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. Both Khairy and Prime Minister Abdullah strenuously denied 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."
[5]
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."
[6]
Alleged affair with actress Maya Karin
In August 2006, it was alleged in the media that Khairy had taken the popular Malaysian actress
Maya Karin as his second wife. Both Khairy and Maya denied this.
[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. 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 remarks, 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:
Support of illegal racing
Another controversy that created a stir among Malaysians was the unsuccessful attempt by Khairy Kamaluddin and Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim to rebrand "
Mat Rempits" as "Mat Cemerlang"
[11]. "Mat Rempit" is a derogatory term used to refer to youths who aim to win drugs, prostitutes and cash in illegal racings 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".
Jihad Ekonomi Melayu (Malay Economic Struggle)
In the Jihad Ekonomi Melayu (Malay Economic Struggle) congress held in March, 2007, Khairy's paper on "Paradigm Shift and the Malay Agenda" received a lukewarm response from the CEOs of government-linked companies in Malaysia. 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 have boycotted the Congress included CEO of Petronas (Hassan Merican), CEO of TNB (Che Khalib), CEO of Khazanah (Azman Mokhtar), CEO of Telekom Malaysia (Abdul Wahid Omar) and PLUS CEO as reported by
Agenda Daily.
References
1. Jeff Ooi. ECM-Libra: Brouhaha about Highs & Lows. August
2. Bernama. PAC Finds ECM Libra-Avenue Merger In Accordance With Procedures. August
3. The Star. Bad calls led to Matrade mess. August.
4. Bernama. Khairy Jamaluddin Sells Entire Stake In ECM Libra Avenue. August.
5. Beech, Hannah (October 30, 2006). Not the Retiring Type (page three). ''TIME''.
6. Goh, Melissa (November 18, 2006). Khairy says he does not influence government decisions. ''Channel News Asia''.
7. The Star. Khairy: Check your facts first August 5, 2006.
8. The Star Online
class=wikiexternal target=_blank>[2] August.
9. Ooi, Jeff (2006). Freetalk 16: Ultraman, uncut version. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
10. Harakahdaily.net
class=wikiexternal target=_blank>[3] September 6, 2006
11. Mat Rempit: We wont stop The Star Online
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''.
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