Khairy is the only son of former diplomat Dato' Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and Dato' Rahmah Abdul Hamid. Khairy's late father, Datuk Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, was a senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, retiring as the Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Dato' Jamaluddin died of throat cancer. Khairy's mother, Dato' Rahmah Abdul Hamid, has been heavily involved in volunteer work throughout her life. Khairy's grandfather, Penghulu Abu Bakar, was a community leader in Kota, Rembau.
After leaving university, Khairy worked as a journalist for a period. He served as a presenter on the talkshow
Dateline Malaysia. He also had a stint working for
The Economist in 1999. Thereafter, Khairy became a Special Officer in the office of Abdullah Badawi, who was then the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was Abdullah's Deputy Principal Private Secretary from 2003–04.
In October 2001, Khairy married Abdullah's daughter Nori Abdullah. The couple have three sons, Jibreil Ali Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, Timor Abdullah Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and Raif Averroes Jamaluddin Abu Bakar.
Children and Their Date of Birth[edit]
- Jibreil Ali (born on 13 September 2007) (age 8 years)
- Timor Abdullah (born on 16 December 2008) (age 7 years)
- Raif Averroes (born on 23 March 2015) (age 1 year 1 month)
Political career[edit]
UMNO Youth and ministerial officer[edit]
Under the prime ministership of his father-in-law (2003–2009), Khairy rose to prominence within UMNO and Malaysian politics generally. He became the deputy chief of UMNO's youth wing and served as a close personal adviser to Abdullah. Khairy's perceived influence on Abdullah made both men a target for criticism, including from Abdullah's predecessor
Mahathir Mohamad.
[1] On this allegation, Khairy replied that "I am a pretty easy scapegoat. [But] the decisions Dr. Mahathir is unhappy with are entirely made by the Prime Minister and the cabinet."
[1]
He became closely involved in football during his pre-parliamentary career. He holds a number of high-profile positions in the Malaysian football scene, and is involved in a number of football-related associations. In 2006, Khairy teamed-up with radio DJ
Jason Lo (with whom he attended high school in Singapore) to produce the football-based reality TV show
MyTeam.
[2]
On 9 September 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.
[3]
Election to Parliament[edit]
In his first term in parliament, Khairy involved himself in contentious policy debates. He 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.
[5] He also spoke against the
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission's blocking of the popular and often anti-government website
Malaysia Today, citing that the move was a "blatant and crude employment of state power" and "is inconsistent with the widening roads of democratic highways."
[6] He also called for an end to the
Mahathir-era policy of teaching science and maths in English.
[7]In September 2008, Khairy called for the reversal of the policy, citing that the policy had failed and only caused burden to students.
[8] He regularly debated non-government and opposition figures in public, including
Ambiga Sreenevasan on the transparency of the
Malaysian Election Commission,
[9] and senior
Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader, and close
Anwar Ibrahim ally,
Rafizi Ramli on higher education loans.
[10]
In 2010, Khairy joined the
Rejimen Askar Wataniah as a reservist after completing one month of training in Negeri Sembilan and Johor in May 2010.
[11] He then completed a five-week basic static parachuting course conducted by the army's Special Warfare Centre with 78 others in February 2011.
[12] In January 2014, he was appointed as the Commander of the 508 Regiment located in Seremban.
[13]
Ministerial career[edit]
After retaining his parliamentary seat in the
2013 election, Prime Minister
Najib Razak elevated Khairy to the Cabinet as Minister for Youth and Sports.
[14] Later in 2013 he was re-elected to the presidency of UMNO Youth.
[15]
Election results[edit]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
