Khairy Jamaluddin

Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (Jawi: خيري جمال الدين ابو بكر, Malay pronunciation: [xai̯ɾi dʒamaluden]; born 10 January 1976), also known as KJ, is a Malaysian politician and blogger who served as the Minister of Health from August 2021 to November 2022 under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. He is currently a presenter on Hot FM and co-hosts the political podcast Keluar Sekejap with Shahril Hamdan. A member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), he was the MP for Rembau from 2008 to 2022 and led the party’s youth wing from 2008 to 2018. He served as Minister of Youth and Sports from 2013 to 2018 under Najib Razak. Following the 2020 political crisis, he joined the Perikatan Nasional government. He became Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation under Muhyiddin Yassin from 2020 to 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was appointed as the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Program (PICK), before being made Minister of Health. In the 2022 general election, Khairy contested the Sungai Buloh seat, a Pakatan Harapan stronghold, and narrowly lost—slashing the majority from 26,634 to just 2,693 votes.