Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek ( Jawi: ; born 10 December 1958) is a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

(BN) coalition government (2015-2018), and sat in Parliament as the member for Kemaman, Terengganu from 2004 to May 2018. He represents the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

(UMNO). He was elected to the Supreme Council of UMNO in 2009.

Education and early career

Ahmad Shabery was born in

Kijal Kijal (est. pop. (2000 census): 4,375)Dept. of Urban and Rural Planning, Terengganu State Government. ''Rancangan Struktur Negeri Terengganu 2005-2015'' (Malay), 2005 is a mukim in Kemaman District, Terengganu, Malaysia. The town is well kno ...

, Kemaman, Terengganu, on 10 December 1958, and received his early education at the Sekolah Sungai Lembing and

Sekolah Datuk Abdul Razak This is a list of deities of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', including all of the 3.5 edition gods and powers of the "Core Setting" for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') roleplaying game. Religion is a key element of the D&D game, since it is require ...

Seremban Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Sere ...

. In 1983, he pursued a course in economics at the

Universiti Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian i ...

. During this period, he was also elected as the president of the university's Muslim Students Association. In 1986, he obtained his bachelor's degree from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and in 1989 he obtained a postgraduate diploma in International Relations from the

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in Sweden. That same year, he was appointed the Secretary of the Malaysian Social Science Association (PSSM). In 1990, he became a lecturer in the

University Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

's Faculty of Economics and Administration. He has also served as a Research Fellow at the

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

in Singapore.

Political career

Ahmad Shabery left UMNO in 1989 to join other members rebelling against the then-Prime Minister

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

in the newly formed breakaway

Parti Melayu Semangat 46 The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or ''Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46)'' is a now defunct Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's "Team B" faction of the United Malays ...

(S46), until its dissolution in 1996 where he rejoined UMNO again. In 2004, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Kemaman, defeating incumbent Abd Rahman Yusof of the

People's Justice Party The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

(PKR) by 15,882 votes. In 2008, he retained the seat after beating PKR's Fariz Musa by 12,682 votes, and won again in 2013, defeating Kamaruddin Chik (PKR) by 12,306 votes. But in the 2018 general election, he lost the parliamentary seat. After the 2008 general election, which saw the incumbent Information Minister

Zainuddin Maidin Tan Sri Zainuddin bin Maidin ( Jawi: زين الدين بن ميدين; ‎26 June 1939 – 14 December 2018) was a Malaysian politician and the former Information Minister in the Malaysian cabinet representing United Malays National Org ...

lose his parliamentary seat, the then-Prime Minister

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...

appointed Ahmad as Zainuddin's replacement. On 15 July 2008, Ahmad Shabery Cheek participated in a historic debate on the national fuel price with the opposition leader

Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...

, which was televised live. In April 2009, the new Prime Minister

Najib Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysi ...

appointed him as the Minister for Youth and Sports. After the 13th General Election, he was appointed as Minister of Communication and Multimedia. In 2015, he was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in a cabinet reshuffle. When he and BN lost in the 2018 general election, he was replaced by Salahuddin Ayub from the

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the r ...

(PH) new government.

Election results

Honours

* : **

MY-TER Order of the Crown of Terengganu - SPMT - SMT - AMT

Companion of the

Order of the Crown of Terengganu The Most Distinguished Order of the Crown of Terengganu (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Terengganu Yang Amat Mulia'') is an honorific order of the Sultanate of Terengganu. History It was founded by Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin of Tereng ...

(SMT) (2005) ** MY-TER Order of the Crown of Terengganu - Dato Paduka - DPMT

Knight Commander of the

(DPMT) – Dato' (2007) * : ** MY-PAH Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang - Grand Knight - SSAP

Grand Knight of the

Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang The Most Illustrious Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (Malay: ''Darjah Kebesaran Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang Yang Amat Di Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang. History The order was founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah on 24 Oc ...

(SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabery, Ahmad 1958 births Living people People from Terengganu Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims United Malays National Organisation politicians Parti Melayu Semangat 46 politicians Members of the Dewan Rakyat Government ministers of Malaysia Alumni of the University of Leeds University of Malaya alumni University of Malaya faculty 21st-century Malaysian politicians Agriculture ministers of Malaysia Knights Commander of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu

Education and early career

Political career

Election results

Honours

See also

References