Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud (born 29 December 1987) is a Malaysian lawyer and politician. She is the former political secretary to

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left social democracy, social democratic political party in Malaysia. ...

(DAP) veteran leader and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Lim Kit Siang Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a Malaysian politician. He is the longest-serving leader of the opposition in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions. He is also former Secretary-Genera ...

. Dyana is also a columnist for

The Malay Mail ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Online and

Sinar Harian ''Sinar Harian'' (''Daily Light'') is a Malay-language daily newspaper published in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia in a compact format. It first hit the newsstands on 31 March 2006 in the East Coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu before expandi ...

, a national Malay-language daily. She has also written a book called ''Di Sini Bermula'' (An Earthly Beginning) which contains her compilation of her articles written for

Online. Following her return from the UK in 2016, Dyana became a partner in Ayub & Co, a legal firm based in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Education

Dyana obtained her Bachelor of Law (Hons) (LLB) degree from

UiTM The MARA Technological University ( Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to help rural Mala ...

. She was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 2011. Dyana completed her postgraduate studies at

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

, where she obtained a Master of Arts with merit in international studies and diplomacy.

Political career

Entry into politics

In January 2012, Dyana joined Democratic Action Party and she was subsequently elected into DAP

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

Youth Wing's executive committee. She was then appointed political secretary to DAP Parliamentary Leader

, and played an active role during the 13th Malaysian general election campaigning for

for the parliamentary seat of

Gelang Patah Gelang Patah is a suburb in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru District, Johor, Malaysia. It was administered by ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional for over 5 decades until the 13th Malaysian General Elections. One of its schools, Sekolah Menengah K ...

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

. She subsequently vacated her post as political secretary when she left to pursue her postgraduate studies in London in September 2015.

2014 Teluk Intan by-election

Following the vacancy of Telok Intan parliamentary seat due to the death of its member of parliament, Seah Leong Peng, Dyana was nominated as the DAP candidate for the 2014 Telok Intan by-election where her victory would have allowed her to become the first ever female Malay Member of Parliament for the DAP. However, she lost by a narrow margin to a veteran politician,

Mah Siew Keong Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong (; Hokchew BUC: ''Má Siù-Khhíong''; born 17 June 1961) is a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in the Barisan Nasi ...

in the by-election.

Post 2014 Teluk Intan by-election

After her defeat, Dyana remained in Teluk Intan acting in the capacity of Chairman of DAP Teluk Intan Community Center, operating the community service centre with the state assemblyman for Pasir Bedamar,

Terence Naidu Terence Naidu is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of the Perak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Pasir Bedamar from May 2013 to November 2022. He is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakata ...

. She was also appointed as DAP Perak state committee member and executive committee in National DAP Youth wing. During this time, she initiated the Teluk Intan Colour Run, the first event of its kind in Teluk Intan which has become an annual landmark attracting 800-1000 participants yearly. According to Dyana, the run is meant is to celebrate diversity, where "no matter what our colour... we are all headed towards the same finishing line." In 2015, Dyana was also responsible for launching a RM10 donation drive to raise funds for a new fishermen's jetty at Kampung Esso Following the campaign's success, she launched a similar donation drive for a fishermen's jetty at Kampung Belakang Kilang Padi on the Perak River.

Personal life

Dyana is married to

Zairil Khir Johari Zairil Khir Johari (born 17 October 1982) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of the Penang State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state administration under Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Member of the Pen ...

, a Malaysian politician and current

Penang State Executive Council The Penang State Executive Council is the executive authority of the state government of Penang, a Malaysian state. Led by the Chief Minister, the head of government who is appointed by Penang's head of state, the Governor, the Executive Council al ...

lor.

Election results

Accolades and recognition

In 2015, Dyana was selected by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program, a premier professional exchange programme that allows current and emerging foreign leaders to visit the United States to develop networks with their American counterparts. Later in the year, Dyana was selected by the

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

to participate in the Australia-Malaysia Muslim Exchange Programme. In 2015, Dyana was featured by

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

magazine as a leading Malaysian female personality in support of Marie Claire's Wake Up to a Good Cause campaign. The campaign seeks to support Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) in highlighted abuse against women.