Hishammuddin Hussein
Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Bin Tun Hussein (born August
1961) is a
Malaysian politician and member of
United Malays National Organization (UMNO). He is the current Malaysian Education Minister, having served since
March 30,
2004. He is also the Chairman of the Youth Wing of UMNO.
Hishamuddin is the son of Tun
Hussein Onn, the third Prime Minister of Malaysia and subsequently the grandson of
Onn Jaafar. His grandfather
Onn Jaafar was one of the founders of
UMNO. Hishamuddin is also the cousin of the current
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Seri
Najib Tun Razak. He was attending
Malay College Kuala Kangsar before his father became
Deputy Prime Minister in 1973. Upon his father's appointment to the post, he was transferred to a private school abroad.
Prior to his commencing his political career, Hishamuddin was formerly a lawyer with the large Malaysian firm of Shearn Delamore and Lee Hishammuddin.
His wife, Yang Mulia Datin Seri
Tengku Marsilla Tengku Abdullah, is a princess from the State of
Pahang in
Malaysia.
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Hishammuddin's act of waving the keris (traditional Malay dagger) at the UMNO Annual General Meeting in 2005 drew applause from the UMNO delegates. |
In 1996, Hishamuddin was suspected of having a hand in violently breaking up the
Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (APCET).
Later in 2005, Hishammuddin became notorious for waving the
keris (traditional Malay dagger) at the UMNO Annual General Meeting. His reason for his action was to defend the principle of
ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) and to threaten those who opposed the Malay special rights as set out in
Article 153 of the
Constitution of Malaysia and in the
social contract. Although applauded by the Malay delegates, the picture of Hishammuddin with the
keris was widely ridiculed and parodied in the Malaysian
blogosphere.
*Ooi, Jeff (2005).
"The 30% solution". Retrieved Nov. 17, 2005.
