Khairy Jamaluddin - Personal Background

Personal Background

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.

Khairy was born in Kuwait City, Kuwait. He had his secondary education at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore, and his university education at Oxford University and University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom. While at Oxford, he studied at St Hugh's College, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). In 1998, he completed his Master's degree in Legal and Political Theory at UCL.

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 two sons, Jibreil Ali Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and Timur Abdullah Jamaluddin Abu Bakar.