Ahmad Shabery Cheek

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Cheek is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Ahmad Shabery. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.

Yang Berbahagia Dato' Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek SSAP DPMT SMT
احمد صبري چئ‎
Chairman of the Federal Land Development Authority
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2023
Monarchs	Abdullah (2023–2024) Ibrahim (since 2024)
Prime Minister	Anwar Ibrahim
Minister	Rafizi Ramli
Director-General	Amiruddin Abdul Satar
Preceded by	Idris Jusoh
Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
In office 28 July 2015 – 10 May 2018
Monarchs	Abdul Halim (2015–2016) Muhammad V (2016–2018)
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Deputy	Tajuddin Abdul Rahman Anthony Nogeh Gumbek
Preceded by	Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Succeeded by	Salahuddin Ayub
Constituency	Kemaman
Minister of Communications and Multimedia
In office 16 May 2013 – 28 July 2015
Monarch	Abdul Halim
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Deputy	Jailani Johari
Preceded by	Rais Yatim (Minister of Information, Communications and Culture)
Succeeded by	Salleh Said Keruak
Constituency	Kemaman
In office 19 March 2008 – 8 April 2009
Monarch	Mizan Zainal Abidin
Prime Minister	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Deputy	Tan Lian Hoe Joseph Salang Gandum
Preceded by	Zainuddin Maidin
Succeeded by	Rais Yatim (Minister of Information, Communications, Arts and Culture)
Constituency	Kemaman
Minister of Youth and Sports
In office 10 April 2008 – 15 May 2013
Monarchs	Mizan Zainal Abidin (2008–2011) Abdul Halim (2011–2013)
Prime Minister	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Najib Razak
Deputy	Razali Ibrahim (2008–2013) Wee Jeck Seng (2009–2011) Gan Ping Sieu (2011–2013)
Preceded by	Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Succeeded by	Khairy Jamaluddin
Constituency	Kemaman
Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs
In office 2006–2008
Monarch	Mizan Zainal Abidin
Prime Minister	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Minister	Rais Yatim
Constituency	Kemaman
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Kemaman
In office 21 March 2004 – 9 May 2018
Preceded by	Abd Rahman Yusof (PKR)
Succeeded by	Che Alias Hamid (PAS)
Majority	15,882 (2004) 12,683 (2008) 12,306 (2013)
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
2004–2018	Barisan Nasional
Personal details
Born	Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek (1958-12-10) 10 December 1958 (age 66) Kemaman, Terengganu, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
Citizenship	Malaysian
Political party	United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) (–1989, since 1996) Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46) (1989–1996)
Other political affiliations	Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) (1990–1996) Gagasan Rakyat (GR) (1990–1996) Barisan Nasional (BN) (–1989, since 1996)
Spouse	Che Sharifah Ismail
Alma mater	University of Malaya (Bachelor's degree (economics)) University of Leeds (Master's degree (political science))
Occupation	Politician

Yang Berbahagia Dato' Sri Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek (Jawi: احمد صبري بن چئ‎; born 10 December 1958) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Chairman of the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) since July 2023. He served as Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Minister of Youth and Sports and Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Ministers Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak as well as former Minister Rais Yatim from 2006 to the collapse of the BN administration in May 2018. He also served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kemaman from March 2004 to May 2018. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition and was a member of the Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46), a component party of the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) and Gagasan Rakyat (GR) coalitions.[1] He was also Member of the Supreme Council of UMNO.

Education and early career

Ahmad Shabery was born in Kijal, Kemaman, Terengganu on 10 December 1958 and received his early education in both Sekolah Sungai Lembing, Kuantan (primary) as well as in Sekolah Datuk Abdul Razak, Seremban (secondary).

In 1983, he pursued a course in economics at Universiti Malaya and graduated with a bachelor's degree. During this period, he was also elected as the president of the university's Muslim Students Association. In 1986, he obtained his master's degree from the University of Leeds and in 1989, he obtained a postgraduate diploma in International Relations from the Uppsala University 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's Faculty of Economics and Administration. He has also served as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

Political career

Ahmad Shabery left UMNO in 1989 to join other members rebelling against the then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in the newly formed breakaway Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (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 (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 12th general elections in 2008, which saw the incumbent Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin lose his parliamentary seat, the then-Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi appointed Ahmad as Zainuddin's replacement.[2]

In April 2009, he was appointed as Minister of Youth and Sports in a minor cabinet reshuffle.[3]

On 15 July 2008, Ahmad Shabery Cheek participated in a historic debate on the national fuel price with then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, which was televised live.[4]

After the 13th general elections in 2013, he was appointed as Minister of Communications and Multimedia for a second time round, after holding the same position in 2008 under a differently named portfolio known as the Ministry of Information.[5]

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 (PH) new government.

Chairman of the Federal Land Development Authority (since 2023)

On 28 June 2023, Ahmad Shabery was declared the new Chairman of FELDA succeeding Idris Jusoh. His appointment took effect on 1 July 2023. His appointment was welcomed positively, in which it marked as an enabler of the progress for the transformation efforts of FELDA to benefit both the existing and new generations of settlers.[6]

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1990	P037 Kemaman		Ahmad Shabery Cheek (S46)	11,793	34.80%		Ismail Said (UMNO)	21,239	62.60%	33,904	9,446	81.15%
1995	P075 Lipis		Ahmad Shabery Cheek (S46)	8,394	31.20%		Abu Dahari Osman (UMNO)	18,507	68.80%	29,011	10,113	68.49%
2004	P040 Kemaman		Ahmad Shabery Cheek (UMNO)	36,517	63.89%		Abd Rahman Yusof (PKR)	20,635	36.11%	58,461	15,882	88.02%
2008			Ahmad Shabery Cheek (UMNO)	37,199	60.28%		Mohd Fariz Abd Talib @ Musa (PKR)	24,516	39.72%	62,868	12,683	83.82%
2013			Ahmad Shabery Cheek (UMNO)	45,525	57.81%		Kamarudin Chik (PKR)	33,219	42.19%	80,168	12,306	87.19%
2018			Ahmad Shabery Cheek (UMNO)	37,715	41.67%		Che Alias Hamid (PAS)	39,878	44.06%	90,504	2,163	84.12%
							Mohd Huzaifah Md Suhaimi (PKR)	12,911	14.27%

Honours

•  Terengganu :
  • Companion of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu (SMT) (2005)[14]
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu (DPMT) – Dato' (2007)[15]
•  Pahang :
  • Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2010)[16]

See also

• Kemaman (federal constituency)

References

1. "Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek, Y.B. Dato' Sri" (in Malay). Parliament of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
2. "Malaysian govt. softens stance toward bloggers". The Hindu. 22 March 2008. Archived from the original on 5 November 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
3. "Nor Mohamed sees role in EPU as vital for 1Malaysia". The Star. Star Publications. 10 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
4. Andrew Ong (15 July 2008). "Anwar vs Shabery in historic debate". Malaysiakini. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
5. "MCMC: Shabery The Right Man For Communications and Multimedia Minister Post". Malaysian Digest. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
6. "Ahmad Shabery Cheek appointed as Felda chairman". The Star. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
7. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 6 June 2010. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
8. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
9. "KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13". Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
10. "my undi : Kawasan & Calon-Calon PRU13 : Keputusan PRU13 (Archived copy)". www.myundi.com.my. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
11. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13". Utusan Malaysia. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
12. "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE - 14" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
13. "The Star Online GE14". The Star. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
14. "Sultan of Terengganu's Birthday Honours list". The Star. 27 July 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
15. "178 to receive state awards". The Star (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 16 July 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
16. "Sultan of Pahang's birthday honours list 2010". The Star. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2018.