Ahmad Shabery Cheek

Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek (Jawi: ; 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. 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Honours

 * Terengganu :
 * MY-TER Order of the Crown of Terengganu - SPMT - SMT - AMT.svg Companion of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu (SMT) (2005)
 * MY-TER Order of the Crown of Terengganu - Dato Paduka - DPMT.svg Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu (DPMT) – Dato' (2007)
 * Pahang :
 * MY-PAH Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang - Grand Knight - SSAP.svg Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2010)