Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin (Jawi: محمد خالد بن نوردين; born 30 November 1958) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Defence since December 2023 and previously served as the Minister of Higher Education prior to the 2023 cabinet reshuffle for the second term from December 2022 to December 2023 in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He had previously served as Deputy Minister of Works, Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development and his first term as Minister of Higher Education in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Ministers Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak from 1999 to 2013. Additionally, he served as the 15th Menteri Besar of Johor after he contested and became a Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Permas from May 2013 to May 2018. Throughout his political career, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for 3 different Johorean federal constituencies, which are Johor Bahru from October 1990 to March 2004, Pasir Gudang from March 2004 to May 2013 and currently for Kota Tinggi since November 2022. He is a member and the Division Chief of Pasir Gudang of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He has served as one of the Vice Presidents of UMNO since June 2018 and had also served as the State Chairman of UMNO of Johor from January to December 2023.
In his corporate career he had served as Non-Independent and Non-Executive Chairman of the Boustead Holdings from May 2020 to his resignation in August 2022 and had also served as Chairman of the Johor Corporation Berhad.
Early life Khaled is of Banjar descent. He was born in Muar, Johor, Malaysia. He received his early education at Sekolah Rendah Ledang Tangkak and High School Muar later before continued to English College Johore Bahru. Khaled further his studies at University of Malaya and graduated with a law degree in 1982.
Career Before entering politics, Khaled worked for the Malaysian oil giant Petronas. In the 1980s he worked as an adviser to Shahrir Abdul Samad, a federal minister.
Politics Khaled entered the federal parliament himself in the 1990 election, at the age of 31, winning the seat of Johor Bahru against a Semangat 46 (S46) candidate. In 2004 he became the Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, and in 2008 was appointed as the Minister of Higher Education. After 23 years at federal politics, he shifted to the Johor State Legislative Assembly in the 2013 election, winning the seat of Permas. The Barisan Nasional coalition held its majority in the assembly, and Khaled took over as the state's 15th Menteri Besar of Johor. In the 2018 election somehow, Khaled contested concurrently the Pasir Gudang parliamentary and Permas state seats but was defeated both which also witnessed BN lost in the federal and state governments to Pakatan Harapan (PH). Khaled decided not to contest the 2022 Johor state election which will be for the first time held separately for the federal and state elections.
Election results + Parliament of Malaysia Percentage figures exclude informal votes. Independent and third party candidates not listed. Results only available from the 2004 election.YearConstituencyCandidateVotesPctOpponent(s)VotesPctBallots castMajorityTurnout1990P130 Johor Bahru (UMNO)24,98058.47%Jaafar Onn (S46)16,81439.35%43,8568,16667.54% Ismail Wanjor (IND) 9302.18%1995P141 Johor BahruMohamed Khaled Nordin (UMNO)40,14179.76%Zahrah Mohd Yusof (S46)6,02311.97%52,42434,11870.56% Tan Tien Lim (PBS) 4,1658.28%1999Mohamed Khaled Nordin (UMNO)38,70773.23%Abdul Razak Ahmad (PRM)14,14926.77%54,58824,55870.13%2004P159 Pasir GudangMohamed Khaled Nordin (UMNO)38,12384.48%A. Razak Ahmad (PKR)7,00215.52%46,17831,12175.49%2008Mohamed Khaled Nordin (UMNO)35,84965.88%Md Rizan Mohd Saman (PKR)18,56834.12%55,89117,28176.71%2018Mohamed Khaled Nordin (UMNO)36,88935.21% (PKR) 61,61558.80%106,57624,72685.83%Ab. Aziz Abdullah (PAS)6,2785.99%2022P156 Kota Tinggi (UMNO) 25,41053.68%Ridhwan Rasman (BERSATU) 17,02035.96%47,3338,39077.23%Onn Jaafar (AMANAH) 4,90310.36%
+ Johor State Legislative AssemblyResults only available for the 2013 election.YearConstituencyCandidateVotesPctOpponent(s)VotesPctBallots castMajorityTurnout2013N43 Permas (UMNO)23,95255.79%Syed Othman Abdullah (PAS)18,20042.39%42,9325,75286.90%2018Mohamed Khaled Nordin (UMNO)20,04737.81% (BERSATU)28,79354.30%53,9298,74685.48%Ab. Aziz Abdullah (PAS)4,1817.89%
Honours Honours of Malaysia
Recipient of the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal Recipient of the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal Recipient of the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor (SPMJ) – Dato' (2013) Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor (SMIJ) – Dato' (2015) First Class of the Sultan Ibrahim of Johor Medal (PSI I) (2017) Second Class of the Sultan Ibrahim Medal (PIS II) First Class of Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Coronation Medal
Knight Grand Companion of the Order of the Crown of Pahang (SIMP) – formerly Dato', now Dato' Indera (2006)
Officer of the Order of the Defender of State (DSPN) – Dato' (2002)
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Perak State Crown (SPMP) – Dato' Seri (2006)
Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) – Dato Sri (2008)
See also Johor Bahru (federal constituency) Pasir Gudang (federal constituency)
References
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