Zairil Khir Johari

Early life, education and career

Zairil is the son of Khir Johari, a senior minister in early Malaysian governments and Member of Parliament from 1955 to 1982.

Zairil attended the Multimedia University in Cyberjaya, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Information Systems Engineering. He then received a Master of Arts from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Upon his return to Malaysia, Zairil started RND Chocolate Labs, where he was the chief executive officer.

In late 2010, he left business to pursue politics full-time.

Entry into politics

In 2010, Zairil joined the DAP, a leading party in opposition to the UMNO-led national government. The choice—given that his father was a prominent UMNO politician and that he would be a rare Malay member of the DAP—attracted significant attention. Zairil claimed upon joining the DAP that UMNO had changed for the worse since his father was a politician, and that "after more than 50 years of [UMNO] rule, the situation is such that people are being colonised, oppressed by our own people, we do not have any freedom." He was appointed Political Secretary to DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng on 23 February 2011.

At the DAP National Congress in December 2012, Zairil was elected to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) and appointed as the Assistant National Publicity Secretary. The election was re-run in 2013, after a tabulation error that had resulted in his exclusion. He was successful the second time around.

DAP Penang

In 2013, Zairil was elected into the DAP Penang State Committee and subsequently appointed Vice-Chairman. In the 2015 state party convention, he was reelected into the committee, placing third highest out of the fifteen elected members with a total vote of 490 out of 760 delegates. He was reappointed Vice-Chairman.

Penang Institute

From 2012 to 2016, Zairil headed the Penang Institute, a public policy think tank to the State Government of Penang. Zairil has been in the forefront of co-ordinating most of its major activities in propagating the cause of Penang on the national and international arenas, and providing realistic solutions for the economic and social sustenance of the people of the Penang region Formerly known as Socio-Economic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI), the Institute is an independent, non-profit research institute with a focus on facilitating sustainable, continuous and balanced development for the state of Penang.

Under Zairil’s leadership, the Institute organised the ASEAN Coalition for Clean Governance (ACCG). The inaugural conference was held in June 2012, attracting participants from seven countries around the region. The conference featured various leaders including former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, former head of the Indonesian Audit Board Dr Anwar Nasution and chairperson of Malaysian electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasen. As a follow-up to the conference, Penang Institute also hosted a lecture by former Indonesian President BJ Habibie. Other high-profile lectures have featured Nobel Prize winners, renowned academics and international scholars on critical issues of concern for Penang and Malaysia.

In March 2014, Zairil was promoted to the post of Executive Director and continued to hold this post until December 2016, when he stepped down to take over the reins of the Football Association of Penang. He has since been appointed as a Fellow of Penang Institute.

Member of Parliament for Bukit Bendera

During the 13th General Elections of Malaysia, Zairil won the Bukit Bendera parliamentary seat polling 45,591 votes defeating Barisan National candidate with 32,778 majority. One of the highest majorities won during the elections. He is also one of the youngest candidates to win a Parliamentary seat during the elections.