Noraini Ahmad

Malaysian politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noraini binti Ahmad (Jawi: نورعيني بنت أحمد; born 7 November 1967) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Minister of Plantation and Commodities in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since December 2025 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Parit Sulong since March 2008. She served as the Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar and Minister Nancy Shukri from December 2023 to her re-promotion in December 2025, Minister of Higher Education for the second term under the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob from August 2021 to the collapse of BN administration in November 2022 and the first term in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration under former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin from March 2020 to her resignation in August 2021. She is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. She has also served as the 10th Women Chief of UMNO since June 2018, 2nd Women Youth Chief of UMNO from 2004 to 2009 and 1st Deputy Women Youth Chief from 2001 to her promotion to Women Youth Chief in 2004. She is formerly a Chairperson of the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) from March 2023[1] to January 2024. She is also the first PAC Chairwoman in Malaysian history. Her appointment as a Deputy Minister in the 2023 cabinet reshuffle is a rare occurrence in Malaysian politics since she was a former federal minister in the Muhyiddin cabinet and Ismail Sabri cabinet. She is one of the three deputy ministers who were previously a federal minister alongside Shamsul Anuar Nasarah and M. Kulasegaran.

Quick facts Minister of Plantation and Commodities, Monarch ...
Noraini Ahmad
نورعيني أحمد
Minister of Plantation and Commodities
Assumed office
17 December 2025
MonarchIbrahim Iskandar
Prime MinisterAnwar Ibrahim
DeputyHuang Tiong Sii
Preceded byJohari Abdul Ghani
ConstituencyParit Sulong
Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development
In office
12 December 2023  17 December 2025
MonarchsAbdullah
(2023–2024)
Ibrahim Iskandar
(2024–2025)
Prime MinisterAnwar Ibrahim
MinisterNancy Shukri
Preceded byAiman Athirah Sabu
Succeeded byLim Hui Ying
ConstituencyParit Sulong
Chairperson of the
Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority
In office
26 March 2023  31 January 2024
MinisterAhmad Zahid Hamidi
Director General
Abdullah Zainal
Preceded bySalim Sharif
Succeeded byManndzri Nasib
Minister of Higher Education
In office
30 August 2021  24 November 2022
MonarchAbdullah
Prime MinisterIsmail Sabri Yaakob
DeputyAhmad Masrizal Muhammad
Preceded byHerself
Succeeded byMohamed Khaled Nordin
In office
10 March 2020  6 August 2021
MonarchAbdullah
Prime MinisterMuhyiddin Yassin
DeputyMansor Othman
Preceded byMahathir Mohamad
(Acting Minister of Education)
Succeeded byHerself
ConstituencyParit Sulong
Deputy Minister of Human Resources
In office
19 March 2008  9 April 2009
MonarchMizan Zainal Abidin
Prime MinisterAbdullah Ahmad Badawi
(2008–2009)
Najib Razak
(2009)
MinisterSubramaniam Sathasivam
Preceded byAbdul Rahman Bakar
Succeeded byMaznah Mazlan
ConstituencyParit Sulong
Chairperson of the
Public Accounts Committee
In office
11 April 2019  10 March 2020
Nominated byMahathir Mohamad
Appointed byMohamad Ariff Md Yusof
DeputyWong Kah Woh
Preceded byRonald Kiandee
Succeeded byWong Kah Woh
ConstituencyParit Sulong
Second Deputy President and
10th Women Chief of the
United Malays National Organisation
Assumed office
24 June 2018
PresidentAhmad Zahid Hamidi
DeputyNorliza Abdul Rahim
Preceded byShahrizat Abdul Jalil
2nd Women Youth Chief of the
United Malays National Organisation
In office
2004–2009
PresidentAbdullah Ahmad Badawi
DeputyRosnah Shirlin
Preceded byAzalina Othman Said
Succeeded byRosnah Shirlin
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Parit Sulong
Assumed office
8 March 2008
Preceded bySyed Hood Syed Edros
(BNUMNO)
Majority13,599 (2008)
11,753 (2013)
6,341 (2018)
2,021 (2022)
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
2008–Barisan Nasional
Other Positions
2013–2018Chairperson of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation
2017–2019Chairperson of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian (CWP)
2017–2019Member of the Committee of Commonwealth Parliamentarian Association
2018–Honorary Secretary of the Commonwealth Parliamentarian Association of Malaysia
Personal details
BornNoraini binti Ahmad
(1967-11-07) 7 November 1967 (age 58)
Kampung Bintang, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia
Citizenship Malaysia
Party United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
(since 1985)
Other political
affiliations
Barisan Nasional (BN)
(since 1985)
SpouseMohamed Jauzi Abdul Razak
Children2
University of Saskatchewan (BComm)
Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (MBA)
Universiti Utara Malaysia (PhD)
Asia e University (DBA)
OccupationPolitician
Noraini Ahmad on Facebook
Noraini Ahmad on Parliament of Malaysia
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Early life and education

She is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada where she obtained her Bachelor of Commerce (double major in Quantitative Analysis and Finance) in 1991, followed by a Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) in 2005. She subsequently obtained her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Development Management from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in 2016. She then enrolled into the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme at Asia e-University (AeU). The title of her DBA dissertation is "The Phenomenological Study of Women Entrepreneurs and their Impact on Socio-Economic Growth in Malaysia". She will be one of the first Malaysians to complete the DBA in AeU via the APEL Q system. She completed her viva on 11 November 2021 and received positive feedback on her dissertation from examiners who requested no further amendments/corrections upon submission. She completed her second PhD in April 2022.[citation needed]

Political career

Noraini was first elected to federal Parliament in the 2008 general election, replacing incumbent Syed Hood Syed Edros. Immediately after the election, she was named Deputy Minister of Human Resources in the government of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and served under the post until Abdullah's successor Najib Razak named his first cabinet in April 2009.[2]

In the 2013 general election, Noraini won re-election to Parliament and was then appointed by the government as the Chairperson of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).[3] In the 2018 general election, she was re-elected once again albeit with a decreased majority.

Noraini was also the chairman of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians from 2016 to 2019.[4] The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) is a network of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association that campaigns for gender equality and equal representation in Parliaments. On the international fora she became the first Malaysian to be elected as chairman of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) from 2016 to 2019. She was elected through voting at the 62nd Commonwealth Parliamentarians' Conference in London, United Kingdom. She garnered 53 votes beating Joyce Watson of Wales who received 15 votes, Poto Williams of New Zealand (10 votes) and Linda Reid from Canada who received 9 votes.[5][6][7][citation needed]

Election results

More information Year, Constituency ...
Parliament of Malaysia[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
2008 P147 Parit Sulong Noraini Ahmad (UMNO) 26,066 67.65% Faizal Ali (PAS) 12,167 32.35% 39,637 13,599 78.90%
2013 Noraini Ahmad (UMNO) 30,258 62.05% Khairuddin Abdul Rahim (PAS) 18,505 37.95% 49,855 11,753 87.62%
2018 Noraini Ahmad (UMNO) 24,481 49.19% Anis Afida Mohd Azli (AMANAH) 18,140 36.45% 50,778 6,341 85.19%
Ahmad Rosdi Bahari (PAS) 7,148 14.36%
2022 Noraini Ahmad (UMNO) 25,740 40.89% Abdul Karim Deraman (PAS) 23,719 37.68% 62,954 2,021 79.20%
Mohd Faizal Dolah (AMANAH) 13,495 21.44%
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Honours

Honours of Malaysia

Honorary degrees

  • Indonesia
    • Honorary Ph.D. degree in Management and Leadership from Indonesian Muslim University (2022)[20]

Others

  • 21st Century Partnership Program from Japanese Government - (2005)
  • New Zealand's Prime Minister ASEAN Fellowship - (2005)
  • Chosen as 1990s' 10 People 10 Decades University of Saskatchewan - (2017)
  • Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), United Kingdom through the AeU–CMI partnership, in recognition of her leadership and contributions in strategic management - (2025)

Publications and appearances

  • A Change in Narrative to Break the Bias – BERNAMA & The Malaysia Reserve, 2022
  • Let's Call Out Gender Bias Daily - New Straits Times, 2022
  • Pushing Education for Sustainable Development to Greater Heights - New Straits Times, 2022
  • Sustainable Higher Education in Malaysia – BERNAMA, 2022
  • Appreciating Our Language, Our Cultural Heritage - The Malaysia Reserve, 2021
  • Honouring Higher Education Educators - The Star, 2021
  • Where Ideas Become Reality - New Straits Times, 2021
  • Students Rise by Lifting Others - Free Malaysia Today, 2021
  • Varsities Develop Future Leaders - New Straits Times, 2021
  • Celebrating the Success of Women in Higher Education - The Star, 2021
  • Simplifying Accommodation Search - New Straits Times, 2021
  • PENJANA KPT-CAP to Boost Graduate Employability - New Straits Times, 2020
  • Speech at the opening of the CWP Conference - The Parliamentarian, 2019
  • The Commonwealth: Adding political value to global affairs in the 21st century - The Parliamentarian, 2019
  • Women's Suffrage: A prerequisite to the gender equality agenda - The Parliamentarian, 2019
  • Cyber Harassment Against Woman on Social Media - The Parliamentarian, 2019
  • Economic Rights for Women - The Parliamentarian, 2018
  • View from the CWP Chairperson - Women and democracy in Malaysia - The Parliamentarian, 2018
  • If we want genuine positive change in the world, we need more women leaders. How can we persuade the word that the future is dependent on gender equality? - The Parliamentarian, 2017
  • Women and Disabilities - The Parliamentarian, 2017
  • Networking between Parliaments and creating alliances - The Parliamentarian, 2017
  • Job creation and growth: solutions to inequality - The Parliamentarian, 2017
  • Parliamentary Conference on the WTO - The Parliamentarian, 2017

See also

References

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