Shahrir bin Abdul Samad (Jawi: شهریار بن عبدالصمد; born 22 November 1949) is a Malaysian politician who was the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (2008-2009), a Member of Parliament of Malaysia and the former chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC). He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest political component party in the former ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. In Parliament – specifically the lower house of Parliament of Malaysia, the Dewan Rakyat – he represented the constituency of Johor Bahru in the state of Johor for six non-consecutive terms. (1978-1990, 2004–2018). Khalid Abdul Samad, the former Member of Parliament for Shah Alam, Selangor from the National Trust Party (Amanah) of Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition; is the younger brother of Shahrir. He was appointed as the chairman of Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) from 1 January 2017 to 14 May 2018. Early life and career Shahrir was born in Kuantan, Pahang, and attended local primary schools. He later attended the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) for his secondary education. He went on to gain an economics degree from the University of Malaya in Statistics, and a Master of Business Administration from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1973 he became the youngest political secretary in the country when he became political secretary to Musa Hitam, later Deputy Prime Minister. After his tenure expired in 1975, he became political secretary to Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak till 1976. Shahrir first ran for public office in the 1978 general election, when he won the Parliamentary seat of Johor Bahru. He was initially appointed Deputy Minister, of Trade and Industry, but later became Minister of Welfare, Youth and Sports, and in 1987 took up the post of Federal Territory Minister. He also served as political secretary to Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn from 1983 to 1986. Shahrir was sacked that year in the events leading up to the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's challenge to Prime Minister and UMNO President Mahathir Mohamad. In 1988, Shahrir resigned from his Parliamentary seat, and ran for re-election in the resulting by-election as an independent. A year later, he rejoined UMNO, while Razaleigh went on to form Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46). He subsequently was dropped as UMNO candidate in the 1990, 1995 and 1999 general elections. Later political career In