Hishammuddin Hussein is no stranger to controversy in his home country. Ask any Malaysian about the “kris’’ or “cow’s head’’ incidents and you’re sure to hear more about his colourful political career and the struggles he has had to endure to be where he is today.
However, nothing could have prepared Malaysia’s transport minister — or any other politician for that matter — for dealing with the harsh glare of the global spotlight since the strange disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 two weeks ago.
The world has been watching — and in some cases harshly judging — every word he says, his body language and behaviour at the multiple news conferences held since MH370 disappeared while en route to Beijing on March 8.
Everyone, from anxious relatives of passengers and crew members to reporters and aviation experts has been hungry for information that could shed light on the mystery. In that regard, the general consensus has been that Mr Hishammuddin and other Malaysian officials were not telling the public everything that was known.
Last week he was dumbfounded for a while when a French journalist asked him a question that never would have been asked had the news conference featured only local media outlets, which have close links with the governing coalition and rarely rock the boat.
She asked: “Can you confirm that you are Prime Minister Najib’s cousin? Are you protected?”
The question drew laughter from the crowd of local and foreign media personnel — but it was a piercing question at a time when Malaysia is in the hot seat.
Though stumped by the query initially, he regained his composure and asked the journalist which media agency she represented, before answering her bemusedly.
Mr Hishammuddin is the acting transport minister and also has served as defence minister since May 16 last year when Barisan Nasional coalition, the perpetual governing coalition, was returned to power, albeit with the smallest mandate since independence in 1957.
He is the son of Malaysia’s third prime minister, Hussein Onn, and the nephew of the country’s second prime minister, Abdul Razak. Najib Razak is Abdul Razak’s son, so the current premier and Mr Hishammuddin are cousins. He is married to a princess from Pahang state, Tengku Marsilla Tengku Abdullah.
Mr Hishammuddin has been mentioned as a likely successor to Mr Najib, so the political stakes are high for a minister now struggling to deal with the biggest challenge of his career.
The 53-year-old politician benefited from a wealth of educational opportunities growing up. He was attending one of Malaysia’s prestigious schools, Malay College Kuala Kangsar, when his father became deputy prime minister in 1973. He then moved to St John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur before going on to Alice Smith School, also in the capital. From there he went to Cheltenham College, an English public school, and the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1984.
He also attended London School of Economics and received a Master of Laws in commercial and corporate law in 1988.
Before following his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps into politics, he was a lawyer with Skrine & Co (now known as Skrine) and later, a firm then known as Lee Hishammuddin (now known as Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill) in Kuala Lumpur.
As a member of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party, which is part of the ruling coalition, he has served in the government as Minister of Education from 2004-09 and Minister of Home Affairs from 2009-13.
Over the course of his political career Mr Hishammuddin has stunned many with his actions. One of the most infamous events took place in 2005 when he waved a kris at the Umno annual general meeting. A traditional dagger, the kris since the independence of Malaysia has become something of a symbol of Malay nationalism.
Brandishing a kris did not go down well with Chinese politicians, though he defended the stunt, saying it was meant “to motivate the Malays”.
In 2009, he found himself being attacked by the opposition for his attempts to deal with what has become known as the “cow-head demonstration”.
The incident was prompted by outrage among residents of a community in Shah Alam when the state government sought to relocate a temple in a Muslim-majority area. A group of about 50 demonstrators marched a few hundred metres carrying the decapitated head of a cow. The cow is a sacred animal in the Hindu religion.
As Home Minister, Mr Hishammuddin invited the protesters to a discussion and defended their actions. It was a dicey situation, as he had to deal with the incident and balance the competing interests of Malays and Indians. Life as home minister was already tough enough, as he had been facing heat over a rising crime rate.
Worse was to come, though, with the controversial handling of the Lahat Datu invasion last year. Several armed Filipino supporters of the Sultanate of Sulu arrived in the district of Sabah state on Borneo and occupied the village of Tanduo. They were sent by Jamalul Kiram III, a claimant to the throne of the sultanate. Malaysian security forces surrounded the village and attempts by the Malaysian and the Philippine governments to reach a peaceful solution with the sultan’s supporters were unsuccessful.
Mr Hishammuddin was criticised for lack of action in the initial stages. He attempted to defend his position early on, noting that not a single shot was fired and no one had died.
But all that changed with the launch of Daulat Operation on March 5, 2013. Eight policemen and two soldiers were killed while Malaysian security forces shot dead 68 armed intruders from the southern Philippines and arrested 173 people.
As the man in charge of the Lahat Datu war, Mr Hishammuddin should have remained on the ground from day one to get instant field reports, said political analysts. But he failed to do so and the country was kept in the dark about the outbreak of violence.
The job of transport minister must have seemed like a vacation after that. Mr Hishammuddin warmed to his new role and attempted to burnish his credentials as a man of the people. To get a feel for how ordinary citizens get around, he even took to riding a motorcycle along major highways.
But the fun ended on March 8 when MH370 vanished with 239 people onboard. No matter what the minister said, there would be doubters and skeptics. He stumbled the first few times in huge and noisy news conferences, contradicted himself several times and continues to struggle.
It has been a new experience for a man who is used to talking only to Malaysian media. And overnight he has become a globally recognisable personality.
To show that he is very much in control, Mr Hishammuddin has been briefing the media at a Kuala Lumpur International Airport hotel since the story erupted. Usually he is accompanied by Civil Aviation Department director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.
To further show that he is on the ball, he boarded a military aircraft patrolling the northern tip of the Straits of Malacca with the media when the search area was expanded.
Still, some 400 families are waiting for information on loved ones and the daily news conference at the Sama Sama Hotel is being watched by millions across the world.
Those who watched him speak in the early days were not impressed with his calibre and wondered about his capabilities.
But to be fair, the MH370 case is unprecedented. Experts from around the world have converged on Kuala Lumpur and they too are stumped.
What made the aircraft turn at Kota Baru to fly west? That is a mystery that none of the experts can answer, let alone a Malaysian politician.
But as the days go by, Mr Hishammuddin has been gaining confidence and some believe his image is on the road to redemption.
Those seeing him now feel he is a different person. Those who were not impressed with him before — he barely scraped won a Supreme Council seat during the last Umno general elections — are beginning to view him in a different light.
Mr Hishammuddin is graduating, he is far more polished, but he needs to be getting the right information.
And for that he is getting help from the experts, which is why when he speaks now, it is with authority and confidence. But until the plane is found he will remain in the spotlight, and there will still be sceptics.