PUBLISHED ONJanuary 12, 2026 12:53 AMBYSean LerFormer Umno youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin received a show of support from the Democratic Action Party's (DAP) Ong Kian Ming on his 50th birthday on Saturday (Jan 10).
"I don't know what the next decade will look like for Khairy Jamaluddin (KJ). But I do know that I will be taking leave from work to publicly campaign for KJ, regardless of his party affiliation, at the next general elections," Ong, who returned to academia in 2023, said in an Instagram post.
"When he becomes prime minister, I will gladly throw my hat into the ring to be part of his cabinet, if he sees me fit," he wrote.
Ong, a Fulbright scholar, completed his O- and A-levels at Singapore's Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College.
He entered politics in 2013 and was deputy minister of international trade and industry in the Mahathir cabinet from 2018 to 2020.
Ong left politics in end-2022, after failing to defend his seat in the DAP's central executive committee.
In his post, he also described Khairy as one of "a handful of people whom I would consider a friend and a brother in the brutal world of politics," placing him "at the top of the list".
He recounted how they met at a 2001 conference held in Washington, when Khairy was a rising star in Umno's youth wing, while Ong was getting into political analysis and research.
The duo later served as MPs, on opposing sides of the House — from 2013 to 2022.
But Ong said that their political affiliation did not affect them. "We worked together on common causes," he added.
He went on to list some of these instances, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, when every resident in Klang Valley received at least one vaccine.
Khairy commented on Ong's post that he was "a little speechless" reading the post.
"It is rare to find genuine friendship across the aisle," said Khairy, adding that Ong and him were friends even before they made their political choices.
"I was at your wedding. You were at my birthdays. That's more than just expedient political network. That's friendship," Khairy wrote.
He ended his reply by saying that they both "share a vision for the nation". "Let's get it done, brother."
Khairy was sacked from Umno in January 2023 after he and several Umno leaders called for Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to resign in the wake of the 2022 Malaysian general election.
The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, dominated by Umno, suffered major upsets, winning just 30 seats in that election.
In recent months, there have been speculation that Khairy may return to Umno's fold, but nothing has materialised officially so far.
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