Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin today added more fuel to strong rumours that prominent Muslim scholar Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin would join the party soon.

khairy jamaluddin kj interview 190310 “We welcome anyone into Umno, especially someone like Asri. He is a good and young leader,” Khairy ( left ) told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Asri, the former Perlis Mufti, is heavily speculated to join Umno’s ranks soon, along with about 100 other religious scholars.

If the plan goes through, Umno would receive a much-needed boost in its bid to challenge PAS for the rural conservative Malay vote.

Khairy said that he hoped Asri would not be pressured by the heavy media attention which currently surrounds him.

“He called me earlier today but I didn’t pick up the phone as I was in the Dewan Rakyat. I’m not sure what it was about though,” he added, in an obvious bid to show his ties with Asri.

Education system revamp

On plans to scrap the UPSR and PMR examinations, Khairy said a prerequisite was a total revamp of the education system with an emphasis on critical thinking instead of mugging.

new america one malaysia khairy jamaluddin tony puah forum 040609 01 “I agree that we should cut the number of the exams. For example, the PMR exams as it is redundant. But this must come together with the revamp of the system as well,” he said.

It was later pointed out to Khairy that his reaction was similar to that of his opposition colleague and Petaling Jaya MP Tony Pua ( right ).

Both used the same example of a history question on how Malacca fell into the hands of the Portugese in 1511. Khairy later laughed it off, calling it a mere coincidence.

“Maybe its because we went to the same school,” said Khairy, noting that both he and Pua are Oxford graduates.

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