He took over from Dato' Teh Chang Ying (BN - MCA) who won the seat in the 1999 election.
However, in the 2008 election, he was not selected as a candidate and was replaced by his daughter-in-law Roselinda Abdul Jamil, which she did not win.
[2] Zakaria gained infamy in 2006 when he had a run-in with the law for not submitting building plans for his mansion, dubbed as an istana (palace) by his detractors.
He was also found not to have paid the assessment for a property for 12 years, while his family was caught operating an illegal satay restaurant on government reserve land.
He had been discussing over dinner the dismal results of the just-concluded 2008 election (in which his party fared poorly, losing Selangor state to the opposition) when he collapsed.