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New
Malaysian King Royally Installed Praises Government
By
Kazi Mahmood, IOLSouth East Asia
correspondent
Malaysia
installed its new king, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail,
58, on Thursday in full pomp and glory while the king praised the
Malaysian government for its achievements, news reports said from
Kuala Lumpur.
The
new king is from the state of Perlis where he is the Sultan (Ruler).
He became the country’s 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) with the
ceremony held at the Balairong Seri or Throne Room of Istana Negara,
Kuala Lumpur.
The
ceremony, shown live on national television, was attended by Their
Royal Highnesses the Malay Rulers, Members of the Royal Household,
Their Excellencies the Yang Dipertuas Negeri and Prime Minister Seri
Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Bernama reported.
The
Master of Ceremonies Ishak Ahmad, who is also the Controller of the
Royal Household, brought into the Balairong Seri a copy of the Muslim
holy book, the al-Quran. The Grand Chamberlain presented the Quran,
the symbol of
Malaysia’s official religion, to the king.
The
Prime Minister then read out the Letter of Proclamation written in
Arabic on goat hide.The Grand Chamberlain then presented the
Government Kris or the Royal Long Dagger, the symbol of power and
authority, to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
The
ceremonial Kris is the dominant national symbol, denoting grandeur,
status, and power in the hands of those who hold and possess one.
Mahathir
on behalf of the Government and people of
Malaysiacongratulated and pledged loyalty to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
The
King then delivered his royal address. He expressed happiness with the
administration of the present government, saying that it is efficient
and responsible and thus able to effectively implement the various
development programmes. He said this had had a positive effect on the
people's life.
"The
system of government based on parliamentary democracy practiced by our
country has proven to have given the people the freedom to determine
the political direction of the country, religious freedom, cultural
freedom, language freedom, the freedom to seek wealth and education
and so forth," he said.
He
said the freedom enshrined in the Federal Constitution had contributed
to
Malaysia's success as a leading democratic country.
The
people should, therefore, be thankful, as this special feature had
ensured stability, prosperity and development in the country all this
while, and would continue to do so in future, he said.
The
King was also grateful that the country's economy had recovered after
a slowdown last year caused by the world economic downturn.
"One
of the reasons we managed to restore the country's economy is the
trait among our multiracial population to always have a strong will to
struggle until they succeed," he said.
He
also thanked Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who pledged loyalty to
him on behalf of the government, civil servants and the people.
Malaysiais a majority Malay-Muslim country with a population of 25 million. It
has more sultans’ than any country on earth and the sultan’s have
a sharing system where every five years they elect one of them as the
king of
Malaysia.
As
a democracy, the king does not have any executive powers that are left
in the hands of the Prime Minister.
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