HRH Sultan Of Pahang Celebrates 85th Birthday With Biggest Crowd To Date
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- Oct 24, 2015
- 4 min read
PEKAN, PAHANG – The Sultan of Pahang, His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Shah celebrated his 85th birthday with the biggest crowd of attendees that included his family, friend and notable guests last Saturday.
The whole day event – which took place at Istana Abu Bakar – has also been an annual regional holiday in Pahang since he began his reign in May 1974.
The Sultan of Pahang, alongside his Queen, the Sultanah of Pahang Her Royal Highness Sultanah Kalsom, both looked regal in their royal yellow traditional Malay wear – both made out of tenun (an exclusive Pahang clothing material, usually only worn by royalty) and kain songket.
His son, the Crown Prince of Pahang, Tengku Mahkota of Pahang His Highness Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, and the Chief Minister of Pahang, Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob also accompanied him. Both wearing kain songket in light green and lavender respectively.
The Sultan began the day with a speech where he expressed his gratitude to Allah that he was glad to have witnessed the state develop rapidly during his 41 years on the Pahang throne, such as the construction of the East Coast Expressway and Kuantan Port.
He also said he was very proud of the growth of education in the state as there were now schools in every district to ensure that no children will be deprived of the opportunity to study.
The theme of his speech was in accordance of the belief of the Sultan, that is ‘Raja dan rakyat berpisah tiada,’ which means there is no barrier or separation between the king and his people.
It is evident that the Sultan is a very ‘hands-on’ and active King who always made it his priority to be involved with state affairs and current events, such as helping the affected flood victims of Pahang.
In his speech, the Sultan also sent a message to the public where he called on people to reject the struggle of the Islamic State (IS) as it is not based on the true teachings of Islam.
“Islam does not promote its followers to commit crimes like the IS as it is a heinous act and as such, I call on the people to return to the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet’s sunnah of good, patience and kindness and to exercise their tolerance,” said the Sultan of Pahang.
The Sultan also dedicated his appreciation and thanks to his wife, who he said ‘for filling up the emptiness in his life’, his children for always being there by his side, his grandchildren for always giving him something to look forward to in life and to his people for the constant devotion and respect they have towards their King.
Prior to the Sultan’s speech, both the Crown Prince and the Chief Minister of Pahang made a speech dedicating the special day to their king, at which the Crown Prince spoke.
“As my King, I live to serve you and learn from you but as my father, I pray to God that you continue to reign Pahang for more years to come, happy birthday my dearest father,” the Crown Prince said.
During the investiture or the ‘Istiadat Balairong Seri,’ the Sultan’s brother, Tengku Panglima Perang Pahang Tengku Abdul Aziz Sultan Abu Bakar, headed the list of the recipients of Sri Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang (SSAP), which carries the title ‘Datuk Seri’.
Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department; and Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, CEO of the CIMB Group were among the 24 recipients of those who also received the award.
A total of 91 individuals received their SSAP, honorary SSAP, Sri Indera Mahkota Pahang (SIMP), Darjah Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang (DSAP), honorary DSAP and DIMP awards in the ceremony that was attended by 1033 participants.
The event continued with the annual state banquet where this year a total of approximately 3000 guests were invited to attend.
Notable guests include the Prime Minster of Malaysia Dato Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor; Raja Puan Mahkota of Perak; Dato Seri Khaled and Dato Siti Nurhaliza; and celebrities like Dato Rossa and Dato Jamal Abdillah.
The night began at 8.30p.m., with everyone standing as the state song was being sung by the state choir, ‘Allah Selamatkan Sultan Kami’ (God Save Our Sultan), and the stage was frequented by a list of guest singers including the Limkokwing University choir who performed a variety of songs: ‘Fly Me To The Moon,’ ‘My Way,’ and their rendition of ‘Kepada Duli Tuanku’ (Dedication To my King).
Towards the end of the night, TV screens around the banquet hall showed a video their the Sultan’s favourite song ‘Di Mana Kan Ku Cari Ganti’ (‘Where Can I Find A Replacement’, sang by P. Ramlee), specially sand and recorded by the Sultan’s grandchildren – Tunku Syazwan Kaiyisah, Puteri Munawarrah Syamiah, Tun Putera Muhammad Abu Bakar, Tun Putera Abdul Mubin Shah – and his son-in-law Tuan Haji Azri, pieced together with photos of the Sultan in his 41 years of reign.
“Doing the song and knowing that he loves it made us happy, we knew it was his favourite and we also wanted to make this year different, have something from us instead of the usual people we see all the time on stage,” said Puteri Munawarrah Syamiah.
The highlight of the night was the cutting cake ceremony. Led by Tengku Kamarulzaman Ibni Al Haj Sultan Abu Bakar, the six-tier cake along with a gift form the Pahang state government was brought to the stage to where the Sultan, his family members, the Prime Minister and his wife were waiting.
Pleased by his gift, which was a gold golf set, the Sultan rejoiced with his family members and sang a few songs with celebrity guest singers Dato Rossa and Yusny Hamid.
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