Friendly Sultan with a warm heart
SELANGOR’S Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who is celebrating his official birthday today, is noted for his ability to overlook protocol and formality when the need arises. Businessman Shekh Imaduddin Hakmi Shekh Yahya Hakmi recalls how he did not know who Sultan Sharafuddin was when he first encountered him.
Shekh Imaduddin had taken part in a motor rally in February 2015 and arrived at the Thai-Myanmar border where he met another group that was taking part in The Road to Mandalay rally.
Noting that Shekh Imaduddin’s car has a Malaysian registration number plate, a gentleman in the group asked him if he was from Malaysia.
“‘Yes, I am from Malaysia pakcik (uncle)’, I replied and went on chatting until a friend gave me a nudge,” said Shekh Imaduddin, who lives in Sg Petani, Kedah.
His friend told him it was the Sultan of Selangor that he had just addressed as pakcik.
“I quickly went up to Tuanku and profusely apologised and he graciously smiled and said it was all right,” said Shekh Imaduddin, adding he was still deeply embarrassed by the incident.
Shekh Imaduddin said Sultan Sharafuddin spent the next 15 to 20 minutes speaking with him and his friends about the rally.
“He was very easy-going and friendly. It was a very casual conversation and we were all at ease being around Tuanku,” he said.
Selangor Youth Community (also known as SAY) chief executive officer Izhar Moslim concurred and said he first met Sultan Sharafuddin in April this year with a few others to present to the Ruler their plans for the youth organisation.
“He was very relaxed and friendly, which put us at ease. What was more important was that he gave excellent input and added on to the ideas that we already had,” recalled Izhar.
Izhar added that the 71-year-old Sultan is very down to earth and loves to share his experiences.
However, the Ruler is also a strict person and always emphasises discipline and ethics, noted Izhar. And it was with a stern hand that the Sultan handled the state’s Mentri Besar crisis in 2014.
After ensuring a smooth transition of power from Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to the present Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Tuanku spoke his mind without mincing his words in his speech during the swearing-in ceremony of the state’s executive councillors after the crisis.
He held PKR’s infamous Kajang Move responsible for the start of the Mentri Besar crisis in Selangor and chided DAP and PKR for the turmoil created to oust Khalid.
Sultan Sharafuddin also expressed his concern over the state’s water issue and wants Selangor to ensure there was adequate clean water for domestic and industrial needs.
The Ruler also looks out for the vulnerable groups and in his speech during the opening of the state legislative assembly in 2009, asked for the land rights of the orang asli to be returned to them.
He said the orang asli community had undergone an erosion of identity and it was time for their rights to be reinstated with the resolution of their land problems.
Sultan Sharafuddin was born Tengku Idris Shah on Dec 24, 1945, at Istana Jemaah in Klang to the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah and his first wife Raja Saidatul Ihsan Tengku Badar Shah.
The Sultan attended the Malay Primary School in Jalan Raja Muda, Kuala Lumpur, before enrolling in St John’s Institution. The Sultan continued his schooling at the Hale School in Perth, Australia, in 1960 and later joined the Langhurst College in Surrey, England, in 1964.
He became a civil servant upon his return to the country and had served at the Selangor state secretariat, the Kuala Lumpur district office and the police department.
Sultan Sharafuddin has three children – Tengku Zerafina, 47, Tengku Zatashah, 43, and Raja Muda of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah, 26, and a granddaughter.
He ascended the throne in 2001 after Sultan Salahuddin’s demise.
On the occasion of his 71st birthday, the people of Selangor wish Sultan Sharafuddin good health and many more blessed years ahead.