Five take oath to serve in royal body
Allegiance also pledged to Sultan in appointments to Selangor institution
KLANG: Five people took their oaths to serve in various customary positions in the Selangor royal institution at a ceremony steeped in tradition.
They also pledged their allegiance to Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah at the event.
The ceremony, held at the Istana Alam Shah here, saw Sultan Sharafuddin’s nephews Tengku Musahiddin Shah and Syed Haizam Hishamuddin Putra Jamalullail sworn in as Orang Besar Istana.
(Tengku Musahiddin’s father Tengku Abdul Samad Shah is Sultan Sharafuddin’s brother while Syed Haizam’s mother Tengku Puteri Nor Zehan is the Ruler’s sister.)
Both Tengku Musahiddin and Syed Haizam have been appointed to the position and conferred the titles Tengku Seri Perkasa DiRaja and Engku Panglima Setia DiRaja, respectively, by Sultan Sharafuddin on July 1, 2016.
Others who took their oath yesterday were former Road Transport Department director-general Datuk Emran Kadir as Orang Besar Daerah Petaling with the title Datuk Orang Kaya Maha Bijaya Petaling, Sadec Corporate Advisory Services Sdn Bhd executive director Datuk Mohd Effendi Abdullah as Datuk Kurnia Bakti DiRaja and Datuk George Stewart LaBrooy as Datuk Setia Pekerti DiRaja.
According to custom, the five will have to leave the state for seven days after the ceremony and present themselves to Sultan Sharafuddin upon their return next week.
Meanwhile, Syed Haizam said he was genuinely honoured that Sultan Sharafuddin had given him the opportunity to serve as an Orang Besar Istana.
“An Orang Besar Istana’s duty is to loyally serve the Sultan so that he can carry out his duties as the head of state and head of religion in Selangor.
“There is great history and significance tied to the role,” explained Syed Haizam, adding that the position has existed over 100 years and held by numerous Orang-Orang Besar Istana who served the Sultans with undivided loyalty.
He also said his predecessor had been bestowed the title by his greatgreat grandfather Sultan Alauddin Suleiman Shah.
(The previous Engku Panglima Setia DiRaja was Raja Yusuf Raja Juma’at, who was one of Sultan Alauddin Suleiman Shah’s sons-inlaw.)
Tengku Musahiddin and Syed Haizam are members of the Selangor royal family’s much approachable younger generation who easily mingle with the general public.
Syed Haizam said he and Tengku Musahiddin, as Orang Besar Istana, will also help the Raja Muda Tengku Amir Shah in his efforts to connect with the people.
“The monarchy in Malaysia has evolved over the years and I believe the Selangor Raja Muda, being young and only in his 20s, will be able to reach out to the people, especially the youth, and represent them through many initiatives via his Yayasan Raja Muda Selangor and the Selangor Youth Community,” he added.