Recipients made members of Selangor palace’s inner circle
BY WANI MUTHIAHTHE STAR
Important ceremony: Sultan Sharafuddin (right) presenting a sword to Curtis. — Bernama
KLANG: In a ceremony steeped in tradition, five people were proclaimed as recipients of various titles from Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, making them members of the Selangor palace’s inner circle and royal court officials.
The five individuals, four of them from branches of the Selangor royal family, read their oath of loyalty and allegiance before Sultan Sharafuddin and accepted all the conditions imposed on them as holders of the titles.
The four royal family members are Tengku Datuk Iskandar Shah Tengku Ismail Alhaj who was proclaimed Tengku Seri Andika Diraja, Datuk Syed Budriz Putra Jamalullail Syed Amir Abidin Jamalullail as Engku Maharaja Lela Setia Paduka, Tengku Datuk Ardy Esfandiari Alhaj Tengku Abdul Hamid Shah Alhaj as Tengku Seri Paduka Shah Bandar and Prof Tengku Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Tengku Mahmud Shah Alhaj as Tengku Orang Kaya Maha Bijaya Sepang.
The sole commoner in the group, Datuk Richard Alexander John Curtis, was proclaimed as Datuk Lela Jasa Diraja.
All five were appointed several years ago but were proclaimed yesterday.
Tengku Iskandar Shah works for Public Bank Bhd and Syed Budriz is the executive chairman of Sepang Aircraft Engineering Sdn Bhd while Tengku Ardy Esfandiari Alhaj is the executive director CB Industrial Product Holding Bhd.
Title holders: (From left) Syed Budriz, Tengku Datuk Iskandar Shah, Prof Tengku Dr Jamaluddin and Tengku Ardy Esfandiari Alhaj.
Prof Tengku Dr Jamaluddin was a lecturer in Universiti Teknologi Mara before his retirement while Curtis is the managing director of the Cahaya Mata Sarawak Bhd Group.
The event, which was held at the Istana Alam Shah throne hall, was attended by members of the royal families, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and other dignitaries.
The Muslim recipients each received a keris panjang while Curtis received a sword.
In a statement explaining the event, Selangor Royal Tradition and Practices head Tengku Panglima Diraja Selangor Tengku Sulaiman Shah Alhaj Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Alhaj said the five must leave Selangor for seven days before returning to participate in the menjunjung duli ceremony scheduled on Feb 27 to pay homage and pledge allegiance to Sultan Sharafuddin.
He added that the ceremony had been carried out in the Selangor royal palace for several centuries.
“The menjunjung duli ceremony had been carried out from the era when Raja Lumu Ibni Daeng Chelak was installed, in accordance to Malay tradition as the first Sultan of Selangor using the name Sultan Salehuddin on Dec 1, 1766,” said Tengku Sulaiman Shah.
He said the proclamation ceremony was last held in 2005.
