Saddened by racial intolerance, Johor Permaisuri shares family's interracial relations
Sunday, 2 Dec 201811:01 PM MYT
by lipi emma
The Johor Royal family with swimming instrutor Mohan and his family at their home on Deepavali day/Zarith Sofiah Idris FB
PETALING JAYA: The Permaisuri of Johor, Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah has expressed her sadness over the racial intolerance and misunderstanding that has blighted the nation following the recent rioting at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya.
In a post on her personal Facebook page, she shared a reminder of the warm friendship her family has had over the years with four Malaysian Indian men.
She credits the family doctors Datuk Dr Subrahmanyam Balan and Datuk Dr N. Singaraveloo as they “were part of the medical team who helped look after my late son, Tunku Abdul Jalil Sultan Ibrahim while he was undergoing cancer treatment".
Tunku Abdul Jalil passed away of cancer on Dec 5, 2015.
Raja Zarith shares that when “Jalil was diagnosed with liver cancer, it was these two doctors with whom we - and Jalil - were most comfortable”.
“Because Jalil was used to seeing both doctors come in and out of our home to treat us from the time he was little, theirs were familiar, friendly faces. And he had come to trust them.”
“When Jalil took his last breath, it was Datuk Balan who looked at the clock and confirmed the time of his death.”
When her eldest son, Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, was just a year old, another man, Mohan looked after him while she and the Sultan were waterskiing at Stulang Laut.
She says that Mohan taught her children how to swim and whenever the children wanted to go swimming, he would look after them, even being in the water for hours.
“He’s been their swimming coach, their playmate and their 'nanny'," she wrote, adding that Mohan would also “stay at our house because I was frightened of being in a house of just children and women (my maids)”.
Raja Zarith shares that she trusted Mohan with her life and her children's life. He was dedicated to the point that he would not sleep until “the other staff had come in to work in the morning
Fourthly, there’s police Asst Comm Datuk R. Sugumaran, whom she shares is her husband’s aide-de-camp (ADC).
Sugumaran is an honest and sincere, having proven and shown his love and loyalty to her husband, although he was often yelled at, she said.
He was also her youngest son’s companion and personally helped him while on holiday in England in 2009.
Raja Zarith believes these four men deserve mention and a “thousand thank-yous from the family”.
She also shared several photos of the men with the royal family members in the post.
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TRead more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/02/saddened-by-racial-intolerance-permaisuri-johor-shares-familys-interracial-relations/#2W1uK5PogFtSxVmc.99
