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By William Isau
SIBU, Sept 12: A combined group comprising six religious bodies here had mixed fortunes when Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah visited the Sibu Central Market today.
While they did not have the opportunity to present a bouquet of flowers to Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, they however managed to get the King’s signature on a framed photo. Printed on the photo was the message “Welcome To Sibu. Together We Build a Community of Love.”
The six religions bodies were Association of Churches in Sarawak, Sibu Branch, Masjid An-nur Sibu, Sibu Sikh Temple Association, Sibu Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple, The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Sibu and United Committee of Sibu Buddhist Associations, Sibu.
“We have prepared a bouquet of flowers for Raja Permaisuri Agong but unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to present it to her due to the big crowd. We understand that. We know they are very tired having travelled all the way from Sabah to here. We wish them all the best,” said Eta Ting, the coordinator for the group.
According to Ting, the message from the photo intended to relay to the King that “together we can build a community of love since he is here to visit us.”
“We are so grateful and thankful that he is able to come with his entourage and his children to meet us, no matter what creed or race and religion we belong to. Even though we were not able to have a group photo with him, it is ‘Ok as we are already happy that he is able to be here’. Our prayer is for god to bless Their Majesties,” said Ting.
Their Majesties arrived at the market at about 8.45am. They were accompanied by their sons, the Regent of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah; Tengku Panglima Raja Colonel Tengku Amir Nasser Ibrahim Shah and Tengku Ahmad Ismail Mu’adzam Shah.
Among those present to receive the royal couple were Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, Deputy Prime Minister Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof, and National Unity Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang.
A large crowd of people numbering between 1,500 to 2,000 came to the market as early as 7am to welcome the royal couple. The situation appeared chaotic at times when people were too eager to take photos and videos of Their Majesties, but remained under control.
The royal couple did not have breakfast at the market as planned. They instead headed for Sri Aman. — DayakDaily
