King’s birthday celebrations postponed

KUALA LUMPUR: All events to be held in conjunction with the official birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong scheduled next month have been postponed, says Istana Negara.

Istana Negara Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said this was following the increase of daily infections and new fatalities due to Covid-19 as well as the implementation of MCO 3.0 between May 12 and June 7.

Istana Negara added that even without a celebration, the King’s birthday on June 7 would still be a public holiday.

“The postponement was based on the royal consent of His Majesty after taking into consideration public safety and health as well as to protect the lives of the rakyat in order to stop the health crisis from further worsening, ” he said in a statement yesterday.

Ahmad Fadil said the royal consent was also taken as part of a protective measure as the country was still facing and fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

“All the events have been postponed to dates to be announced later, ” he added.

This would be the second time that all events held in conjunction with the official birthday of the King had been postponed, he said.

“However, it has been decided that June 7 will be declared as a public holiday in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s birthday, ” he added.