Royal symbol: Sultan Abdullah (left) and Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin watering the keriang tree at Istana Negara. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: The Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail chaired the 259th Meeting of the Conference of Rulers at Istana Negara here.
Before the meeting started at 11am yesterday, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin took the salute at a grand guard of honour (KKU) mounted by the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment at the Main Square.
Bernama reported that Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin then planted a keriang tree on the grounds of Istana Negara to symbolise his chairing of the meeting.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah also graced the tree-planting ceremony.
The idea behind the KKU and tree-planting ceremony was mooted by Sultan Abdullah after his appointment as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
The KKU was held for the first time at the 254th edition of the meeting, while the tree planting was introduced at the 255th meeting.The two-day meeting is being attended by all Malay Rulers, except those from Kelantan, Pahang and Johor.
The Rulers in attendance are Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah and Sultan of Kedah Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah.
Kelantan was represented by Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan Tengku Dr Muhammad Faiz Petra Sultan Ismail Petra, Pahang by its Regent Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah and Johor by Tunku Temenggong Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar Al-Haj Sultan Ibrahim.
Also in attendance are the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak.
All the Malay Rulers are accompanied by their respective Mentri Besar, while the Yang di-Pertua Negeri are accompanied by their respective Chief Minister, except for Sarawak, who was accompanied by the Deputy Premier.
The last meeting of the Conference of Rulers was held on March 9 and 10, and was chaired by Sultan Mizan.
