Royal honour the best birthday gift, says karate champ

Royal view: Sultan Sharafuddin inspecting a guard of honour. — KK SHAM/The Star

KLANG: Receiving the Bintang Kecemerlangan Sukan Selangor (BKS) from Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah yesterday was the best birthday gift for karate exponent Shahmalarani Chandran .

Shahmalarani, who won a gold medal at the 2022 SEA Games, turns 24 today.

“It’s a great honour to receive the BKS award and it is truly a memorable birthday present,” said Shahmalarani who is doing her Master’s in Actuarial Science at a private institution here.

Shahmalarani Chandran

She added that receiving the prestigious award at such a young age would motivate her to continue excelling in her chosen sport.

Other athletes who received the BKS, which does not carry any title, were karate exponents Sharmendran Raghonathan and golfer Marcus Lim Pang Chuen, who both won gold medals in the 2022 SEA Games as well.

However, Lim was not there to receive the award directly from Sultan Sharafuddin as he was overseas.

A total of 104 people received various awards from Sultan Sharafuddin in conjunction with the Ruler’s 77th birthday.

Leading the list were International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Perdana Parkcity Sdn Bhd Group president Datuk Seri Yaw Chee Ming, who both received the Seri Paduka Mahkota Selangor (SPMS) which carries the title “Dato Seri”.

Selangor Mufti Datuk Dr Anhar Opir was the sole person who received the Datuk Setia - Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (SSIS) award which comes with the title “Datuk Setia”.

Ten people received the Datuk Paduka Mahkota Selangor (DPMS) award that comes with the title “Datuk”.

Eleven people were conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Datuk - Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (DSIS), that carries the title Datuk for men and Datin Paduka for women.

Nineteen received the Setia Mahkota Selangor (SMS) which does not come with any title and another 19 people received the Darjah Kebesaran Setia - Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (SIS) which also does not carry a title.

Others conferred non-titled awards were 17 people who received the Ahli Mahkota Selangor (AMS), 15 who received the Ahli-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (AIS) and seven who got the Bintang Perkhidmatan Cemerlang (BPC).