Painful memory: Sultan Ibrahim dabbing away tears when speaking about the late Tunku Abdul Jalil to Xi during their meeting in Beijing. — Photo from Sultan Ibrahim’s Facebook page
BEIJING: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, became emotional when he spoke about his late son Tunku Abdul Jalil to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The King was expressing his gratitude to China for its assistance when the late prince was undergoing a liver transplant in Guangzhou, said Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
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Nga related this to Sin Chew Daily in a video call after Sultan Ibrahim posted a photo of him dabbing his eye with a tissue during a meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People here on Friday.
He is among the entourage for the King’s four-day visit to China which began on Thursday.
“Although the surgery was successful, Tunku Abdul Jalil succumbed to his illness later, so the King could not hold back his tears,” said Nga in the video call.
He said Xi and Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Affairs Minister who was also present at the meeting, were moved by Sultan Ibrahim’s words.
“They felt that the King is a father who loves his son very much,” he said.
Tunku Abdul Jalil, the fourth child of six siblings, died of cancer at the age of 25 in 2015, a year after receiving treatment at The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
Nga shared that Sultan Ibrahim also told Xi about his great-grandmother and her Chinese name, saying that she was from Guangdong province.
On hearing this, Xi instructed his officials to trace His Majesty’s family tree in China, he added.
He said Sultan Ibrahim also highlighted the importance of mutual support to Xi by using the Chinese term “sharing the hardships and blessings together” to describe the bond between the two nations.
Nga noted that the King also said that in order to strengthen diplomatic relations with China, His Majesty would work towards learning Mandarin upon his return to Malaysia.
