King presents appointment letters to two judges

Formal ceremony: Sultan Ibrahim in a group photo with the judges who received their appointment letters, Loke and Yap (background, second from left and second from right, respectively), Azalina and Wan Ahmad Farid (seated, fourth from right and fourth from left, respectively), and other guests at Istana Negara. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, presented instruments of appointment to two judges at Istana Negara.

The ceremony began with the presentation to Court of Appeal judge Alice Loke Yee Ching, followed by High Court judge Elaine Yap Chin Gaik.

Present were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Chief Justice Tun Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, Court of Appeal President Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Jais, Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Azizah Nawawi.

Loke, 64, was Senior Federal Counsel from 2013 to 2018.

She was appointed a judicial commissioner of the Shah Alam High Court on July 10, 2020, Bernama reported.

She was elevated to Shah Alam High Court judge on Jan 17, 2023, before being appointed to the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s Special Powers Division on Aug 18, 2025.

Loke handled Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s judicial review application over an alleged addendum order allowing the former prime minister to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

During her tenure as Senior Federal Counsel, Loke was involved in several high-profile cases, including admiralty proceedings at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to seize the Equanimity, a vessel allegedly built using funds from 1Malaysia Develop­ment Berhad (1MDB).

She also handled the Sulu claim and lawsuits filed against the government over the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Yap, 53, holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and a Diploma in International Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

She was appointed a judicial commissioner of the Shah Alam High Court on Aug 28, 2024, before taking up the same position at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov 3, 2025.

Separately, His Majesty granted an audience to Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir. According to a post on Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s official Facebook page, His Majesty agreed to be presented with the current developments of the Sultan Ibrahim Malay Studies Chair at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

His Majesty also granted an audience to Public Service Commission chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Jailani Muhamed Yunus.