KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — Raja Sarina Iskandar wrote an emotional post on Instagram this evening to pay homage to Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah who passed away earlier today.

Her post has already been “liked” over 6,000 times in the hour it has been posted, shortly after the Sultan of Kedah's death was confirmed.

“Today and forever, Kedah and Malaysia have lost one of their greatest kings. Your dedication to Kedah and Malaysia has inspired me growing up.

“When you were Agong for the second time at the age of 83, I moved in with you at Istana Negara. It was then that I saw for the first time the behind the scenes of your life,” she wrote in the post.

She also recounted watching the late Sultan, who had been the first Malay Ruler to become the Yang diPertuan Agong twice, skip his meals in order to practise his speeches or work.

Raja Sarina also described how Sultan Abdul Halim had been unwaveringly punctual, even when he had been sick, and how he had kept his illness away from the view of his subjects.

 

 

Dearest Tok, Today and forever, Kedah and Malaysia have lost one of their greatest kings. Your dedication to Kedah and Malaysia has inspired me growing up. When you were Agong for the second time at the age of 83, I moved in with you at Istana Negara. It was then that I saw for the first time the behind the scenes of your life. __ I saw you skip your meals to practise your speeches or to be in the office. Which 80-something man would do that? Most of us dream of retiring at 50 if we can! But you never could even if you wanted to. And there were times, more often than people knew, when you were ill but still continued with your Agong and Sultan duties. __ In between functions you would be in the hospital ward. When you would leave the ward, I would watch you on TV looking normal as you greet the the PM, govt ministers and the rakyat. But as soon as the event was over, you would return to the hospital ward with tubes connected to your body. Even on your sickest day, you would be ON TIME. You would never make anyone wait. __ This is the side of a king no one knows. You don't simply sit on a throne and enjoy your riches despite what many ignorantly think. There are sacrifices because you can't have a normal life. There is no privacy and no normal schedule. Your status is an amanah from Allah. __ People are unforgiving when leaders make mistakes and my Tok always made sure he did the very best. When I told him this blog or that person insulted him, he was never angry. He was calm and would simply say: "I did my best." __ You did the very best and more your WHOLE life Tok. The reason I know how to be a good princess is because you taught me how. I love you so much Tok; you're forever my Sultan. Al-Fatihah.

A post shared by Raja Sarina 🇲🇾 (@sarinaiskandar) on

 

“This is the side of a king no one knows. You don't simply sit on a throne and enjoy your riches despite what many ignorantly think. There are sacrifices because you can't have a normal life. There is no privacy and no normal schedule. Your status is an amanah from Allah,” she added.

“You did the very best and more your WHOLE life Tok. The reason I know how to be a good princess is because you taught me how. I love you so much Tok; you're forever my Sultan. Al-Fatihah.”

The Kedah government earlier confirmed that Sultan Abdul Halim died at 2.30pm.

Sultan Abdul Halim was 89 at the time of his passing.

He had been the Yang diPertuan Agong twice, from 1965 to 1970 and again from 2011 to 2016.