Foster is in Bangkok helping with the fight to free Hakeem Alaraibi, who was granted refugee status in Australia after fleeing an Arab Spring crackdown but was detained trying to holiday in Thailand in late November.

His case was brought into the spotlight afterwards when a young Saudi woman named Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun avoided the same fate by barricading herself in a hotel room and tweeting pleas for help earlier this month, securing asylum in Canada in one week.

Alaraibi, who played for Bahrain’s national side, is accusing of taking part in riots that damaged a police station but he says he was playing in a match at the time.

    Rights groups say he faces a 10-year prison sentence if he is sent back.

He believes he is being targeted for vocally criticising and opposing the FIFA presidential candidacy of senior vice-president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

FIFA’s secretary general Fatma Samoura wrote an open letter to Thailand’s prime minister and junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Wednesday asking for Alaraibi to be allowed to go home.

But Foster told reporters in Bangkok that it is “not enough” and that FIFA could consider sports sanctions against football federations in Thailand and Bahrain.

“This is actually a seminal case to test the efficacy of the new human rights policy that FIFA has implemented,” Foster said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok.

He visited Alaraibi in Bangkok Remand prison this week and said the footballer was in a “very low state psychologically”.

A 60-day detention period ends on February 8 but Bahrain has yet to file a formal extradition request with the court, his lawyer said this week.

Human Rights Watch said Alaraibi was met by Thai police after getting off the plane and that they had a copy of his passport when he was 16 years old.

Foster, activists and Alaraibi’s football team in Melbourne, where he plays for the semi-professional Pascoe Vale, have all taken to social media to raise awareness, hoping that the same pressure built by al-Qunun could help.

They are using the #SaveHakeem hashtag after the #SaveRahaf campaign.

But Thailand’s immigration chief has said the two cases are different and that there was an arrest warrant for Alaraibi.

Launched three months ago, Muuve Delivery is entering an already competitive marketplace for food delivery, with the likes of Meal Temple and NHAM24 cornering large segments of the market.

But the app’s co-founder Panh Phanith told The Post that he hopes to set Muuve Delivery apart from the competition by placing a strong ethos of customer convenience at the heart of the application.

“Our app doesn’t require customers to make calls to a delivery company; users can order food by just opening the app on their smartphone, choosing a restaurant and their food, and then clicking order. In addition, customers can set their location with menu in the app and it will automatically identify your location to the carrier,” the 25-year-old said.

Phanith added that after ordering, customers will receive an arrival time for their food, while they can also track the exact location of their driver through the app’s inbuilt map.

Among the burgeoning app’s happy users is 23-year-old Ou Dom, a worker for travel company World Friend Tours in the capital.

“The first thing that I like about Muuve is that it helps me to think of what I want to eat as it has so many menus. Secondly, it saves time so I don’t have to leave my desk or waste time going to get food. Thirdly, I can order food for myself and get it delivered anywhere, even to my friend or girlfriend,” he said.

The app’s cofounder Nik said he and Phanith were confident the app would be a hit, adding that they hoped that in addition to providing a good food delivery service, they will be able to provide low income people and students with an extra source of income.

“This programme is designed to help students who are looking for a job. Moto drivers or tuk-tuk drivers can also earn some money with a part-time job, selecting jobs when they are free and able to deliver the food. If they became our members, we will give bonus to them,” he said.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said those wanted were Low’s parents, Tan Sri Larry Low Hock Peng and Goh Gaik Ewe, both 66; Singaporean national Shabnam Naraindas Daswani@ Natasha Mirpuri, 54; and Tan Kim Loong, 40.

Police are looking for them to assist with investigations under Section 4 (1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001).

“We urge anyone with information on these individuals to contact the police as soon as possible.

Those with information should contact Supt Foo Wei Min at 03-26101402 or Deputy Supt Albany Hamzah at 019-2412826 from the Bukit Aman’s Anti-money Laundering and Anti-terrorism Financing Prevention (Amlatfa) division or any nearest police station.

But Erica Lim decided to choose something quite different – a delightful little pet duckling.

As an adventurous creative professional living in a chic apartment right in the heart of KL city, Lim says her unusual choice of pet does attract a lot of attention from curious friends and strangers alike.

Since ducks are more commonly associated with farms, Lim says, “Most people are generally curious to know what it is like to be living with a duck in a high-rise building.”

Lim, 39, christened her new pet Daisy when she was born. But now calls her by a cutesy name – Bibit.

The most interesting story about Daisy, or Bibit, is actually how she came about: Lim actually hatched her own pet from a fertilised egg.

The egg from which Daisy hatched was sold in a Vietnamese cafe in Puchong, Selangor, where people ate fertilised bird embryos as a snack known as balut.

Lim bought one on a whim, and wondered whether there was really a duck foetus inside.

Then, curiosity got the better of her, so she constructed a makeshift egg incubator using a styrofoam box, and installed some heat lamps inside, and placed the egg in it.

After waiting patiently for two weeks, she ended up hatching a lovely new pet.

“Watching her emerge from the egg, I fell in love with her immediately. And that was how I became a ‘mother’ on Father’s Day in 2017,” beamed Lim, who works as an insurance agent and does freelance art projects on the side.

“She is a very cute buddy who loves to keep me company and follows me wherever I go. She also gets along well with my old dog. Bibit and Feipo are the best of friends.”

From a ball of yellow fluff that fit snugly in her palm, the little duckling quickly grew into a soft and white feathery friend that is warm and huggable.

By the time Bibit was eight months old, she started to lay eggs. “She lays one egg every 25 hours. So, I now have an unlimited supply of eggs, many of which are double-yolked.

Daisy lays an egg every 25 hours, so her owner never runs out of duck eggs!

“I’ve made lots of salted duck eggs that I share with friends and family,” Lim quips.

“She loves water and often sneaks into the bathroom to splash around in a tub. If I leave a jug of water on the coffee table, she will get into it in no time at all.”

And when Lim unwinds after a long day at work, Bitbit sits quietly by her side, sometimes dozing off, while she reads a book or watches TV. “Bibit loves watching movies and we often enjoy movie marathons together.”

In fact, Bibit is so well-behaved that Lim has even managed to smuggle her into local cinemas for movie dates when she was little. “We’ve been to many places together. She is very friendly and adventurous.

“She is a city duck, so she knows how to enjoy city life, just like other ordinary city folk,” says Lim, adding that they watch movies on Netflix and listen to music on Spotify, just like other buddies do when they chill together.

And like a typical city kid, Bibit also has a social media presence with her own personal instagram account (@daily_daisy_duck). In it, you’ll see pictures of Bibit waddling about at home or wandering around in pet cafes which she loves to explore since she is always curious about new things.

Lim’s own Instagram and Facebook feed is filled with pictures and videos of her with her pet duck, captioned Kaka and Bibit. “Lots of people like her and they ask me about her all the time.”

Seeing how adorable her pet duck is, some of her friends went out and got themselves some ducklings as well. Lim even had a request from her neighbour, whom she helped to hatch a new pet.

“Ducks make wonderful companions. My Bibit is charming and attentive. I hope more people realise how much fun it is to have a duck as a pet.”

The Paper’s People is a fortnightly column about Malaysia-based everyday folk who do what they love. If you have someone to recommend, e-mail us at star2@thestar.com.my.

Corporal First Class (NS) Pang died at 8.45pm on Wednesday from injuries sustained on Saturday (Jan 19) while carrying out repair works inside a Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer during a military exercise in New Zealand. His lungs, heart and kidney were damaged when a gun barrel was lowered. He underwent three surgeries and was put on artificial life support, Mindef said.

Read also : Singaporean actor was crushed when caught between howitzer’s gun barrel and cabin

In an Instagram post close to midnight, 27-year-old Woo wrote in Chinese: “Aug 24 is your birthday, Jan 4 is a special day of ours, and on Jan 24 you left me without a word. All that is left is your cold and hard hands.”

One of the photos in the post shows her holding Pang’s hand in the hospital.

“Why is it such a coincidence that my favourite number is four? Why have you heartlessly left me behind? How could you bear to leave this world? Why do you treat me this way?” Woo said.

“I did not have the fortune of being your wife in this lifetime. We must definitely get married in the next. I love you, I really love you. Thank you for taking care of me all these years. I love you forever. Please leave in peace. Appear in my dreams often, understand? Also, I will never forgive you in this lifetime.

“You’ll always be a part of me, my man. Till death do us apart, baby boy.”

She added in a Chinese hashtag: “My world is gone.”

Before this, Ms Woo and Mr Pang, 28, had not publicly acknowledged that they were dating, though they have been spotted together a couple of times.

The pair starred opposite each other in two Mediacorp Channel 8’s drama series Tiger Mum and Super Senior in 2015. They also appeared in another drama in 2017, Dream Coder.

Woo was scouted by Mediacorp and groomed to be a star soon after she took part in the 2011 The New Paper New Face modelling competition.

She was named one of the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes at the Star Awards in 2016 and 2017. She left Mediacorp in 2018.

She posted several Instagram stories early on Thursday morning revealing details about her relationship with Pang for the first time, saying that they had been waiting until they got married to go public with their romance.

One of the stories was a photo of the vast New Zealand landscape, which was the last photo Pang sent to her after he arrived in the country for an annual live-firing exercise called Thunder Warrior as part of his reservist duty.

Others marked the milestones in their relationship, including when Woo first appeared in a photo on Pang’s Instagram account in March 2015, their first overseas trip together in January 2016, and when he surprised her with a trip to Lazarus Island on her birthday.

“When I saw him lying helpless on the hospital bed, I kept asking him: If we could turn back time, could I have taken your place?” she wrote in one of the Instagram stories, which she was posting until about 6am.

Woo’s twin sister Hayley shared in an Instagram post on Wednesday that Mr Pang told her in their first heart-to-heart conversation last December that he was working hard to earn money so that he could marry Ms Woo when he was around 31 years old.

“I did not have the good fortune to be your sister-in-law in this lifetime,” she wrote.

Other celebrities also penned tributes to Mr Pang on social media.

Fellow actor Shane Pow said on Instagram: “It wasn’t enough being brothers with you this life. Let’s be brothers again next life. I love you my big brother.”

Pow’s girlfriend, radio presenter Kimberly Wang, added: “Didn’t we say that the six of us would go for steamboat after you are back? You are a good man. We will take good care of Jiaqi (Jayley).”

Actress Michelle Chong called Pang’s death “needless and heartbreaking” on Instagram, while actress Fann Wong simply wrote in Chinese that her heart ached.

Calling Pang “one of the few young actors that I actually admired”, actor Tay Ping Hui said he was “shocked, speechless and truly, truly, truly sad”.

Actor Pierre Png wrote: “I am deeply saddened and very angry at the passing of an intelligent, unassuming and hardworking actor. I guess I’ll never know why this had to happen.”

Actress Zoe Tay said that she felt Pang was mature, steady and very sensible, that she liked him very much and had been looking forward to working together with him.

Close friend and actor Xu Bin posted a black-and-white photo taken on his wedding day, showing Pang smiling in the background as Mr Xu looks at his wife.

“As my brother, you have done countless of things for me. I have yet to do much for you and then you left. I will miss you, my brother forever.”

He added in an Instagram post on Thursday morning that he was still in a state of disbelief over news of Mr Pang’s death.

Pang and Mr Xu are managed by former Mediacorp actor Dasmond Koh, who co-founded talent agency NoonTalk Media.

Pang had been working on Mediacorp projects on a freelance basis after his contract with the broadcaster ended in April 2017.

Koh was among the media personalities who changed their Instagram profile pictures to black and white on Wednesday.

The others included Rebecca Lim, Zoe Tay, Kimberly Chia, Ya Hui, Desmond Tan and Zhang Zhenhuan.

Pang’s profile picture was also changed and a post that appeared to have been written by one of his brothers on behalf of the family went up on the actor’s Instagram account late on Wednesday night.

The post said the last few days had been a difficult time for the family.

“Every news that (was) brought upon us since his last op was devastating with little signs of hope on his recovery,” the post read. “We all broke down when the medical team spoke to us that his condition is worsening and we should be prepared for the worst.

“We’re going to lose a brother. And my parents are going to lose their precious son whom is only 28.”

Before the diagnosis could begin, the gun barrel had to be lowered to a neutral position, which left CFC (NS) Pang caught between the end of the barrel and the interior of the howitzer.

This caused the serious chest and abdominal injuries that led to the Singaporean actor’s death on Wednesday (Jan 23).

On Thursday, at the Ministry of Defence in Bukit Gombak, Chief of Army Goh Si Hou gave these initial findings into the incident that happened last Saturday during the annual Exercise Thunder Warrior in New Zealand.

He said: “When the gun barrel is lowered in the SSPH, the space in the cabin is reduced. However, it is typically sufficient for artillery operators as well as our technicians to be able to operate within this cabin.

“What we found is that unfortunately, (CFC (NS) Pang) was unable to get out of the way of the barrel as it was lowered.”

Two other servicemen – another technician and a gun detachment commander – that were in the howitzer’s cabin with CFC (NS) Pang, 28, were uninjured, said Major-General Goh.

CFC (NS) Pang’s formation chief, Colonel Terry Tan, told reporters that the lowering of the gun barrel is done within the cabin, and a “check clear” procedure needs to be followed whenever the barrel is lowered.

The barrel, which can be lowered manually or automatically with the press of a button, had to be lowered for diagnosis to be performed. In CFC (NS) Pang’s incident, the lowering was automatic, he said. On average, this movement can take about nine to 10 seconds.

As part of standard operating procedure, the howitzer’s operator and the technician will first discuss when such a repair needs to be done. After that, a verbal warning and visual check of the cabin is conducted before the button is pressed to lower the barrel, said Col Tan.

It is also part of protocol to lower the gun to a standby position – a neutral position for the gun barrel – in order for the technician to diagnose the fault.

When asked who has the authority to lower the gun, and if any lapses have been discovered so far, MG Goh said that this was a matter that would be part of ongoing investigations.

The army chief added that, at this point in time, they were not aware of anything that could have impeded the movement to get out of the way of the barrel.

CFC (NS) Pang, 28, was an armament technician from the 268th Battalion Singapore Artillery who was trained to perform maintenance and repair for the howitzer.

The operationally-ready national serviceman was part of the forward maintenance platoon, which is activated to diagnose a fault when an operator detects one.

“If it is beyond the competency of the forward maintenance platoon, they will ask the regular technicians, who are positioned behind to come forward to diagnose the fault,” said Col Tan, who is Commander of Combat Service Support Command.

He added that CFC (NS) Pang was “qualified and competent” to do his job in the exercise, and it was not his first time maintaining the howitzer.

“In fact, this is his seventh in-camp training. He has done five high-key and low-key (trainings). Prior to Exercise Thunder Warrior he has attended maintenance vocational and refresher training. In fact, when he landed in New Zealand he was given just-in-time refresher training before training started,” he said.

CFC (NS) Pang died on Wednesday at 8.45pm despite attempts to repair his damaged organs through surgery and putting him on artificial life support. He underwent three operations at Waikato Hospital, which is a regional trauma centre that handles a high volume of such cases.

The army has operated the howitzer for the last 15 years without any serious injury, said MG Goh, adding that an immediate pause on all maintenance-related work and training in both Singapore and New Zealand was called after the incident.

He added that Mindef has also convened an independent Committee of Inquiry to look into the circumstances leading to the incident, and the cause of CFC (NS) Pang’s serious injury.

Chief of Defence Force Melvyn Ong said that the SAF remains committed to the safety of all its soldiers.

“I see thousands of NSFs and NSmen on a regular basis. We engage them on their training. They are training every day to ensure a safe and secure Singapore… They are proud of what they do. It is a responsibility that they don’t wear lightly on their sleeve,” he said.

“And we have worked hard over the last couple of months, learnt from each incident and put in place better procedures, measures, practices. But we can do better.”

Read also : ‘My world is gone’: Actress Jayley Woo pens emotional farewell to boyfriend, actor Aloysius Pang

Hakeem Alaraibi, 25, who played for the gulf state’s national youth team, fled his homeland and was granted asylum in Australia where he plays semi-professionally for the second-tier team Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne.

He was detained entering Thailand for a vacation and held “with a substantial number of other detainees… in very trying conditions”, Brendan Schwab, executive director of the World Players’ Association (WPA), told AFP in London.

“Hakeem is now at a stage where he’s losing hope,” said Schwab, whose Swiss-based union represents 85,000 players across professional sport through more than 100 associations in over 60 countries.

Schwab also urged FIFA’s Bahraini senior vice-president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa to “use the power of his office” to win Alaraibi’s release, warning that failure to do so would be “a fundamental breach of his duties”.

Hakeem Alaraibi (C), a former Bahrain national team footballer with refugee status in Australia, is escorted by immigration police to a court in Bangkok on December 11, 2018. // AFP PHOTO

Bahraini authorities sentenced Alaraibi to 10 years in prison for allegedly helping protesters burn down a police station during demonstrations that swept the Gulf state in 2012.

The footballer, who played for the country’s youth team in qualifying games for the Olympics, denied the charges, noting he was playing in a match at the time.

Alaraibi managed to flee Bahrain in 2013 while he was out on bail. He was detained on arrival in Bangkok on November 27 for a holiday with his wife.

– ‘Uniquely positioned’ –

The Australian government, human rights groups and FIFA have all called for Alaraibi’s release, while Interpol has faced criticism for initially issuing the warrant for his arrest, which it later withdrew.

The WPA believes Shaikh Salman — who is head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and facing a re-election contest for that post in April — must do more to secure his freedom.

Alaraibi had spoken out against the FIFA number two in 2016 when Sheikh Salman ran unsuccessfully to be its president.

“Being a member of the Bahraini ruling family he’s uniquely positioned to demonstrate that he is someone who deserves to hold high office in the game,” Schwab said.

“It’s been nearly two months — the (AFC) has not even issued a statement as to what it thinks should occur.

“Inactivity in the next week or two unequivocally in our view makes his position untenable.”

Schwab noted the case is nearing a pivotal point with Thai law requiring Bahrain to submit a formal extradition request by February 8.

– #SaveHakeem –

Alaraibi’s plight has attracted global coverage — with the hashtag #SaveHakeem gaining traction — and high-profile supporters, including Australian Hollywood actor Anthony LaPaglia.

Human rights groups and the Australian football community hold a protest in front of the Opera House for the release of refugee footballer Hakeem Alaraibi in Sydney on January 10, 2019.// AFP PHOTO

Former Australia football captain Craig Foster visited Alaraibi in prison on Tuesday.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne has also raised the case with Thai authorities, including during a visit to the country earlier this month.

FIFA repeated an appeal to Thai authorities earlier this month for the player’s release.

But the WPA, which pressured FIFA to draw up a formal human rights policy in 2017, wants the world footballing body to now uphold its vow to “strive to protect” all such rights globally.

Schwab said the union will file a formal complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee if it fails to act more forcefully.

“What we need to occur is for people who hold positions of power within the sports movement to carry out their responsibilities,” he added.

Arthur Brand, dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the art world”, said he handed over the centuries-old carvings to the Spanish embassy in London at a private ceremony early this week.

It was the culmination of a long search for the artworks, which were snatched in 2004 from the Santa Maria de Lara church in northern Spain, believed to be at least 1,000 years old.

They turned up in the garden of an aristocratic British family who had unwittingly bought them, and it was there that Brand found them covered in mud and leaves.

“These artworks are priceless. To find them in a garden after searching for eight years is just incredible,” the art sleuth said.

“You can imagine how horrified they were to learn that their garden ornaments were in fact priceless stolen Spanish religious art.”

The private investigator showed reporters the stone carvings – one of which depicts John the Evangelist, author of one of the Gospels – hours before they were handed back.

‘World heritage’

The reliefs, said to weigh 50kg each, were then handed to representatives of Spain’s Guardia Civil police force, who are collaborating in the case, and two museum curators from the northern city of Burgos.

The Spanish embassy in London declined to comment.

The hunt for the artworks could come straight from a detective novel.

The church from which they were stolen is believed to date from the era of the Visigoths, with experts dating it between the seventh and eleventh centuries.

But in a huge blow the reliefs were snatched by professional art thieves in 2004, Brand said.

In 2010 the intrepid sleuth first received word from an unnamed British informant that “something strange” had popped up in London, which eventually pointed him to a shadowy man Brand referred to as ‘Mr X’.

“It turns out ‘Mr X’ saw a French dealer arriving with the reliefs by truck in London. They were put on offer as garden ornaments – but Mr X recognised them as possible Visigoth religious artworks,” Brand said.

“The guys who stole these wanted to sell it for a couple of millions or whatever, but they have soon find out that you can not sell these, so to make at least a little bit of money, they sold them as garden ornaments,” he said, adding that they were probably sold for around £22,679 ($29,900) each.

Brand then tracked down the French dealer, who pointed them towards an unnamed British aristocratic family living north of London.

“It ended up in the garden of an English nobleman, who did not know that it was world heritage, where they would stay 15 years,” he said.

The owners were so shocked when told the truth that “they wanted to throw the artworks into a river and let them disappear forever. Fortunately we managed to convince them not to,” said Brand.

It was yet another success for Brand, who was in the headlines last year for returning a stolen 1,600-year-old mosaic to Cyprus that was found in the possession of a similarly unwitting British family.

He won world fame in 2015 after finding “Hitler’s Horses”, two bronze statues made by Nazi sculptor Joseph Thorak.

‘Worthy of Dan Brown’

The recovery of the artworks could also play an important role in revealing more about the mysterious Santa Maria de Lara church near Burgos.

The church was effectively lost for centuries before being rediscovered in 1921 by a local priest and declared a national monument in 1929.

Inside, the church has Christian, but also pagan, Roman symbols and Islamic influences – “worthy of a Dan Brown novel”, Brand quipped.

The stone reliefs “are of huge value,” said Rene Payo, art history professor at the University of Burgos.

“They are important because not many exist today. There are very little . . . quantities of Visigoth figurative sculptures,” he said.

The Visigoths settled in Spain between the fifth and eighth century after driving out the Romans, but were themselves overthrown by the Moors in 711.

The looted artworks could also be “essential” evidence in a debate raging among scholars about the exact age of the church, said Oxford University researcher David Addison.

Addison said some believed it was a 7th century building while others dated it to the 10th or 11th centuries.

Brand’s return of the artifacts “would be a great service in this regard,” Addison said.

The previous king, Sultan Muhammad V, stepped aside this month following just two years on the throne after reports surfaced he had married the former Miss Moscow while on medical leave.

There was great shock across Malaysia at the first abdication of a monarch in the Muslim-majority country’s history.

Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, a keen athlete who holds a string of positions on sporting bodies, including at world football governing body FIFA, was elected as the new king during a special meeting of Malaysia’s Islamic royalty.

    Sultan Abdullah “has been chosen as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (king) for a period of five years starting from January 31, 2019,” said a statement from the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Syed Danial Syed Ahmad.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the national throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the country’s nine states headed by Islamic royalty.

Eight of the state sultans earlier met at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur for the so-called “Conference of Rulers” to select the new king.

The only one absent was Muhammad V, who remains the sultan of the northeastern state of Kelantan despite having abdicated as the national monarch.

Abdullah was widely expected to become king as the central state of Pahang was next in line to provide the monarch

The 59-year-old was named Pahang’s new ruler — replacing his elderly, ailing father — several days after Muhammad V’s abdication, paving the way for him to become the next national monarch.

The deputy king was named as Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak state, according to the statement.

    – Command great respect –

As well as being a member of FIFA’s council — which lays out the vision for global football — he is president of the Asian Hockey Association and a former head of the Football Association of Malaysia.

After attending school in Malaysia, the keen polo player went on to study in Britain, where he attended the Sandhurst military academy, according to a biography published on Bernama.

After Pahang, the next state due to provide a king is Johor.

The sultan of Johor, which borders Singapore, is one of the country’s most wealthy and powerful Islamic rulers, and has his own private army.

To be elected as the national king, a sultan must be supported by at least five of the state rulers.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s royalty command great respect, especially from the country’s Muslim Malay majority, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

Portraits of the king and queen adorn government buildings throughout the country. The king is also the symbolic head of Islam in the nation, as well as the nominal chief of the military.

Malaysia’s sultans trace a lineage back to the Malay sultanates of the 15th century. The king’s official title, Yang di-Pertuan Agong, means “He Who Is Made Lord”.