KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 : Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch of the United Kingdom (UK), through the seven decades of her reign, has been an important source of stability and strength for the UK, transcending politics, change of government, wars and pandemic, said British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Charles Hay.
Hay, in paying tribute to Her Majesty in conjunction with her Platinum Jubilee and 96th birthday celebration here on Thursday, said “the most important facet of Her Majesty’s reign is her sense of duty and tireless devotion to a life of service.”
“The huge amount of respect and gratitude for The Queen was demonstrated by the countless people who watched the Trooping of the Colour, the pageant concert, street parties and thousands of big jubilee launches across UK over the Jubilee weekend,” he said in his speech at the event graced by Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, and Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz who represented the Malaysian government.
The high commissioner said Queen Elizabeth II has strong personal links with Malaysia with her three trips to the country, and that “the most-remembered here is probably her presence at the closing of the Commonwealth Games at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in 1998.”
“One of the highlights of my time as high commissioner here has been joining the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong for lunch with The Queen at Buckingham Palace during their Special Visit to the UK in 2019,” he added.
Hay said the UK and Malaysia have a deep shared history, which today has flourished into a modern day partnership where both countries are working collaboratively across areas of mutual interest.
According to him, the UK has contributed a total of 15 million pound sterling in the last three years to implement economic partnership programmes with Malaysia and bilateral trade between the UK and Malaysia currently totals over 5 billion pound sterling with the UK seeking to grow priority sectors like education, technology, smart cities and healthcare.
The event kicked off with the minister leading a toast to the good health and wellbeing of Her Majesty, while Hay reciprocated with a toast to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
The reception was attended by over 800 guests including members of the Malaysian royalty, senior representatives from ministries, youth and non-governmental organisations, diplomatic corps and business community.
Guests who attended the reception were treated to a showcase of British culture and pageantry, the best British food, performances by the Great British Circus, as well as a selection of hot songs in the UK spanning 70 years of The Queen’s reign.
Also on display were portraits of The Queen by Malaysian pencil artiste Hakim Abdullah and digital artwork by British artist Rachel Gray. -TVS
