BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 14 – His Majesty, Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia and Her Majesty, Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia on Sunday met Malaysians in Brunei in an afternoon reception here.
The royal couple arrived in Brunei Sunday to commence a three-day visit to the country until Tuesday.
Also present were the Tunku Temenggong Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar Sultan Ibrahim, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir, Foreign Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin and Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Brunei Datuk Mohd Aini Atan.
About 300 Malaysian diaspora attended the event, including businessmen as well as members of Persatuan Warganegara Malaysia (Malaysian Citizens Association) and Persatuan Kebajikan Melayu Se-Malaysia.
Sultan Ibrahim and Raja Zarith Sofiah also consented to a photo session with members of the Malaysian High Commission to Brunei and took time to mingle with the Malaysian diaspora before leaving the ceremony.
Earlier, Mohd Aini in his welcome speech said the presence of His Majesty was a manifestation of the integrity and privilege of the relationship between the two brotherly countries, as well as being the main highlight in commemorating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Malaysia-Brunei diplomatic ties this year.
He said the approximately 25,000 Malaysian community in Brunei had made achievements in various fields, especially the economy, which saw Malaysians as one of the main pillars of big businesses in the country.
“There are also many professionals from Malaysia who play important roles in various sectors such as medicine, education, law, finance, construction, information technology and so on,“ he said.
Meanwhile, the president of Persatuan Warganegara Malaysia in Brunei , Azlan Ahmad said the association was very honoured and excited to be able to meet Sultan Ibrahim and Raja Zarith Sofiah who made their first state visit to Brunei after ascending the throne on Jan 31.
