By Yasmin Ahmad Zukiman
MAGELANG (Central Java), Aug 29 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia’s queen,
Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, had a unique way of saying “thank you” to Indonesia during her state visit to the republic Tuesday.
She wore a full set of batik clothes including a selendang (scarve) that had been a gift to her 34 years ago from the Indonesian government when she had accompanied her father, the late Sultan Iskandar who was the then eighth Yang di Pertuan Agong or King of Malaysia during his visit to the republic in 1985.
Tunku Azizah said she chose the batik set to show her appreciation to the Indonesian government during the state welcome given to Malaysia’s present King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and her during their four-day state visit to Indonesia.
“In December 1985, when I was younger and not married to Tuanku (the King), I accompanied my father on an official visit to the Republic of Indonesia.
“If you notice, during the state welcome (in Jakarta on Tuesday), I wore a batik sarung and a batik selendang. Actually, the batik was a gift from the Republic of Indonesia to the Agong’s children who accompanied him then.
“Thirty-four years later, I am wearing it again. To show that I had kept it…my appreciation to the Indonesian Republic which gave it to me,” she told reporters covering the royal couple’s visit to the historic Borobudur Temple here.
The visit was part of their programme while in Yogyakarta on a state visit which began on Monday. Sultan Abdullah and Tunku Azizah had earlier been on a two-day visit to the federal capital, Jakarta.
Tunku Azizah also posted a photograph of her wearing the batik set on her Twitter account, (@cheminahsayang), posing with Sultan Abdullah, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his wife Iriana Joko Widodo at a state reception in the Bogor Presidential Palace.
In Jakarta, Tunku Azizah visited the ‘World Ikat Textiles 2019-Ikat: Ties That Bind’ exhibition at the Textile Museum which had almost 100 collections of woven cloth from various countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
On the exhibition, Tunku Azizah who is known for her deep interest in textiles and fabric design, said the ties between ASEAN countries could be likened to the threads which form the songket, symbolising the unity of the nations.
“The threads which we weave to make songket, we call it the ‘ties that bind’ that unite us as one Asean, and can be found in any country (in Asean),” she said.
— NNN-BERNAMA
