KUALA LUMPUR: Sultan of Kedah Al Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Almarhum Sultan Badlishah chaired the 257th Meeting of the Conference of Rulers at Istana Negara here on Wednesday (Nov 24).

       Before the meeting started at 11am, Sultan Sallehuddin took the salute at a Grand Guard of Honour mounted by the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment at Dataran Utama.

       Sultan Sallehuddin then planted a Rajah Kayu (Cassia fistula) tree on the grounds of Istana Negara to symbolise his chairing the meeting.

       Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah witnessed the tree-planting ceremony.

       The two-day meeting is being attended by all Malay Rulers except for Their Highnesses from Kelantan, Pahang and Perlis.

       The Rulers in attendance are Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar; Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah; Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin; Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Almarhum Tuanku Munawir.

       Kelantan was represented by Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan Tengku Dr Muhammad Faiz Petra Sultan Ismail Petra; Pahang was represented by Pahang Regent Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah and Perlis was represented by Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail.

       Also attending the meeting are the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri of Penang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak.

       At the meeting, the Malay Rulers are accompanied by the respective Mentri Besar while the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri are accompanied by the respective Chief Ministers, except for Sarawak, where a Deputy Chief Minister was present.

       The last meeting of the Conference of Rulers was held on Feb 19 and 20, 2020, chaired by Sultan Nazrin Shah.

       The Grand Guard of Honour and the tree-planting ceremony were the brainchild of Al-Sultan Abdullah and had never been held prior to the appointment of His Majesty as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

       The Grand Guard of Honour was held for the first time at the 254th meeting while tree planting was introduced at the 255th meeting. - Bernama