Hail to the King!

On Thursday, April 26th, Terengganu (the state in which we reside in Malaysia) celebrated the Sultan of Terengganu's inauguration as the new Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia). The election of the King of Malaysia is a very unique process (not to mention the fact that it's unique just to elect a King). In Malaysia there are nine Rulers, known as the Conference of Rulers, who are essentially the leaders of nine Malay States. Though there are 13 states, the governors of four of those states are excluded from participating in the election of the King (for more information on why, read the link above for the Conference of Rulers). Every five years the Conference elects a new King, but not on an arbitrary basis. Basically the Kingship is passed from state to state every five years, and the new King is the Ruler in power when it is his state's turn for the throne. This is a very abbreviated version of the process, and if you click on the link above you can get more detailed information. 2006 was Terengganu's turn in the schedule, so in November the Sultan of Terengganu, Mizan Zainal Abidin, was elected as the new King. He officially took the throne on Thursday, so there was much celebration in Terengganu and the day was declared a state holiday.