KING AND QUEEN HERE FOR THREE –DAY VISIT
KOTA KINABALU:
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah arrived here yesterday on a three-day royal visit to Sabah. Flying in on a special Air Force plane, the King and Queen arrived at around 1O.45am at Terminal Two of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, and were welcomed by the Head of State Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah and his wife Toh Puan Dayang Masuyah Awang Japar, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and a host of other VIPs. Among the VIPs in attendance included deputy Chief Ministers Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin and Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, State Ministers and State Barisan Nasional (BN) component leaders. As the royal couple left the airport for the Magellan Sutera in a specially-modified luxury four-wheel-drive vehicle, they were greeted by hundreds of people gathered to give a colourful and warm welcome. Those assembled for the royal welcome included members of the various security forces stationed here, National Service trainees, cultural groups dressed in their traditional attire and students from nearby schools. After a short rest, the Agong and Raja Permaisuri visited the Tun Mustapha Tower where they were given an overview of the State’s development and later feted to a royal dinner at the State Assembly banquet hall. The royal itinerary for this morning is expected to start with golf. as the Agong tees off in the PGMS Golf Tournament, after which he and the Raja Permaisuri pay a visit to the Royal Malaysian Navy base in Sepanggar Bay before leaving for Sandakan. In Sandakan, the Agong and Raja Permaisuri will spend the evening with the people at a public dinner at Dewan Hakka along Mile 5, while tomorrow Musa is expected to host them to lunch at his residence at Sri Libaran before their scheduled return to Kuala Lumpur at around 4. 3Opm.
