Naning investiture not valid, says self-proclaimed Sultan of Malacca

Royalty or not?: The luxurious car of the self-proclaimed Sultan of Malacca Raja Noor Jan (inset). The car has been seized by the police.

MALACCA: The self-proclaimed Sultan of Malacca Tuanku Raja Noor Jan Shah Raja Tuah wants the so-called investiture ceremonies organised by the Undang Luak of Naning Datuk Abdul Latif Hisham to be declared null and void.

He claimed that the title was given to the Naning chieftain by the Dutch in the 1800s as a mark of gratitude for supplying labour to mend the Malacca port then and that the holder has no royal blood.

“Thus his descendant is just an ordinary citizen and has no right to confer royal titles,” said Raja Noor Jan Shah who claimed to be a descendant of the first Sultan of Malacca, Parameswara.

He said if there was any royal title to be conferred by the descendant of the Sultan of Malacca, he should be the one doing it.

Raja Noor Jan Shah, who claimed to be the 44th Sultan of Malacca, said he was also the rightful Ruler of the Perak Sultanate and that he had conferred numerous titles to individuals since 2005.

“My investiture ceremonies were held to only honour those who have contributed to the state of Malacca and Perak and this privilege is extended to all my subjects in both the states,” he said.

Raja Noor Jan, who claimed to have all the Malacca Sultanate’s regalia including two keris, a silver buckle, a royal crown and brooches, said he would be holding another ceremonial gathering on Nov 19 in Malacca.

He claimed that all the royal regalia had been authenticated as ancient heirloom by the Museum and Antiquities Department.

In a related development, a claim has emerged that titles awarded by the Undang Luak Naning were being sold for huge sums of money.

The confidential secretary to Abdul Latif said there were people who claimed to be recipients to such titles but whose names were not on the list of those who were awarded Datukships by the 19th Naning chieftain.

Meanwhile, Datuk Paduka Seri Syahbandar Omar Ali, who claimed to be secretary to the Lembaga Adat Naning (Naning Customary Board), said Abdul Latif was sacked in 2011.

He claimed that Abdul Latif was a Singaporean and that he was sacked by the Board after it was found that he had no blood lineage to the Ruler of Naning Kingdom.

“He is considered an unlawful chieftain as the same board which appointed him in 2004 dismissed him seven years ago. He has no right to confer any Datukship,” he said yesterday.

Omar claimed that the conferment of titles by Abdul Latif was done solely for monetary gain where each Datuk title could be sold for up to RM100,000 each.

“Imagine, a dozen being conferred Datukships, the amount collected would be in millions of ringgit. I hope the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will look into this as he has been awarding titles for two years,” he added.

Omar also pointed out that never in Naning history has any chieftain conferred Datukship to non-adat individual (person with no links to Naning’s customary practices).

He said apart from Abdul Latif, there was also another individual who claimed to be the chieftain of Naning who awarded Datukships to unsuspecting persons.

He claimed that the person, who he declined to name, was also never installed by the board but was involved in selling titles for thousands of ringgit to those who were excited to receive Datukship.

Omar said the board had lodged 19 police reports since early this year besides lodging complaints to the MACC.

He also urged those who had paid money for the titles to lodge similar reports so that action could be taken against the culprits.

Omar called on the state government to intervene and resolve the issue before more individuals were fleeced into believing that the Datukships conferred by Abdul Latif were authentic titles. - Star