King and queen grace National Day celebrations at Dataran Putrajaya

 Estimated crowd of 80,000 turn up to witness grand parade.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, taking the salute at the National Day celebrations at Dataran Putrajaya. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA:

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, and Raja Permaisuri Agong, Raja Zarith Sofiah, graced the 69th National Day celebrations at Dataran Putrajaya this morning.

This marks the third year that the royal couple have joined in the celebrations since the king’s oath-taking on Jan 31 and installation on July 20, 2024.

Sultan Ibrahim and Raja Zarith arrived at 8am and were received by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as well as communications minister Fahmi Fadzil, who is the chairman of the 2026 National Day and Malaysia Day main committee.

A bird’s-eye view of the Jalur Gemilang being displayed at the celebrations. (Bernama pic)

The resonant call of the trumpet echoed across Dataran Putrajaya before the band played the Negaraku.

This was followed by a fly-past of five helicopters carrying the Malaysian flag and the flags of the Malaysian armed forces.

The crowd at Dataran Putrajaya to witness the grand parade celebrating the nation’s 69th National Day. (Bernama pic)

Sultan Ibrahim took the royal salute and inspected the guard of honour, comprising officers and men from the Royal Artillery Regiment from Sungai Buloh Camp.

Themed “Malaysia Madani: Kesejahteraan Dinikmati”, this year’s celebrations featured 10,819 parade members from 76 contingents and 22 brass bands, witnessed by an estimated 80,000 crowd. - FMT