King congratulates Singapore’s ninth president

KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Friday (Sept 15) congratulated Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who was sworn in as Singapore’s ninth president on Thursday (Sept 14).

In a Facebook post, the king expressed hope that Malaysia and Singapore will continue to work closely to bring progress and prosperity to both countries and their people.

“His Majesty also expressed the hope that Malaysia and Singapore, as two neighbouring countries with deep historical ties, will continue to work together to improve bilateral relations in various fields for mutual benefit,” according to the post.

Shanmugaratnam won the presidential election with over 70% of the 2.5 million votes on Sept 1.

In his maiden speech as head of state on Thursday, Shanmugaratnam said he would do his best to represent Singapore and promote the republic’s interests abroad in line with the objectives and priorities of the government.- Bernama