King, Queen upset unable to meet people at several locations in Sabah, Sarawak

KUALA LUMPUR - Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah today expressed disappointment at not being able to stop at several planned locations in Sabah and Sarawak during the Kembara Kenali Borneo tour.

Comptroller of the Istana Negara Royal Household Major General Datuk Zahari Mohd Ariffin said in Sabah, the convoy could not make a stopover at Menara Kayangan, Lahad Datu scheduled for Sept 4 and Tagal, Sungai Moroli in Ranau the next day.

In Sarawak, the scheduled stopover at the Yu Lung Sian En Si Temple in Sibu on Sept 11, and Bandar Sri Aman Mosque as well as Fort Alice in Sri Aman the next day had to be cancelled.

"The King and Queen and their entourage did not have the opportunity to stop at the locations due to unavoidable factors and it was not intentional,” he said in a statement from Istana Negara.

Due to time constraints, Their Majesties had to rush to dinner receptions that involved the presence of hundreds or thousands of attendees on those days, he added.

Al-Sultan Abdullah and Tunku Azizah expressed their appreciation to the thousands of people who turned up to greet, shake hands and take pictures with them at the locations.

Zahari said that if the situation permits, His Majesty intends to visit the people in those locations in the future.

"If the situation does not permit, perhaps their children will represent Their Majesties," he said.

The inaugural Kembara Kenali Borneo tour, which received an exceptional reception from the people of both states, involved a 2,154-km journey along the Pan Borneo Highway connecting Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei from Sept 3 to 13. - BERNAMA