This is Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, the 17th King of Malaysia

Malaysia has a new reigning king as the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, takes on his new mantle as the overall Sultan of Malaysia in his official crowning ceremony on July 20, months after having officially assumed the position in January.

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar is the current Sultan of Johor, a state in Malaysia. He is the current fifth reigning king of modern Johor since the establishment of the Temenggong dynasty.

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar’s full name is Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, and he was born on November 22, 1958, to the previous Johor Sultan, Sultan Iskandar ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail, and his first wife, Josephine Ruby Trevorrow, an English woman.

According to the official website of Sultan Ibrahim, he had been named second-in-line to the Johor sultanate on July 3, 1981, when his father had been crowned as the Sultan of Johor. During that time, he worked closely with his father and gained knowledge on how to rule the state.

The knowledge proved useful as Ibrahim Iskandar was eventually named regent after Sultan Iskandar’s passing and became known as Sultan Ibrahim on January 23, 2010. According to The Star, he was only officially coronated on March 23, 2015, and officially titled the Sultan of Johor then.

According to The Economist, Sultan Ibrahim is known as one of Malaysia's more liberal and popular rulers, as he not only advocates for religious moderation in the Islamic country, but he also encourages citizens of his state to pursue tertiary education and has enacted policies to support this.

Sultan Ibrahim is also quite a modern monarch himself. Bloomberg has coined him a “motorcycle-riding, Ferrari-driving, Instagram-savvy royal” for his love of luxury cars, motorbikes, and social media.

Image: officialsultanibrahim / Instagram

Despite his already significant responsibilities as Sultan of Johor, the Malaysian Council of Rulers nominated him to be the next overall Sultan of Malaysia, titularly known as the ‘Agong’, on October 27, 2023, and he was officially granted the title on January 31, 2024, according to Al Jazeera.

Malay Mail reports that Sultan Ibrahim is the first ‘Agong’ from Johor in over three decades, since his father Sultan Iskander was granted the position back in the 1980s. Sultan Ibrahim had previously been nominated for ‘Agong’ back in 2016, but rejected the offer to allow for the Sultan of Kelantan to take over instead.

Months later, after having assumed the position of ‘Agong’, Sultan Ibrahim underwent the state official crowning ceremony on July 20, swearing-in himself as the 17th King of Malaysia at the Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur. The Straits Times reports that several notable figures were also present in attendance, including Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

This marks the official start of Sultan Ibrahim’s five-year reign as the Sultan of Malaysia, until it is time for the Malaysian Council of Rulers to nominate its next ruler. His rule is accompanied by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, who serves as his deputy, reports Malay Mail.

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