ຜູ້ໃຊ້:Mrs~lowiki

Sultan Mahmud Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Sultan Sir Ismail Al-Khalidi (born April 8, 1932 in Johor Bahru) was the eighth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (roughly equivalent to King) of Malaysia from April 26, 1984 to April 25, 1989, and the 24th Sultan of Johor.

Namewise, Sultan Iskandar is addressed as "Sultan Iskandar", although his full name "Sultan Mahmud Iskandar" is occasionally used by the press. In his younger days, Sultan Iskandar (then a prince, addressed by the title Tunku) was known by his first name, "Tunku Mahmud".

Sultan Iskandar is reputed for being a staunch disciplinarian for his willingness to voice out his opinions in governmental issues. In recent years, subjects who have personally encountered the Sultan described him as a person with a warm and generous personality. Nevertheless, past critics had described him as a person with a turbulent temper, by citing his past notorious incidents, which includes an experience of being disinherited from the post of Tunku Mahkota, or Crown Prince in English, in 1961, and a series of alleged criminal acts between the 1970s and the 1990s which provoked moral outrage among the Malaysian public.

Sultan Iskandar is a 4th generation descendant of Sultan Abu Bakar, who in turn was the son of Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim (who served as the Temenggong under Hussein Shah of Johor) and grandson of Temenggong Abdul Rahman. The dynastical name of his lineage–Temenggong dynasty–was so-called as his lineage traced back to a family of Temenggongs. The preceding Sultan prior to Sultan Abu Bakar, Ali and his predecessors who ruled Johor from the 17th to 19th centuries, were descended from a family of Bendaharas–hence the name of the dynasties which the ruling houses were known.

Biography

Early life

Sultan Iskandar (known as Tunku Mahmud Iskandar until 1981) is the eldest son of Sultan Ismail ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim by Sultanah Ungku Tun Aminah binti Ungku Paduka Bena Sri Maharaja Utama Ahmad, and was born in Istana Semayam, Johor Bahru. He received his Primary and Secondary education in Ngee Heng Primary School and the English College (now Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar) in Johor Bahru before acquiring tertiary education at the Trinity Grammar School, in Australia and then to United Kingdom. In addition, he also briefly served as an Officer Cadet in the Johor Civil Service.

In 1956, Tunku Iskandar married a Cornish lady by the name of Josephine Trevorrow, with whom he had four children, including the crown prince, Tunku Ibrahim Ismail. The marriage ended with divorce in 1962. He remarried in 1961–shortly before his divorce to Trevorrow, to Tengku Zanariah, who came from the Kelantan royal family. Tengku Zanariah had six children with the Sultan. However, analysts have observed that any literal references to Trevorrow's association with Sultan Iskandar was carefully omitted in all official biographies.

Tunku Iskandar was appointed the Tunku Mahkota of Johor from 1959 to 1961 and Raja Muda from 1966 to 1981 by Sultan Ismail. On April 29, 1981 he was re-appointed as the Tunku Mahkota shortly before his father's demise.

Sultan of Johor

On May 10, 1981, Tunku Iskandar was appointed regent of Johor following the demise of his father, and was sworn in as Sultan a day later shortly before his father was buried. In turn, his younger brother, Tunku Abdul Rahman (not to be confused with Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister), formerly the Tunku Mahkota of Johor for twenty years under Sultan Ismail, was appointed the Tunku Bendahara of Johor, a post which he held until his death in 1989. In the same year on December 12, Sultan Iskandar was appointed as the Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Under the elective monarchy system of Malaysia, Sultan Iskandar was elected to be the new Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on February 9, 1984 by the council of rulers–shortly before his predecessor's term expired on April 26, 1984. He succeeded the Sultan of Pahang as the Yang-Di Pertuan Agong on April 26, and an investure–which he was donned in the traditional suit of the Agong, and was officially installed. Sultan Iskandar served in the capacity as the Yang-Di Pertuan Agong until 1989, whereby the Sultan of Perak succeeded him. As the Yang di-Peruan Agong, Sultan Iskandar was automatically designated under constitutional provisions as the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces, holding the rank of the Field Marshal of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Admiral of the Royal Malaysian Navy and Field Marshal of the Army.

On April 8, 2006, the Sultan appointed his grandson Tunku Ismail Ibrahim–the son of the Tunku Mahkota–as the Raja Muda during an investure in conjunction on his birthday. The rank of Raja Muda denotes that Tunku Ismail is second in position in terms of the order of succession to the Johor royal throne.

On December 1, 2008, Sultan Iskandar graced the official opening of the Sultan Iskandar customs, immigration and quarantine complex, together with several members of the royal family and key cabinet ministers. The complex was named in honour of the Sultan.

Foreign relations

Sultan Iskandar was noted for fostering particularly close neighbourly ties with Singapore by developing a personal rapport with top Singaporean leaders since his ascension to the throne, and this practice was also taken up by his sons, the Tunku Mahkota and Tunku Bendahara. Media reports highlighted the particularly warm reception which leaders of both countries receive whenever they visited each other's domains, particularly in July 1988 when Sultan Iskandar's visit to Singapore marked the first official visit by any Yang di-Pertuan Agong since 1957. Between these years, Sultan Iskandar has been awarded or been given the following awards by Singaporean political leaders:

• 1988: Then-Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong received the Dato' Paduka Mahkota Johor (Kerhomat) from the Sultan himself
• 2007: Sultan Iskandar was presented with the Honorary Master Parachutist Wing by then-Singapore Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean
• 2007: Conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by the National University of Singapore.

Nevertheless, Sultan Iskandar's relations with Singapore were not always as rosy–following the International Court of Justice's ruling on the Pedra Branca dispute–which the court ruled to Singapore, the Sultan made felt that the island belonged to Johor and made a vow to find legal means to retrieve the island's sovereignty.

In addition, Sultan Iskandar also forged close ties with the Sultan of Brunei following his expression of interest in the Iskandar Development Region.

Controversies

Succession

Prior to his life as the Sultan or Agong and even during the 1980s and early 1990s, Tunku Iskandar's reputation was more or less marred by a number of alleged controversial incidents which received occasional attention from the media. One of the earliest incidents was the loss of his status as Tunku Mahkota in 1961–a position which his father, then Sultan Ismail appointed to him two years earlier, citing reasons of alleged misbehaviour. Sultan Ismail then appointed Tunku Iskandar's younger brother, Tengku Abdul Rahman in favour of him. Nevertheless, Iskandar was made the Raja Muda–being the second in line to the throne from 1966 to 1981. In April 1981, Tunku Iskandar was reinstated as Tunku Mahkota shortly before his father's death the following month and was subsequently installed as the Sultan of Johor, under the orders of his father.

However, some eyewitnesses challenged the legitimacy of Tunku Iskandar's reappointment as the Tunku Mahkota by arguing that they witnessed Sultan Ismail already having lapsed into comatose at the time of his appointment as the Regent. (Records stated that Sultan Ismail lapsed into comatose on May 8, three days before his death.) Relations with the Menteri Besar of Johor, Othman Saat deteriorated when the latter questioned Tunku Iskandar's legitimacy to the throne, which led to an incident which saw the Sultan issuing an order to the Menteri Besar to vacate his office within 24 hours shortly after Sultan Ismail's death, citing reasons for the need for that office space for his own. The Menteri Besar heeded his order, though the Sultan did not move in as he had said. Othman Saat subsequently resigned as the Menteri Besar the following year.

Allegations of criminal misconduct

In 1972, Tunku Iskandar was charged for causing assault with a mace to two men for overtaking his car and was convicted the following year. Five years later, Tunku Iskandar was also similarly charged and convicted of culpable homicide and manslaughter after shooting and killing a man near his helicopter whom he took to be a smuggler. In both cases, his father, Sultan Ismail intervened and granted official pardons to Tunku Iskandar. Similarly, his eldest son, Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, was convicted in the 1980s of shooting dead a man in a nightclub during a feud, but was quickly pardoned.

In 1987, Sultan Iskandar was accused of causing the death of a golf caddy in Cameron Highlands by assault, following an incident in which the golf caddy laughed when the Sultan missed a hole. Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister, pointed out that the Sultan (then the Agong) could not be prosecuted due to the immunity that was accorded to the rulers, yet he condemned Sultan Iskandar's actions at the same time. In the end the matter was let off without much public attention. The brother of the caddy–who also suffered injuries from the incident, being distressed from what he saw, subsequently ran amok in Kuala Lumpur and had to be quarantined in a mental hospital.

Gomez Incident

Main article: 1993 amendments to the Constitution of Malaysia

Assault

In late 1992, two separate assault cases by the Sultan himself as well as his younger son, Tunku Abdul Majid Idris on hockey coaches culminated in the stripping of immunity of rulers from prosecution–which received considerable headlines in both the local and international news which was aptly dubbed as "The Gomez Incident". The incident was kicked off on July 10, 1992 when Sultan Iskandar's second son, the Tunku Bendahara–Tunku Abdul Majid Idris lost his temper during a hockey match with the Perak hockey team after Perak won the match by a penalty stroke, and assaulted the Perak goalkeeper, Mohamed Jaafar Mohamed Vello. The goalkeeper later lodged a police report on July 30. The incident did reveal some public attention especially when the matter was debated in parliament. The incident did result in the Malaysian Hockey Federation issuing Tunku Majid, (then second-in line to the throne after his elder brother) facing a ban of five years from participating in any tournaments following investigations, as well as a brush whereby he was convicted in January 1993 and faced the liability to be sentenced to a year in prison and/or a RM 2000 fine, but was released on a bail and charges dropped on grounds of immunity, which was still applicable at the time when the act was committed.

The Sultan responded to the ban by putting pressure on the state authorities to enforce isolation of the Johor hockey teams from all national tournaments. In November 1992, Douglas Gomez, a coach for the Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar field hockey team, expressed his displeasure of being called to withdraw from a semi-final national hockey match by the Director of the Johor Education Department. The incident attracted the attention of the Sultan, who personally summoned Gomez to his palace, Istana Bukit Serene, where he was promptly reprimanded and assaulted by the Sultan. Following Gomez's meeting with the Sultan, Gomez sought treatment to his face and stomach. Subsequently, he lodged a police report against the Sultan for assault, claiming that the while there were several members of the Johor Military Force personnel present, the Sultan was personally responsible for the assault.

Public responses and follow ups

The assault resulted in a public outcry over the event which pressured all levels of the government right up to the top ranks of the federal government to investigate into the matter. In the closing months of 1992 and also the opening months of 1993, dozens of articles mentioning misdeeds by the royal families of several states–but in particular Sultan Iskandar himself were published, many of which included exorbitant fines–way above the prescribed legal limits–which offenders had to pay for obstructing the Sultan's car, amongst others.

The tremendous pressure from the public prompted the Members of Parliament to convene a special session on December 10, 1992 which saw all 96 members of the Dewan Rakyat present during that session passing a unanimous resolution to curb the powers of the rulers if necessary. During the special meeting, parliamentarians highlighted records that both Sultan Iskandar and his two sons–at the time of mention–had been involved in a total of at least 23 cases of assault, including five cases by the Sultan after 1981, two cases by the Tunku Mahkota and three cases by the Tunku Bendahara.

A bill was passed by both houses of parliament–the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara respectively in January 19 and 20, 1993 respectively. The bill, which proposed to remove legal immunity was agreed by six out of nine sultans–but saw stiff opposition from three, two of which included the Kelantan royal household and the Sultan of Johor himself. Sultan Iskandar took up the initiative to obtain royal effort to stall the implementation of the proposed bill. The bill proposed to strip rulers and members of the royal families of legal immunity–that is, not to be prosecutable under the law in any event of violations against the law. However, after immense pressure from the federal government–who had now considerable powers following a major constitutional amendment in 1983, a Bill was formally passed in March 1993 which saw the loss of legal immunity by the rulers.

The amendment allowed rulers who violated the laws to be prosecuted, while the Sedition Act of 1948 was also amended to allow public criticism of the rulers. A special court was created–presided by the Lord President of the Federal Court–to empower and prosecute members of the rulers and immediate members of the royal household.

Aftermath

Sultan Iskandar and his family members, were not prosecuted for their past violations of the law on grounds that the royal immunity was still applicable when the incidences occured. Nevertheless, shortly after the incident, Sultan Iskandar was prompted to take steps to rehabilitate his public image which was more or less tarnished by the incident. In a public speech in early 1993, the Sultan was noted to have toned down somewhat on his hardline image and appeared to be somewhat more humble, appealing to Johoreans to maintain their loyalty to him.

Sultan Iskandar's grandfather, Sultan Ibrahim was the founder of the Johor Military Force.

The Gomez incident also led to a review and proposal to disband the Johor Military Force (JMF) in August 1993 by the Federal Government, which also stopped channeling funds to the small military force briefly. However, the bill to disband the JMF was subsequently repealed by parliament.

In November 2008, a call made by the Regent of Negeri Sembilan, Tunku Naqiyuddin to restore immunity to rulers raised concerns among the public, in view of the history of past royal excesses, but specifically the Gomez incident. However, Tunku Naqiyuddin added further that immunity to rulers should not be extended to cases when rulers commit acts of criminality, such as assault.

Political

Shortly before to his election as the Yang-Di Pertuan Agong in 1983, a spate of reports alleging Sultan Iskandar's intention to launch a coup d'état by launching a State of emergency to overthrow the government circulated within political circles, which reached Mahathir himself. The Sultan was reportedly having fostered close relations with several key military personnel, including the Army chief himself. The government subsequently took action to curb constitutional loopholes within the constitution and took to task of reducing the power of royal veto in passing legislation, culminating to a constitutional crisis in late 1983. Nevertheless, during his inaugural speech as the Agong in 1984, about a month after the constitutional amendments were passed in parliament, Sultan Iskandar voiced public support for the revised constitution and pledged to act in accordance to the Prime Minister's advise.

A diplomatic scandal between Britain and Malaysia broke out in 1984 when several British newspapers published Sultan Iskandar's coronation–citing the headlines such as "Killer becomes King" and "King a killer", which enraged the Malaysian government who demanded an apology from the British government. The British government refused to apologise on behalf of the newspapers–hence triggering tensions between the two countries.

In 1988, as Sultan Iskandar was serving in his capacity as the Yang-Di Pertuan Agong, the Lord President of the Federal Court Tun Salleh Abas was sacked by the Agong in what led to the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis. However, observers suggested a remarkably warm relationship between then Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad with the Agong, both of whom shared common resentment against the chief justice–Sultan Iskandar convicted of homicide and sentenced to six months imprisonment prior to his Kingship during his youth by Salleh Abas himself in 1977. The sacking of the Lord President, was however not without controversy given the alleged manner in which the Agong and Prime Minister had handled the matter–including an incident which the Agong had refused to forgive the Lord President in spite of an offer of apology.

Sultan Iskandar's public call to support Abdullah Badawi's administration in October 2006 created a minor stir among Mahathir's supporters, when he remarked that "Mahathir should act like a pensioner". The call came at a time when Mahathir's spate of criticisms against Abdullah's were at its most vociferous period. The Sultan was the first state ruler to publicly defend the policy of the government during the period of Mahathir's criticisms against the Abdullah administration.

A month later, in November 2006, another small stir erupted during the launching ceremony of the Iskandar Development Region, when Sultan Iskandar voiced his opinion that the Causeway, which connects Johor and Singapore, should be removed in order to allow ships to pass through and promoting development of the state. He also remarked that the people should be wary of all foreigners as they were "vultures" and also urged the people not to hold them in high regard, citing his displeasure on that his ancestors were being "deceived" by the dirty tactics employed by the colonialists to build the Causeway.

At the inaugural 12th Johor State Assembly Seating in April 2008, a minor controversy erupted when one opposition MP, Gwee Tong Hiang, flouted dress regulations by appearing in a lounge suite and tie instead of the usual official attire and songkok, resulted in being dismissed from the assembly chamber shortly before the Sultan's arrival. Gwee, a DAP MP, reportedly argued that there was no stated order to wear the official attire and songkok and stated his desire to wear a western suit, promptly drew flak from other MPs and the Menteri Besar, Abdul Ghani Othman who had earlier on met to agree to don in the official attire and songkok prior to the assembly, whereby Gwee was absent. The Sultan, apparently angry at Gwee, sharply criticised him two days later and publicly called upon Gwee to seek an audience with him.

Legacy

Several projects and institutions were named after the Sultan, including:

• SMK Tunku Mahmood Iskandar, Parit Saidi, Batu Pahat
• SK Tengku Mahmood Iskandar 1 and 2, Pontian
• Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Kota Tinggi district office of the Malaysian Public Works Department
• Iskandar Johor Open, an Asian Tour golf tournament funded by the Johor state government
• Sultan Iskandar Broadcasting Complex, headquarters of Johor FM at Jalan Datin Halimah
• Sultan Iskandar Power Station, Pasir Gudang

Bangunan Sultan Iskandar–Customs, Immigration and Quarantine centre, opened in 2008. This picture was taken while it was still under construction in 2006.

• Iskandar Malaysia, formerly Wilayah Pembangunan Iskandar or Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in English
• Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, or the Sultan Iskandar Complex in English, a customs, immigration and quarantine complex opened in December 2008

One of his grandsons (the son of his second son, Tunku Abdul Majid), Tunku Mahmood Iskandar, was named after him. Some of his children and grandchildren are also similarly named after his forebears, notably his older son, Tunku Ibrahim, who was named after the Sultan's grandfather, Sultan Ibrahim.

Personal Life

The Sultan is an avid golfer and devotes much of his free time at the Royal Johor Country Club. In addition, he also loved Tennis, Squash and Cinematography. Within private circles, Sultan Iskandar was fondly known as "Moody", a testimony to his first name "Mahmud." His son, Tunku Abdul Majid inherited his interest in Amateur Golf and once served as the President of the Malaysian Golf Association.

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