Sultan Johor's birthday celebrations start today

The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar's birthday celebration started today with the 'meletak kerja' ceremony held at Istana Besar Memorial Monument.

The ceremony was conducted as a symbolic start to the celebration which took off at 9.20am with 10 members of the Royal Johor Military Force (JMF) marching in with the flag and fastening it to a pole.

After preparing the flag to be hoisted, ceremonial chief Datuk Abdul Latif Yusof was notified that the ceremony was ready to begin and soon after the ceremonial chief declared the start of the celebration, Johor Mufti Datuk Mohd Tahrir Shamsudin recited a prayer.

During the declaration Latiff informed that the flag would be flown throughout the Sultan Johor's 2017 birthday celebration.

This was followed by a flag-hoisting ceremony which was accompanied by a performance by the JMF brass band followed by a seven-gun salute.

Also present at the ceremony were Johor Council of the Royal Court president Datuk Abdul Rahim Ramli, state secretary Azmi Rohani, Johor police chief Datuk Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd as well as heads of departments and representatives of government agencies. - BERNAMA