Malaysian king breaks down as he remembers dead son during talks with China’s Xi Jinping
Sultan Ibrahim thanks China for helping to treat son who later died of liver cancer, reveals close family link with Guangdong province
According to the Sin Chew Daily, Sultan Ibrahim was in tears as he mentioned his son, who died in 2015 aged 25 after battling liver cancer. He also thanked China for its part in his medical treatment.
In Malaysia’s constitutional monarchy, the throne usually rotates every five years between the rulers of nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty.
Meeting Xi at the Great Hall of the People on Friday, the Malaysian king shared heartfelt memories of his late son, Tunku Abdul Jalil Iskandar Ibrahim, who had received treatment at a hospital in China.
Born in 1990, Tunku Abdul Jalil was the fourth of six siblings in the Johor royal family. He held a degree in zoological and conservation studies from the Zoological Society of London and was the first member of the Johor royal household to serve in the police force.
In late 2014, Tunku Abdul Jalil was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer. In December that year, he underwent a liver transplant at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Although the operation was successful, he died a year later.