Selangor Sultan Conferred French Award Of Distinction

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 (Bernama) -- The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, was on Monday conferred the "Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur" (Commander of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour) decoration by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The award, which acknowledges the eminent role played by Sultan Sharafuddin as the Ruler of Selangor and Captain-in-Chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy, was presented by France's Chief of Defence Forces Edouard Guillaud at the French Residence, here. Sultan Sharafuddin was accompanied by his daughter, Tengku Zatashah, at the presentation ceremony. Also present was the French Ambassador to Malaysia, Martine Dorance. In his speech, the sultan said he was greatly honoured to accept the prestigious award and expressed the hope that the relationship between Malaysia, not just Selangor, and France will continue to grow. "As Captain-in-Chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy, I am very proud of the cooperation between the Royal Malaysian Navy and the French Navy. Our (Malaysia's) two Scorpene submarines are admired by many around the region. "And the training of our navy sailors, mainly in Brest, where they learnt the French language too, cements our relationship further," he said. Guillaud, in his speech, said this highest order of award in France is conferred on pre-eminent leaders and citizens of friendly nations for their deeds in regard of bilateral relations. "This is how the President of the French Republic has been considering your (Sultan Sharafuddin's) merits in the service of Malaysia, its armed forces, its navy and also in the service of the people of Selangor," he said. He also expressed appreciation for the assistance of Sultan Sharafuddin in helping them to build the submarine programme between both the Royal Malaysian Navy and the French Navy. "For both of our nations, this programme was from the start a major undertaking. The Malaysian and French navies went for the most demanding type of submarine and embarked on the most demanding training programme and boldly decided to pave the way for tomorrow's Malaysian strategic force," he added. -- BERNAMA