On 31st January, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim of Johor was sworn in as the new King of Malaysia, making him the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong. As international news outlets reported on his appointment, many global newspapers took a lot of liberty in addressing His Majesty, leading to some questionable titles.
Columnist Jeff Ooi recently shared an image of the news report by British newspaper The Times on the appointment of Sultan Ibrahim as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Jeff captioned the tweet, “This is how The Times of UK reports on Malaysia”. The headline for the newspaper article read, “Half-British billionaire is named King Of Malaysia” and focuses on His Majesty’s mother, the late Khalsom binti Abdullah.
However, Jeff added that the headline for the online version of the report was even more brusque as it wrote, “New king of Malaysia is half-British tycoon who ignored traffic fines”. Like the title, the rest of the article was provocative as it also reported on Sultan Ibrahim’s controversies from the late 1980s and early 1990s. The article also talked about his wealth and son, the Regent of Johor Tunku Ismail (TMJ).
Many Malaysians have reacted to the tweet and disapproved of the article and the headline. Most said that The Times is a tabloid newspaper, and such headlines are typical of the publication. Others questioned if it was a move for the British journalists to “claim” a connection to the newly appointed Agong. Many pointed out that the article does not report on His Majesty’s appointment as King and mostly speaks about his half-British background.
However, The Times is not the only international publication to highlight Sultan Ibrahim’s wealth and background as British tabloid The Sun and New York-based website Business Insider also mentioned his assets in their respective articles – but what do you think about these headlines?
Sources: Twitter, The Times, The Sun UK, Business Insider
