Sultanah Maliha binti Almarhum Tengku Ariff ( Jawi: سلطانة مليحة بنت المرحوم تڠكو عارف; born 13 April 1949) is the current Sultanah of

Malaysian State Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories, which form the primary administrative divisions of the country. Eleven states and two territories are part of Peninsular Malaysia, while two states and one territory ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

, replacing her sister-in-law, Sultanah Haminah. She was proclaimed as the Sultanah of Kedah on 30 April 2018 in a royal ceremony after her husband, Sultan Sallehuddin was made

Sultan of Kedah The Kedah Sultanate () is a Muslim dynasty located in the Malay Peninsula. It was originally an independent state, but became a British protectorate in 1909. Its monarchy was abolished after it was added to the Malayan Union but was restored ...

. She is the mother to

Tengku Sarafudin Badlishah Tengku Sarafudin Badlishah ibni Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin ( Jawi: تڠكو شرف الدين بدلي شاه ابن الأمين الكريم سلطان صالح الدين; born 2 March 1967) is the current Raja Muda (Crown Prince) ...

and Tunku Shazuddin Ariff.

Biography

Born as Tengku Maliha, she is the third child of seven siblings to ''Tengku Sri Jaya Raja'' Tengku Ariff bin Tengku Long Abdul Rahman and ''Cik Puan Sri Jaya Raja'' Cik Puan Rokiah binti Sulaiman. She is a member of Kelantanese Royal Family with

Raja Perempuan Zainab II Raja Perempuan Zainab (Jawi script, Jawi: ; born Tengku Zainab binti Tengku Muhammad Petra; 7 August 1917 – 10 January 1993) was the Raja Perempuan (queen consort) of Kelantan. She also served as Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia from 20 Sept ...

, the consort of

Sultan Yahya Petra Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim (Jawi script, Jawi: ; 10 December 1917 – 29 March 1979) was Sultan of Kelantan from 1960, and the sixth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch of Malaysia, from 1975, until his death ...

as her grand aunt. She received her early education at St. Mary Primary School,

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

and then at Assunta Satu Primary School before she went to Assunta Secondary School,

Petaling Jaya Petaling Jaya (), colloquially referred to as "PJ", is a city in Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Originally developed as a Satellite city, satellite township for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, it is part of the G ...

. At that time, her father was serving with

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

, a flag carrier airline company of

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In 1960, she with her family returned to

Kota Bharu Kota Bharu ( Kelantanese: ''Koto Baghu''), colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mout ...

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

after her father served as the aide-de-camp to

, the then

Sultan of Kelantan The Sultan of Kelantan (, Jawi: ) is the constitutional head of Kelantan state in Malaysia. The executive power of the state is vested in him as the monarch of the state. The current sultan, Muhammad V, is the 29th Sultan of Kelantan. He is th ...

. After returning to Kota Bharu, she continued her studies at Raja Perempuan Zainab (I) Secondary School and she was very active in her school sport activities especially in

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

. She also took part in school debate club and once presenting her school in a state's English debate competition.

Interest

Sultanah Maliha cares and is involved in the education development of the people especially in Kedah and is keen the development of the English Language. As such, she was appointed as the royal patron of ''English Literacy and Computer Programme'' (COMEL), managed by State Government Education Department and

National University of Malaysia The National University of Malaysia (, abbreviated as UKM) is a public research university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), ...

. Sultanah Maliha is also a

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

lover and passionate in cooking, especially Malaysian East Coast

cuisines A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs and ingredients combine to ena ...

Raja Puan Muda of Kedah

She was proclaimed as the Raja Puan Muda of Kedah (literally the Crown Princess) replaced Tengku Raudzah after her husband was proclaimed as the Raja Muda of Kedah (Crown Prince of Kedah) on 15 December 2016. Her husband replaced

Tunku Abdul Malik '' Tunku'' Abdul Malik ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah (24 September 1929 – 29 November 2015) was the heir presumptiveAlthough he was sometimes called heir ''apparent'' due to him being invested Raja Muda, this was not technically true since he co ...

, who died of natural causes on 29 November 2015 at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar.

Sultanah of Kedah

Maliha was made the Sultanah of Kedah after her husband proclaimed as the new

following the death of her brother-in-law, Sultan Abdul Halim in September 2017. Her official proclamation as Sultanah was held on 30 April 2018 with full of royal ceremony at Anak Bukit Palace,

Alor Setar Alor Setar ( Kedah Malay: ) is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is home to the third-tallest ...

. The ceremony was attended by members of Kedah and Kelantan Royal Family, Kedahan statesmen, the then Chief Minister of Kedah and wife, some members of

Kedah State Executive Council The Kedah State Executive Council is the executive branch of the State Government of Kedah, Malaysia. The Council is composed of the Menteri Besar, the Leader of the council, appointed by the Sultan on the basis that he/she commands the majority ...

with their spouses. The ceremony began at 11 morning upon the arrival of Sultan Sallehuddin accompanied by Sultanah Maliha to the throne hall (known as the ''Bailarong Seri''). After the arrival, the Sultanah proclamation letter read by the then Chief Minister of Kedah,

Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah Ahmad Bashah bin Md Hanipah is a Malaysian politician. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He was the Menteri Besar of Kedah from 4 February 2016 to 10 May ...

in front of the Sultan followed by Sultanah Maliha stood and kissed her husband's hand as symbol of the ''junjung duli (respect)'' ceremony. Then, the ceremony continued by 21 shots of canon accompanied by royal ''nobat (traditional music)''. Sultanah Maliha was also bestowed with the Darjah Seri Setia Sultan Sallehuddin (SSSK) by the Sultan. The ceremony end with the Sultan and Sultanah along with royal family members left the throne hall. Like many spouses of heads of state, as the Sultanah of Kedah, she has no stipulated role or duties in the Kedah State Constitution. However, she accompanies the Sultan of kedah to official functions and state visits, as well as hosting visiting heads of state and their spouses. For example, she accompanied her husband to the Installation of Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVI at the

National Palace Buildings called National Palace include: *National Palace (Dominican Republic), in Santo Domingo * National Palace (El Salvador), in San Salvador * National Palace (Ethiopia), in Addis Ababa; also known as the Jubilee Palace * National Palace (Guat ...

on 30 July 2019.

Honours

Awards and Recognitions

* Recipient of the

Royal Family Order of Kedah The Most Illustrious Royal Family Order of Kedah () is the highest dynastic order of the House of Sri Mahawangsa and the second highest chivalric order of the state of Kedah ranking immediately after the State of Kedah Star of Valour. The order w ...

(DK) (21.1.2018) * Grand Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to Sultan Sallehuddin of Kedah The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to Sultan Sallehuddin of Kedah (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Seri Setia Sultan Sallehuddin Kedah Yang Amat Dihormati'') is an honorific order of the Sultanate of Kedah. History It was founded by Sultan S ...

(SSSK) – Dato' Seri Diraja (30.4.2018) * Grand Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah The Illustrious Order of Loyalty to Sultan 'Abdu'l Halim Mu'azzam Shah (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Yang Mulia Sri Setia Sultan 'Abdu'l Halim Mu'azzam Shah'') is an honorific order of the Kedah Sultanate, Sultanate of Kedah. History It was founded ...

(SHMS) – Dato' Seri Diraja (15.1.2017) * Knight Grand Companion of the

Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah The Illustrious Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Yang Mulia Setia di-Raja'') is an honorific order of the Sultanate of Kedah. History It was founded by Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah on 21 September 1973. Cl ...

(SSDK) – Dato' Seri (12.12.2011) * Knight Companion of the

(DSDK) – Dato' (2001) * Companion of the

(SDK) * Sultan Abdul Halim Shah Silver Jubilee Medal (1983) * Sultan Abdul halim Shah Golden Jubilee Medal (2008)

Places named after her

* Sultanah Maliha Hospital,

Langkawi Langkawi, officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah (), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) located some 30 km off the coast of northwe ...

Issue

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maliha, Sultanah 1949 births Living people Kedah royal consorts People from Kelantan Royal House of Kelantan