KUALA LUMPUR: A deep interest and awareness of the importance of a community’s identity motivated Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah to strive to revive the local cultural heritage lest it was forgotten by the people.
Her Majesty’s knowledge and will to preserve history and culture, especially of royal collections, are something her close friend Datuk Seri Shah Rezza finds admirable.
“I feel blessed to have a Queen who is interested in history and culture … we have the same interests. Her Majesty is really interested in cultural and historical artifacts, especially textiles.
“Her Majesty’s involvement is not a mere token. She really delves into it. It is good not only for culture and history buffs but also for the country,” said Shah Rezza, an 80s singer whose real name is Datuk Seri Raja Rezza Shah Tengku Seri Kelana Raja Aman Shah.
One example, he said, was her effort to revive the ‘Kain Tenun Pahang Diraja’ (Royal Pahang woven fabric) which Shah Rezza said was a major success as the art form had been almost totally forgotten.
“It is almost obsolete and, if it was not revived, we would have lost an art form which is the pride of the Malays,” Shah Rezza, who is the founder and chairman of the Islamic Fashion Festival, told Bernama in an interview held in conjunction with the installation of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on July 30.
He is also a Culture Icon with Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, and one of the designers responsible for decorating the Istana Negara for the installation ceremony next week.
Tunku Azizah is currently the patron of the Yayasan Tenun Pahang Diraja, a foundation set up to preserve the art of making Royal Pahang woven cloth.
Shah Rezza said what was special about Tunku Azizah was that she was not just a patron but was actively involved in the efforts to preserve the craft, going around the region to look at how others do weaving.
“We are proud that there is a member of the royal family who is so interested in preserving our culture...as the saying goes, ‘a place without history is like a man without memories’, the more history and culture there is in a nation, the higher the quality of its people,” he said.
On Tunku Azizah’s interest in collecting antiques, Shah Rezza said he helped her collect artifacts belonging to the Pahang royal family when she was supervising the preparations for the marriage of Tengku Muda Pahang Tengku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ahmad Shah with Cik Puan Muda Pahang, Cik Puan Muda Julita Aishah Abdul Latiff in 2002.
“She wanted to collect items relating to weddings, such as the bunga tabur (flower-like gold pieces which are sewn on the clothes), ” he said.
“This is very important because it is the heritage of the Malays and if there are no ‘hard copies” (actual artifacts), people will say we never had the real thing,” he said.
Shah Rezza said when Tunku Azizah moved to Istana Negara, she brought along many items of her personal collection as she wants to set up a gallery there to display them to guests, especially foreigners. - Bernama
