Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah attended the concert, 'Raja dan Rakyat Berpisah Tiada' at the Dataran Merdeka tonight.

The royal couple were greeted on arrival by Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife, Noorainee Abdul Rahman, cabinet ministers and foreign envoys.

The concert, including dance and martial arts performances by 632 participants from various cultural organisations, was held in conjunction with the installation of the 14th Agong.

The show was divided into four major segments beginning with the royal procession from the Dataran Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur to Dataran Merdeka, led by an elephant to the sound of the traditional horns.

This was the second time such a concert was being held after the first one during the installation of the 13th Agong, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Pledge of loyalty

Subsequently, Information Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim recited the people's pledge of loyalty to the Agong.

The colourful show lasting about 90 minutes was also participated by popular artistes including Jamal Abdillah, Faizal Tahir and Noraniza Idris.

The programme, which was telecast live over Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and the Astro Ceria channel, was witnessed by about 15,000 people comprising locals and foreign tourists and concluded with a fireworks display.

Tuanku Abdul Halim was installed as the Agong at the Istana Negara on April 11, the second time after he was first installed in 1970.

- Bernama