An evening ceremony replete with pomp and tradition capped the festivities in the southern state of Johor, with the couple sitting on an elaborately decorated dais as family members and dignitaries dropped petals into their hands and sprinkled them with scented water and yellow rice.
Among those offering their blessings to the couple in the “sitting in state” ceremony — traditionally the high point of a Malay wedding — were the bride´s father, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, and Brunei´s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
The ceremony in the throne room of the Grand Palace was also attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Afterwards, the newlyweds made their first public appearance as man and wife on the palace steps, smiling and waving to around 1,200 reception guests assembled in the garden.
Hundreds of well-wishers, consisting mostly of families and elderly couples, gathered in a square in Johor Bahru to watch the “sitting-in-state” live on two big screens, as police cars sped by ferrying VIPs to the reception.
The Dutchman was born Dennis Verbaas and adopted a Muslim name when he converted to Islam in 2015. He proposed to Tunku Aminah in December last year.
Johor´s royal family is rich and powerful and possesses its own private army — the only state to have one.
Malaysia has a unique arrangement in which the throne of the Muslim-majority country changes hands every five years between the rulers of the nine states which are still headed by Islamic royalty.
The current king is Sultan Muhammad V, from the conservative Islamic northern state of Kelantan, who steps down in 2021.
But Dennis Muhammad is unlikely ever to assume the role since the rulers choose among themselves who the next king will be. (AFP)
