Every now and then, we would sometimes get mixed up with someone’s name and either pronounce the name or address him/her incorrectly.
While this Freudian slip is mostly forgivable, the same cannot be said when it comes to addressing the royal family as failing to address them appropriately can be seen as a sign of disrespect.
M’sian MP ordered to apologise for addressing King wrongly
According to the New Straits Times (NST), this was the mistake made by Padang Serai MP Datuk Azman Nasrudin, who mistakenly addressed His Majesty as Sultan Iskandar during a debate on the Royal Address yesterday (Feb 28).
Following the mistake, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul instructed him to formally apologise to the King.
As a responsible speaker, regardless of the political divide, I must take responsibility for the mistakes made by YB (Yang Berhormat). Therefore, I hereby order YB to stand up and apologise to His Majesty.
Without hesitation, Azman stood up on his feet and expressed regret for addressing His Majesty wrongly and promised not to do it again.
“I would like to apologise for my mistake and carelessness during my debate yesterday…for mistakenly referring to His Majesty as Sultan Iskandar Ibni Sultan Ibrahim.
“It should have been His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar. I pledge that such a mistake will not happen again in the future,” he said.
Johari then accepted Azman’s apology and reminded other MPs not to repeat the same mistake and to be careful when addressing the Malay Rulers.
“I hope this serves as a lesson to us all… let’s not repeat it,” he added.
At the first sitting of Parliament’s third session, Sultan Ibrahim gave MPs an earful about their behavior, saying that he was ‘ashamed’ by it:
