KUALA LUMPUR — Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is currently in a Kuala Lumpur hospital “resting” after feeling tired during the ASEAN summit, Malaysia’s prime minister said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, was responding to a question during a press conference on whether the 78-year-old sultan had been admitted to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur.
“He’s a little bit tired and resting,” Anwar said, confirming that the sultan had been admitted to the institute. He did not elaborate.
The sultan has ruled the oil-rich nation of Brunei, on the island of Borneo, since 1967. He was once the world’s richest man and remains hugely popular, despite holding a firm grip on power in the country of nearly half a million people.
Under his rule, Brunei gained full independence from Britain and oversaw a rise in living standards to among the highest in Asia. — Reuters
