KUALA KANGSAR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was today conferred the Darjah Seri Paduka Sultan Nazrin Shah (SPSN) which carries the title “Datuk Seri Diraja”.
He received the award from the Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah during an investiture ceremony held in conjunction with the sultan's birthday at Istana Iskandariah here.
Zahid is the first recipient of the SPSN, which was introduced by Sultan Nazrin after he was enthroned as the 35th ruler of Perak in May.
Sultan Nazrin also conferred the Darjah Datuk Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP) that carries the title “Datuk”, to the late deputy public prosecutor Kevin Anthony Morais.
Morais is among the six figures who received the state award posthumously.
The other five recipients are Umno founder Datuk Sri Onn Jaafar; Perak's first Menteri Besar Datuk Panglima Bukit Gantang Abdul Wahab Toh Muda Abdul Aziz; nationalist and Islamic thinker Dr Burhanuddin Al-Helmy; student activist and educationist Aminuddin Baki; and former Perak police chief Tan Sri Khoo Chong Kong, who was shot dead by communist agents in Ipoh in 1975.
Onn and Wahab were conferred the Darjah Seri Paduka Cura Si Manja Kini (SPCM); Burhanuddin and Aminuddin the Darjah Seri Paduka Mahkota Perak (SPMP) while Khoo the Darjah Seri Panglima Taming Sari (SPTS).
Both SPCM and SPMP carry the title “Datuk Seri” while SPTS brings the title “Datuk Seri Panglima”.
They were among the 39 recipients of the main state awards today.