Tengku Puteri Iman Afzan

Issue

Names
Tengku Puteri Iman Afzan binti Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah

HouseBendahara (by birth)FatherAl-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah ShahMotherChe Puan Julia Abdul RaisReligionSunni IslamOccupationActivist

Royal family of Pahang
Al-Sultan Abdullah, the Sultan of Pahang Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, the Tengku Ampuan of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, the Tengku Mahkota (Crown Prince) of Pahang Tengku Muhammad Iskandar Ri'ayatuddin Shah, the Tengku Arif Bendahara Tengku Amir Nasser Ibrahim Shah, the Tengku Panglima Raja Puteri Suraiya Afzan, the Che Puan Panglima Tengku Adam Ibrahim Shah Tengku Sulaiman Abdullah Shah Tengku Nuh Mohamed Shah Tengku Ahmad Ismail Mu'adzam Shah, the Tengku Panglima Perang Tengku Puteri Afzan Aminah Hafidzatullah, the Tengku Puteri Raja Tengku Puteri Jihan Azizah 'Athiyatullah, the Tengku Puteri Raja Che Puan Julia binti Abdul Rais, the second wife of the Sultan Tengku Puteri Iman Afzan, the Tengku Puteri Raja Tengku Abu Bakar Ahmad Tengku Zayn Edin Shah Tengku Aleya Norlini Tengku Puteri Ilisha Ameera, the Tengku Puteri Raja Tengku Puteri Ilyana, the Tengku Puteri Raja Che Puan Besar Kalsom, the Che Puan Besar and stepmother of the Sultan Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Tengku Muda Che Puan Julita Aishah binti Abdul Latiff, the Che Puan Muda Tengku Ameera Asya Tengku Eddie Akasya Tengku Ahmad Firhan Shah Tengku Armaan Alam Shah Tengku Fahad Mua'adzam Shah, the Tengku Arif Temenggong Tengku Meriam, the Tengku Puteri Seri Lela Wangsa Dato' Sri Sheikh Mohamad Toufic Al-Ozeir Tengku Nurul Kamalia Dato' Ahmad Najmi Puteri Nadra Raniya Puteri Shakira Nurjenna Tengku Madina Kamalia Muhammad Fadhil Tengku Aidy Ahmad Shah, the Dato’ Setia Pahlawan Mai Nurliyana Meyor Hamdan, the To' Puan Setia Tengku Abdullah Amir Ahmad Shah Puteri Noor Afzan Tengku Muhaini, the Tengku Puteri Seri Teja Tan Sri Dato' Sri Affendi Buang Puteri Fara Natalia Ahmad Nazri Sophia Nina Imran Naeem Ayoub Ameer Puteri Imee Suhaila Puteri Munawwarah Syammiyah Tun Putera Matin Ahmad Shah Aida Rahimova Tun Putera Muhammad Abu Bakar Tun Putera Abdul Mubin Shah Saskia Natra Schwarz Tengku Aishah Marcella, the Tengku Puteri Seri Kemala Tunku Syazwan Kaiyisah Wan Putera Shahril Tun Putera Shakeel Abdullah Shah Tun Putera Khyrie Ahmad Shah Tun Putera Ahmad Aizuddin Shah Puteri Afzan Shakira Nabila Khairul Fahmy Khaira Alayna Sofia Khadijah Aishah Tengku Nong Fatimah, the Tengku Puteri Lela Manja Puteri Suraiya Afzan, the Che Puan Panglima Tengku Amir Nasser Ibrahim Shah, Tengku Panglima Raja Tengku Adam Ibrahim Shah Tengku Sulaiman Abdullah Shah Tengku Nuh Mohamed Shah Tun Putera Yasir Ahmad Shah Diyana Hazmi Isa Gabriel Shah Inara Alia Afzan Tun Putera Iskandar Alam Shah Tengku Shahariah, the Tengku Puteri Seri Bongsu The Hon. Dato’ Baharim Puteri Amida Afsha Afzan Wan Putera Shahjuan Puteri Ameera Azwa Asyarah
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Tengku Puteri Iman Afzan binti Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah (born 11 November 1992) is a Malaysian mental health activist and member of the Pahang royal family who is the Tengku Puteri Raja. She is the eldest daughter of Al-Sultan Abdullah, the 6th Sultan of Pahang and 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia. She serves as the royal patron of the J’keb Foundation and the National Coalition for Mental Wellbeing. Tengku Iman was appointed by the World Health Organization to serve as the International Patron of World Mental Health Day in 2020.

Early life

Tengku Iman was born at Pantai Hospital in Kuala Lumpur on 11 November 1992.^[1] She is the daughter of Al-Sultan Abdullah, the 6th Sultan of Pahang and 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and his second wife Che Puan Julia Rais, a former actress and model.^[2][3] She is of British and Malay descent. She is Al-Sultan Abdullah's oldest daughter and the oldest child from his second marriage.^[4][5]

She attended the University of Nottingham in England where she studied political science.^[5][6]

Activism and patronages

On 18 September 2019, Tengku Iman accepted her appointment as the patron of the J’keb Foundation, which provides support for underprivileged teenagers and runs a transition home for aged-out orphans that are required to leave orphanages when they turn eighteen.^[7]

Tengku Iman served as Malaysia's Royal Patron of the Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association from 2018 to 2020.^[4][8][9] She was named as the International Patron of World Mental Health Day in 2020 by the World Health Organization following a recommendation made by the World Federation for Mental Health.^[4][10][11] Her term as international patron will end in October 2021.^[10][12][13] She is also one of the jurors on the My Mind On Film Festival Competition.^[14]

On 10 September 2020, World Suicide Prevention Day, Tengku Iman called for reform to suicide legislation in Malaysia, urging the federal government to decriminalize suicide in order to end the stigmatization of mental health, while speaking at the launch of the Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association's new crisis management centre at the Orchid Clubhouse in Petaling Jaya.^[4][15] She stated that criminalizing suicide does not address the underlying factors and does not help reduce the number of suicides committed in Malaysia.^[4] Tengku Iman went on to say that the current laws discourage people suffering with mental illnesses to seek help and treatment.^[4] Elaborating on Malaysia's efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she was certain that the country's public health standards should include mental healthcare.^[4]

On 10 October 2020, she was joined by her father and her stepmother, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, in wearing green ribbons to show support for World Mental Health Day.^[16]

On 5 November 2020, Tengku Iman hosted a virtual meeting via Zoom Video Communications with students at HELP University and abroad in the United Kingdom to discuss mental health at universities.^[14] She addressed additional strains on mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing isolation from friends and family, and offered solutions to support good mental health.^[14]

On 10 December 2020, she was appointed as the Royal Patron of the National Coalition for Mental Wellbeing. She co-founded her own platform called the Green Ribbon Group which aims to push forward the mental health agenda and de-stigmatise mental illnesses in Malaysia.^[17] In 2020, in recommendation by the World Federation for Mental Health, she was named International Patron of World Mental Health Day by the World Health Organisation.^[17]

Marriage and issue

On 4 August 2018, Tengku Iman married Yang Hormat Mulia Tengku Dato’ Sri Abu Bakar Ahmad bin Almarhum Tengku Arif Bendahara Tengku Tan Sri Abdullah.^[18][5] She is a first cousin-once removed of her husband, who is a nephew of her grandfather, Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.^[19]

On 23 July 2019, Tengku Iman gave birth to a son, named Tengku Zayn Edin Shah.^[18][20] On 2 February 2022, she gave birth to a daughter, named Tengku Aleya Norlini.^[21]

Personal life

Tengku Iman suffered from an anxiety disorder when she was a teenager.^[9][22] She is a practitioner of Sunni Islam and considers herself "spiritual".^[23]

Honours

Honour of Pahang

She was awarded:

•  Pahang :
  • Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) - Dato' Sri (15 August 2020)^[24][25]

Honorary doctorate

•  Malaysia :
  • Honorary degree Doctor of the University from the Heriot-Watt University Malaysia - (17 November 2022)^[26][27]

Her husband Tengku Dato' Sri Abu Bakar Ahmad, has been awarded:

•  Pahang:
  • Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) – Dato' Sri (4 August 2023)^[28]
  • Grand Knight of the Order of the Crown of Pahang (SIMP) – Dato' Indera (15 August 2020)^[29]

References