KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 – Datuk Astanah Abdul Aziz was decorated with the Grand Cordon du Wissam Al Alaoui by King Mohammed VI of Morocco for her outstanding performance during her tenure as Malaysia’s Ambassador to the country.
The Grand Cordon is the highest recognition from the Moroccan palace awarded to a diplomat who has served the country.
The Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of Morocco in Malaysia, Saidi Mohamed, presented the royal decoration to Astanah, who is now the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the Political-Security Community, at his office here on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Saidi said the Grand Cordon is an appreciation for Astanah’s significant role in promoting Malaysia-Morocco ties during her tenure as Malaysia’s Ambassador to Morocco from December 2017 to December 2023.
“She did a lot to promote bilateral ties between Malaysia and Morocco,” he added.
Astanah, who is now based at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, said receiving such recognition from one of the oldest monarchies in the world is a great honour and very meaningful to her.
She mentioned that she enjoyed her posting in Rabat from December 2017 to December 2023, a longer-than-usual tenure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and movement control order.
“It was a lovely posting. Morocco treats foreign diplomats very well with a lot of respect. The Moroccans are very generous, and the country is rich, with each city having its unique architecture. For example, Fez has an ancient city ambiance,” she added.
Astanah said one of the activities she enjoyed the most in Morocco was the Durus Al-Hasaniyah lecture series, held twice a week every Ramadan at the palace.
During the event, King Mohammed VI sits with attendees, including Morocco’s ministers, foreign diplomats, military officers, and academia, to listen to talks delivered by selected scholars, she added.
Astanah mentioned that she managed to attend the event four times during her stay.
It was learnt that Durus Al-Hasaniyah is closely related to King Hasan II (1929-1999) because he was the one who revived the scientific lecture tradition, which began in the days of Sultan Hasan I (1873-1894) at the Morocco Kingdom’s Palace and developed the event.
