Iskandar of Johor

Who was Iskandar of Johor?

Iskandar ibni Ismail Al-Khalidi was the eighth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, from 26 April 1984 to 25 April 1989. He succeeded his father, Sultan Ismail, to become the 24th Sultan of Johor upon the former's death in 1981. Sultan Iskandar's reign lasted for almost 29 years until his death in January 2010, upon which he was succeeded by his oldest son, Tunku Ibrahim.

As was the case with his grandfather, Sultan Ibrahim, Sultan Iskandar's independent mindset resulted in strained relations with the Malaysian federal government on numerous occasions. This was more so during his days as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, whereby a number of notable public incidents involved Sultan Iskandar. Nevertheless, Sultan Iskandar was reputed to show great concern to his subjects, and was held in high esteem by many of his subjects–particularly the Malays and Orang Aslis.

Sultan Iskandar is reputed to have been a staunch disciplinarian, with willingness to occasionally voice personal opinions on governmental issues. On the personal side, subjects who have personally approached the Sultan in his later years described him as a person with a warm and generous personality. However, past critics had also argued that Sultan Iskandar was a person with a turbulent temper. These claims were made by citing records of past notorious incidents, which include an experience of being disinherited from being the Tunku Mahkota by his father, in 1961, as well as a series of alleged criminal acts occurring between the 1970s and the 1990s which were published in the press and provoked widespread moral outrage within the Malaysian public.