Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was admitted to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday due to fatigue, the Malaysian prime minister has confirmed.
The sultan is in Kuala Lumpur with other Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders, who on Tuesday met with Chinese prime minister Li Qiang and dignitaries from the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Asked at a news conference whether the sultan had been hospitalised, prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said: ‘Well he’s feeling a bit tired, so he’s resting at the National Heart Institute.’
A Malaysian government source earlier said the sultan ‘was hospitalised in between the ASEAN-GCC and ASEAN-GCC-China summit’.
‘The National Heart Institute is the designated hospital for VIPs during the course of this ASEAN summit and relevant meetings,’ they said.
The hospital said it could not comment, but another Malaysian government source separately confirmed the news to AFP.
The 78-year-old sultan touched down in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, according to footage from Malaysia’s national news agency.
He was the last leader to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Monday morning for the 46th ASEAN summit, but appeared in good spirits, smiling and stopping for a prolonged chat before heading into the venue with Anwar.
The busy schedule saw the leaders address US tariffs, the Myanmar conflict, and East Timor’s application to join the bloc among other topics.
After a quick costume change into matching traditional batik shirts, the leaders returned to the KLCC for a lavish gala dinner, joined by prime minister Li and dignitaries from the GCC — a regional bloc made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Tuesday saw ASEAN meet first with the GCC in the morning, before the two blocs were joined by China at 3:00pm local time (0700 GMT).
Footage taken by AFP around midday showed the sultan walking briskly but looking weary, surrounded by his entourage.
Sultan Hassanal ascended the throne in 1967.
He is one of the richest people on the planet, and comes from a family that has ruled Brunei, a small Muslim nation perched on the north of the tropical island of Borneo, for more than 600 years.
His decades ruling Brunei have seen the country gain full independence from Britain and living standards soar to among the highest globally.
But his reign has also been marked by controversies including the introduction of tough Islamic laws legislating penalties such as severing of limbs and death by stoning.
