Prince Harry received a traditional welcome at Jamiyah Singapore when he arrived for his second engagement as part of his Singapore visit.
The ten hand drummers, a customary way to mark celebrations, were just the start of Prince Harry’s Singaporean-Malay culture experience.
Jamiyah’s silat coach, former world champion Sheik Alauddin Yacoob Marican, walked the Prince round teams demonstrating various movements from the Southeast Asia martial art. The young people, ranging from beginners to experts, showed the Prince dragon and monkey movements as well as techniques using hand fans.
Once the sun started to set Prince Harry joined eighty young people for a traditional iftar. The Secretary General of Jamiyah Singapore Ustaz Muhammad Rafiuddin Ismail, welcomed Prince Harry in the opening speech before sharing his condolences by saying, “Our thoughts go out to the families of the victims of the London terror attack last night. Let peace and harmony prevail in communities all over the world.”
After the fast was broken the Prince sat at a number of tables so that he could chat to guests about the celebration. Dr Mohd Hasbi Abu Bakar, President of Jamiyah Singapore said, ‘Ramadan is a time of reflection, for spending time with family and friends while giving support to those who are less fortunate. We are honoured that Prince Harry was able to join us for this iftar and to meet with the young people that are part of the Jamiyah Singapore community.’
Prince Harry was escorted by Dr Mohd Hasbi Abu Bakar, President of Jamiyah Singapore and Dr H M Saleem, the Vice-President.
Prince Harry is currently visiting Singapore to play in the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup, an annual fundraising event which will be held in the country on 5 June. Sentebale is a charity that he had started together with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006. The aim of the charity is to become the leading organisation in providing psychosocial support for children living with HIV in Southern Africa.
