The passing of a people’s prince

PETALING JAYA: The passing of Tunku Abdul Jalil Iskandar Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, the Tunku Laksamana of Johor, at such a young age is a great loss to Johorians in particular, and the nation at large.
Tunku Abdul Jalil, the fourth child of the Sultan and Sultanah, was to say the least, a true prince of the people.
In his short life of barely 25-and-a-half years, the young prince walked very much among commoners, winning the love and respect of the people.
Many who have encountered him were full of praise for his humble, friendly and helpful nature.
In the words of his eldest brother,Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim the Crown Prince of Johor ( in his Facebook posting): "You (Tunku Abdul Jalil) have the one quality that none of us possess; your humble, loving heart."
Indeed, Tunku Abdul Jalil was ever helpful and never afraid to get his hands dirty.
A graduate in Zoology and Conservation Studies from the Zoological Society of London, Tunku Abdul Jalil was an ardent animal lover.
Upon his return from London, he became a volunteer at the Sepilok Orang Hutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah.
He was also a volunteer at the Singapore Zoological Garden's Reptile and Veterinary Department for a year.
Tunku Abdul Jalil was also active in various charity organisations including the Johor Spastic Association, Malaysian Nature Society, the Orangutan Appeal UK and the Malaysian Red Crescent Society.
It was not uncommon for people to see the young prince, who was the MRCS vice-chairman for community services, helping to provide and distruibute aid for flood victims at evacuation centres across Johor.
Besides his activities in charity organisations, he was also dedicated to serving the people and the country by combatting crime.
At age 21, Tunku Abdul Jalil signed up to be a cop – the first Johor prince to join the police force – and graduated after almost a year's training as a prabationary inspector.
He subsequently underwent training with the elite Special Action Force (Unit Tindak Khas) and was later promoted to the rank of inspector.
However, fate intervened and the young prince had to shift his focus to fighting for his life and cancer, after he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver a year ago.
He underwent liver transplant at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong, southern China a year ago on Dec 10, 2014.
Even as the fight went on, the young prince's medical condition proved to be a catalyst for charity and a beacon of hope for poor people suffering from cancer.
It inspired his father the Sultan to launch the Tunku Laksamana Johor Cancer Foundation with a donation of RM10 million.
The foundation, which has since raised more than RM20 million from other sources, is set to start its work of helping poor cancer patients from next year.
* theSun joins the nation in mourning the passing of a true prince of the people.