Royal family of Perak

Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, the Sultan Tuanku Zara Salim, the Raja Permaisuri Raja Azlan Muzzaffar Shah, the Raja Kecil Besar Raja Nazira Safya Raja Jaafar, the Raja Muda Raja Nazhatul Shima, the Raja Puan Besar Raja Shah Azman (s/o late Raja Nor Mahani) Raja Nor Azwina (d/o late Raja Nor Mahani) Christopher Daud Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain, the Raja Di-Hilir Tunku Soraya of Kedah, the Raja Puan Muda Raja Nabil Imran Che’ Jocelyn Nur Alina Abdullah Raja Sarah Bahiyah Raja Idris Shah Che’ Anis Nabilla binti Dato’ Abdul Razak Raja Intan Soraya Raja Sarina Intan Bahiyah Raja Safia Azizah Raja Siffudin Muazzam Shah Raja Ahmad Nazim Azlan Shah, the Raja Kecil Sulong Raja Iskandar, the Raja Kecil Tengah Che’ Puan Rokiak, the Che’ Puan Kecil Tengah Raja Muhammad Azryn Shah Che’ Hezrin Nazlin Raja Muhammad Ibrahim Che’ Sazelinoor Raja Ahmad Zarif Iskandar Raja Ahmad Zakwan Ilmi Raja Anis Azyarina Almarhum Raja Izuddin Chulan, the Raja Kecil Bongsu Raja Arbi, the Raja Puan Kecil Bongsu Raja Shamir Che’ Fadzliza Hamin Raja Amaluddin Chulan Raja Zara Dariah Muhammad Rizal Bin Yaakob Raja Zana Nadiah Shahzan Bin Dato' Shamsul Bahari Raja Dara Zaliah Meor Faizal Bin Sairi Raja Dana Afzan
Azlan Shah's family
Raja Permaisuri Tuanku Bainun, Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah's widow Raja Azureen Muhammad Saleh Latiff Mohd Saleh Nurlin Mohd Saleh Azlin Mohd Saleh Azim Mohd Saleh Dato' Seri Noraini Jane, Raja Ashman Shah's widow Raja Ahmad Nazim Azlan Shah, the Raja Kecil Sulong Raja Eminah Alliyah Mustafa Mohammad (née Patrick Mcdonald) Raja Bainunnisa Safia Raja Eleena Ismail Farouk Omar Ismail Farouk Imran Ismail Farouk Ashman Ismail Farouk Alia Ismail Farouk Sofia Ismail Farouk Raja Yong Sofia Tunku Kamil of Kedah Tunku Aznal Shahabudin Tunku Amira Shahabudin Tunku Maisara Shahabudin
Idris Shah's family
Raja Nazhatul Shima, the Raja Puan Besar Raja Jaafar, the Raja Muda Syed Saif Alsagoff (s/o late Syed Omar Alsagoff) Syed Ibrahim Alsagoff (s/o late Syed Omar Alsagoff) Che’ Suzanna Farah Sharifah Nadyatul Iman Alsagoff Syed Ismail Iman Alsagoff Sharifah Salma Elora Alsagoff Syed Redzuan Alsagoff (s/o late Syed Omar Alsagoff) Sharifah Nadiah Almahdaly Syed Shareef Alsagoff (s/o late Syed Omar Alsagoff) Syed Idris Alsagoff (s/o late Syed Omar Alsagoff) Syed Iskandar Alsagoff (s/o late Syed Omar Alsagoff) Che’ Vivian Khor Min Zi Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain, the Raja Di-Hilir Tunku Soraya of Kedah, the Raja Puan Muda Raja Nabil Imran Che’ Jocelyn Nur Alina Abdullah Raja Sarah Bahiyah Raja Idris Shah Che’ Anis Nabila binti Dato’ Abdul Razak Raja Intan Soraya Raja Sarina Intan Bahiyah Raja Safia Azizah Raja Siffudin Muazzam Shah Raja Dato' Seri Izzuddin Iskandar Shah Tengku Datin Seri Noor Hazah Raja Teh Umi Kalsom Raja Muzaffar Idris Shah Raja Putra Muhamad Riza Raja Zarith Sofiah, the Queen of Malaysia & the Permaisuri of Johor Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia & the Sultan of Johor Tunku Ismail, the Regent of Johor Che' Puan Mahkota Khaleeda, the Che' Puan Mahkota of Johor Tunku Khalsom Aminah Sofiah Tunku Iskandar Abdul Jalil Abu Bakar Ibrahim, the Raja Muda of Johor Tunku Abu Bakar Ibrahim Tunku Zahrah Zarith Aziyah Tunku Tun Aminah Dato' Dennis Muhammad Layla Sofiah Second child (undeclared name) Tunku Idris, the Tunku Temenggong of Johor Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Tunku Panglima of Johor Tunku Abu Bakar, the Tunku Putera of Johor Raja Dato' Seri Ir. Jamil Ariffin YBhg. Datin Seri Fazilah Hani binti Harun Raja Rafiuddin Ariff Shah (s/o late Tengku Datin Seri Zalila) Che’ Nur Shazwani Raja Idris Iskandar Shah (s/o late Tengku Datin Seri Zalila) Raja Muhammad Hazim Shah (s/o late Tengku Datin Seri Zalila)
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Tuanku Zara Salim (born Zara Salim Davidson; 22 March 1973) is the wife of Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, the current Sultan of Perak. She was conferred the title Raja Permaisuri (Queen consort) of Perak by the Dewan Negara Perak on 20 June 2014.

A chemical engineer by training, she was heading an oil and gas consultancy firm based in Kuala Lumpur before her marriage to the Sultan. She and the Sultan, who had been the country's most eligible royal bachelor for decades, have known each other since the mid-1990s. She was officially installed as the Raja Permaisuri of Perak during Sultan Nazrin's enthronement ceremony as the 35th Sultan of Perak on 6 May 2015.

Early life

Born in the city of Ipoh on 22 March 1973, she is the youngest of four children of William Stanley Walker Davidson (Salim Davidson), an Englishman and his ethnic Malay wife of mixed Arab and Thai descent, Sharifah Azaliah binti Syed Omar Shahabudin who is from Alor Setar, Kedah. She is also an extended member of Kedah Royal Family on her maternal side and has three elder brothers. Her father is a prominent lawyer in Perak and Kuala Lumpur.

Zara, who has a strong interest in foreign languages, studied at SMK Convent Ipoh and represented her school in squash and tennis from 1988 to 1990. She also represented Perak in swimming between 1981 and 1987.

After completing her A-Levels at Prime College in 1992, she left for the United Kingdom to study chemical engineering at the University of Nottingham and graduated with first class honours in July 1995. She also won the top student award for her final-year project.

Coincidentally her father-in-law, the late Sultan Azlan Shah, read law at the same university and was conferred the Bachelor of Laws degree in 1953 before being admitted to the English Bar in 1954.

Career

Zara joined the Business Evaluation Department in the Corporate Planning Unit of Petronas in December 1995 and was part of the team responsible for the successful establishment of the Kertih and Kuantan integrated petrochemical complexes, whose foreign partners included BP, BASF, Dow Chemicals and Mitsubishi.

She then became a project analyst in the Petronas Petrochemical Business Unit and was part of the core team developing the Petronas brand essence, which now forms part of the Petronas global branding strategy.

Between February 1999 and October 2000, she was a product manager at Petlin (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a Petronas joint venture with DSM of the Netherlands and Sasol of South Africa. She was also part of the Petronas project team to operationalise the largest single-train low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in the world at Kertih.

Zara left Petronas in November 2001 to become an account manager at Formis Network Services Sdn Bhd and then assumed the post of vice-president of partnerships and alliances at Formis (Malaysia) Berhad, a technology-based company listed on Bursa Malaysia, between 2003 and 2005.

Between 2005 and 2007, Zara, who is a certified life-saver and adventure sports enthusiast, became the managing director of Forthwave Consulting Sdn Bhd, a hydrocarbon technical engineering and software development company in Kuala Lumpur.

Royal connections

Zara Salim Davidson is the great-grandchild of Kedah's 24th ruler Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, Utusan Malaysia reported.

The Sultan ruled Kedah for 62 years from 1881 to 1943 and one of the Sultan's sons was Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first prime minister. Therefore, she is also the grandniece of the Tunku and a niece of Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and of the current sultan, Sultan Sallehuddin.

According to Zara's uncle Syed Mohd Aldinuri Syed Omar, Zara's mother Sharifah Azaliah Syed Omar was the daughter of Tunku Aminah, who was the daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid and Che Manjalara.

From the marriage to Che Manjalara, Sultan Abdul Hamid had seven children, including Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj and Tunku Aminah.

Zara also has a close relationship with the late Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Sultan Badlishah, who is the grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid and a nephew to Tunku Abdul Rahman.

She is also the granddaughter of the former Kedah Menteri Besar Tan Sri Syed Omar Syed Abdullah Shahabudin. Tunku Aminah married Syed Omar, who became Kedah's second Menteri Besar after independence, from July 1959 to December 1967.

Marriage and children

Zara's wedding to Raja Nazrin Shah was held at Istana Iskandariah on 17 May 2007.

A day after the solemnisation of their vows, there was a special proclamation ceremony to bestow Zara with the honorific prefix of Tuanku and the official title as Raja Puan Besar (Crown Princess) of Perak, a title reserved for the royal wife of the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Perak that had been vacant since April 1987.

The royal wedding reception took place on 19 May 2007.

The couple's first child, a son named Raja Azlan Muzzaffar Shah, the Raja Kecil Besar of Perak was born 14 March 2008. Their second child, a daughter named Raja Nazira Safya, was born 2 August 2011.

Current activities and social contributions

On July 9, 2007, a purple, hybrid orchid was named Dendrobium Tuanku Zara Salim in honour of her visit to the 7th Ipoh International Orchid Festival.^[1]

She is the current Chancellor of the Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI), and was proclaimed on 1 January 2012.

She has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) in April 2014^[2] in recognition of her interest in the continued improvement of Malaysia's education and academic performance.

She then was made as the first Royal Patron of the IChemE in Malaysia in October 2016.^[3] On accepting the honour, Tuanku Zara said that chemical engineering can be a challenging career, but rewarding as well. Chemical engineers are highly employable, have wide and diverse career options, and can make a big impact in society and the environment. She intends to, as Royal Patron of the IChemE, do her part to inspire the younger generation to consider chemical engineering as a viable career choice.^[4]

She is also a patron of the Family Health Society of Perak, Convent Girls Alumni and Perak Girl Guides.^[5]