Zara Salim Davidson
Encyclopedia
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Tuanku Zara Salim (born Zara Salim Davidson; born March 22, 1973) is the wife of the Raja Muda (Crown Prince
) of Perak
, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah
. Upon her marriage on 17 May 2007, she became the Raja Puan Besar of Perak.
A chemical engineer
by training, she currently heads an oil and gas consultancy firm based in Kuala Lumpur
. She and the prince, who had been the country’s most eligible royal bachelor for decades, have known each other since the mid-nineties.
on 22 March 1973, she is the youngest of four children of William Stanley Walker Davidson (Salim Davidson) and Sharif
ah Azaliah Syed
Omar Shahabudin. She has three elder brothers. Her father is a prominent lawyer in Perak
and Kuala Lumpur
.
Zara, who has a strong interest in foreign language
s, 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-Level
s 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.
Incidentally, her father-in-law, the Sultan of Perak
, 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.
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
.
, 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 Tunku Abdul Rahman.
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 current 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 Mentri Besar after independence, from July 1959 to December 1967.
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 official title of Raja Puan Besar of Perak
.
The royal wedding reception took place on 19 May 2007.
The couple had their first child, a son named Raja Azlan Muzaffar Shah, on 14 March 2008.
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Tuanku Zara Salim (born Zara Salim Davidson; born March 22, 1973) is the wife of the Raja Muda (Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
) of Perak
Perak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah
Raja Nazrin Shah
Raja Dr Nazrin Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah is the Raja Muda of Perak. He is the eldest son of the current Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu and the Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Bainun Binti Mohd...
. Upon her marriage on 17 May 2007, she became the Raja Puan Besar of Perak.
A chemical engineer
Chemical engineer
In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is the profession in which one works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products, and deals with the design and operation of plants and equipment to perform such work...
by training, she currently heads an oil and gas consultancy firm based in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
. She and the prince, who had been the country’s most eligible royal bachelor for decades, have known each other since the mid-nineties.
Early life
Born in the city of IpohIpoh
Ipoh is the capital city of Perak state, Malaysia. It is approximately 200 km north of Kuala Lumpur on the North-South Expressway....
on 22 March 1973, she is the youngest of four children of William Stanley Walker Davidson (Salim Davidson) and Sharif
Sharif
Sharīf or Chérif is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. In origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa...
ah Azaliah Syed
Sayyid
Sayyid is an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, sons of the prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.Daughters of sayyids are given the titles Sayyida,...
Omar Shahabudin. She has three elder brothers. Her father is a prominent lawyer in Perak
Perak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
and Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
.
Zara, who has a strong interest in foreign language
Foreign language
A foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say that Japanese is a foreign language to him or her...
s, studied at SMK Convent Ipoh and represented her school in squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
from 1988 to 1990. She also represented Perak
Perak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
in swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
between 1981 and 1987.
After completing her A-Level
GCE Advanced Level
The Advanced Level General Certificate of Education, commonly referred to as an A-level, is a qualification offered by education institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Cameroon, and the Cayman Islands...
s at Prime College in 1992, she left for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to study chemical engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
at the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
and graduated with first class honours in July 1995. She also won the top student award for her final year project.
Incidentally, her father-in-law, the Sultan of Perak
Sultan of Perak
Sultan of Perak is one of the oldest hereditary seats among the Malay states.When the Sultanate of Malacca empire fell to Portugal in 1511, Sultan Mahmud Syah I retreated to Kampar, Sumatra and died there in 1528. He left behind two princes named Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II and Sultan Muzaffar...
, read law at the same university and was conferred the Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degree in 1953 before being admitted to the English Bar
Barristers in England and Wales
Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. -Origin of the profession:The work of senior legal professionals in England and Wales...
in 1954.
Career
Zara joined the Business Evaluation Department in the Corporate Planning Unit of PetronasPetronas
PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...
in December 1995 and was part of the team responsible for the successful establishment of the Kertih and Kuantan
Kuantan
Kuantan is the state capital of Pahang, the 3rd largest state in Malaysia. It is situated near the mouth of the Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea. If one measures the distance along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it is located roughly halfway between Singapore and Kota Bharu...
integrated petrochemical complexes, whose foreign partners included BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, BASF
BASF
BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...
, Dow Chemicals
Dow Chemical Company
The Dow Chemical Company is a multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. As of 2007, it is the second largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization .Dow...
and Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
.
She then became a Project Analyst in the Petronas
Petronas
PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...
Petrochemical Business Unit and was part of the core team developing the Petronas brand essence, which now forms part of the Petronas
Petronas
PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...
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
DSM
-Business:* DSM , an international life science and performance materials company from the Netherlands* Delhi school of music, a music school in India...
of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Sasol
Sasol
Sasol Ltd. is a South African company involved in mining, energy, chemicals and synfuels. In particular, they produce petrol and diesel profitably from coal and natural gas using Fischer-Tropsch process...
of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. 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
Lifesaving
Lifesaving is the act involving rescue, resuscitation and first aid. It often refers to water safety and aquatic rescue however it could include ice rescue, flood and river rescue, swimming pool rescue and other emergency medical services. Lifesaving also refers to sport where lifesavers compete...
and adventure sports
Extreme sport
An extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...
enthusiast, became the Managing Director of Forthwave Consulting Sdn Bhd, a hydrocarbon technical engineering and software development company in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
.
Royal Connections
Zara Salim Davidson is the great-grandchild of Kedah's 24th ruler Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim ShahAbdul Hamid Halim
Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah or Sultan Abdu'l Hamid Halim Shah II ibni Ahmad Taj ud-din al-Mukarram Shah KCMG, was the 25th Sultan of Kedah. He reigned from 1881 to 1943...
, Utusan Malaysia reported.
The Sultan ruled Kedah
Kedah
Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...
for 62 years from 1881 to 1943 and one of the Sultan's sons was Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, AC, CH was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained as the Prime Minister after Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined the...
, Malaysia's first prime minister. Therefore, she is also the grandniece of Tunku Abdul Rahman.
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 current Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Sultan Badlishah
Tuanku Abdul Halim
Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, GCB KStJ is the designate Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia following his election in 2011, as well as the 27th and current Sultan of Kedah. He previously served as the fifth Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1970 to 1975...
, 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 Mentri Besar after independence, from July 1959 to December 1967.
Marriage
Zara's wedding to Raja Nazrin ShahRaja Nazrin Shah
Raja Dr Nazrin Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah is the Raja Muda of Perak. He is the eldest son of the current Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu and the Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Bainun Binti Mohd...
was held at Istana Iskandariah
Istana Iskandariah
Istana Iskandariah is the royal palace of the Perak Sultanate and the official residence of the Sultan of Perak since its completion in 1933. It is located in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, in the state of Perak, Malaysia....
on 17 May 2007.
A day after the solemnisation of their vows, there was a special proclamation ceremony to bestow Zara with the official title of Raja Puan Besar of Perak
Perak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
.
The royal wedding reception took place on 19 May 2007.
The couple had their first child, a son named Raja Azlan Muzaffar Shah, on 14 March 2008.
Titles and styles
- 22 March 1973 17 May 2007: Zara Salim Davidson
- 17 May 2007 present: Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Raja Puan Besar Perak Tuanku Zara Salim