The United Kingdom, the British Commonwealth and indeed much of the rest of the world will likely be riveted to television sets or, in keeping with the modern era, to social media via mobile sets to watch something that last happened two generations ago: a British monarch's coronation.
By the looks of those camping out along the Mall in London for days to get the best views of the royal spectacle today, the magic attached to British royalty by its subjects has not diminished, despite relentless scrutiny — oftentimes unflattering — into this incomparable fishbowl-like family.
King Charles III has waited till his dotage to inherit the crown from his mother, who reigned for a record 70 years until her passing last year.
His marital break-up with Princess Diana, his subsequent marriage to Camilla, now his queen consort, and the seemingly endless revelations following Prince Harry's marriage and bolting to the United States would have taken their toll on the modern British royals.
But as Datuk Seri Ang Lai Soon, the longest-serving chairman and commander in the entire Commonwealth of St John Ambulance Sarawak, whose lengthy connections to the British royals are probably unrivalled in this country, observed to this writer: "I find the royal family to be very knowledgeable, as human as everyone and a role model to be emulated."
Ang recently revealed through this column the Sarawak link to British royalty over the years.
There is yet another fascinating angle that was related to me by Sarawak-born former UBS fund manager Gerald Leong, who made a name for himself as a private equity pioneer operating out of Singapore, Britain and South Korea.
Over the years, Leong built up a personal rapport with the late Lord David Douglas-Home, who was until 2013 chairman of renowned private bank Coutts & Co, more often identified as the Queen's banker.
Lord Home apparently developed a strong affinity for Malaysia, not least because his father, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, was prime minister when Malaysia came into being.
Leong noted that Sarawak's link to this bank of British royalty extended well into the time of Sir James Brooke, Sarawak's first "white" Rajah.
Brooke befriended the wealthy Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts, who inherited the bank and was well-known for her philanthropy in furtherance of the British empire.
As Brooke struggled to strengthen his hold on Sarawak, he was greatly assisted by the generosity of the baroness.
An article in The Telegraph on Aug 18 last year said: "Sarawak was only kept afloat by a loan from philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts, the richest woman in England…"
If there is one notable and abiding passion that animates King Charles, it must be his reputed love for nature, from supposedly talking to plants to his personal interest in organic farming on the royal estate. As Sarawak seeks to leverage its position as one of the globe's last remaining contiguous rainforests to become a veritable "carbon sink" to help stall the otherwise seemingly calamitous march towards irreversible climate change, perhaps it will be smart to engage the new British monarch in such an effort.
Leong is exploring how to apply his transdisciplinary fund management expertise with his research at the University of Cambridge to value what he calls the ecosystem services rendered by "nature" assets that Sarawak holds in such abundance.
Only then, he says, will nature's role in the economy be revealed so that economic growth will be sustainably pursued.
A new British king, a royal bank, real progress towards carbon pricing and capture and truly enlightened global philanthropy may once again be just the right ingredients to keep not only Sarawak afloat but Planet Earth as well, no less!
Long may the newly crowned King Charles reign!
The writer views developments in the nation, region and wider world from his vantage point in Kuching
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
