Tengku Zatashah facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Zatashah |
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|---|---|
| Princess of Selangor | |
Zatashah in 2019
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| Born | Tengku Zatashah 12 October 1973 |
| Spouse |
Aubry Rahim Mennesson
(m. 2007) |
| House | Royal Buginese Luwu Opu Daeng Chelak |
| Father | Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Alhaj |
| Mother | Raja Zarina |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Occupation | Journalist, businessperson, environmentalist |
Tengku Zatashah, born on October 12, 1973, is a princess from the Selangor royal family. She is the second daughter of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who is the current Sultan of Selangor.
Contents
Growing Up and Education
Tengku Zatashah was born on October 12, 1973. Her parents were Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and his first wife, Zarina. They divorced in 1987 when Zatashah was 14 years old. She has an older sister, Tengku Zerafina, and a younger half-brother, Tengku Amir Shah.
School and University Life
Zatashah attended Alice Smith School in Kuala Lumpur from 1978 to 1983. She then went to a public school in London for her high school education.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and French from Middlesex University in London in 1996. Later, in 2001, she received a diploma in French civilization from Paris-Sorbonne University in Paris. She continued her studies at the American Graduate School in Paris and earned her Masters in International Relations & Diplomacy in 2007. She also studied Finance for Executives at INSEAD in France.
Zatashah is fluent in Malay, English, French, and Spanish. She also holds a diploma in Teaching English in Foreign Language (TEFL) from the British Council in Kuala Lumpur.
Her Career Journey
Tengku Zatashah has had a varied and interesting career.
Early Jobs
She started her career in advertising as an account executive at BDDP in Barcelona, Spain, from 1995 to 1996. After that, she worked as a Front Desk Manager at Ascott Hotel in London from 1996 to 1997.
Her first job in journalism was as a writer for the New Straits Times from 2001 to 2003, where she wrote for the Life and Times section. She was also the Editor-in-chief of the Malaysian Association France from 2005 to 2007.
Working at L'Oréal and Beyond
From 2005 to 2009, she worked as an International Corporate Communications Manager at L'Oréal in Paris, France. In this role, she helped create communication plans for important topics like sustainable development and human resources. She also trained management and was a key person in handling difficult situations.
She wrote a column for The Edge (Malaysia) newspaper from 2009 to 2010.
In 2009, she became the joint managing director of Originalo Sdn Bhd with her husband, a role she held until 2014. Since 2011, she has been the chairman and CEO of Light Cibles Malaysia, a company that designs lighting. Her projects include the Kuala Lumpur Lighting Master Plan and lighting for buildings like Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur.
Since December 2014, Zatashah has also been an independent director at Kim Teck Cheong Holdings Berhad, a company that distributes consumer goods. She is currently an independent director at InNature Berhad, a company that owns The Body Shop stores in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Supporting the Arts and Education
In 2015, she helped launch the Selangor Symphony Orchestra with Eugene Pook, a famous conductor, and became its royal patron.
In January 2019, she joined the Foundation board of her old school, Alice Smith School.
Her Personal Life
Zatashah met her husband, Aubry Rahim Mennesson, a French film producer and entrepreneur, in Paris in 2005. They met through mutual friends while she was working for L'Oréal and finishing her master's degree. Aubry, who is from Paris, was asked to show Zatashah around the city.
For the first few months, Aubry did not know that Zatashah was a princess. She had introduced herself as just a "diplomat girl." He only found out she was a princess when he saw a card from her father with a picture of him in his royal clothes.
Marriage and Celebrations
Aubry converted to Islam before their wedding. He learned about Islam from Dr. Dalil Boubakeur, the Grand Imam of the Grand Mosque of Paris.
The couple got married at the Grand Mosque of Paris in France on November 10, 2007. Dr. Dalil Boubakeur also led their wedding ceremony.
A wedding reception was held on February 28, 2008, at Istana Alam Shah in Klang. Sultan Sharafuddin of Selangor hosted the dinner, which was served by staff from the Royal Malaysian Navy. Tengku Amir Shah gave a speech at the event, describing his sister as a "funny and hardworking girl."
Many important guests attended the reception, including the then-Regent of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, and his wife Raja Puan Besar Perak Tuanku Zara Salim. Guests enjoyed music from the Gamelan Diraja Selangor and the Shah Alam City Council orchestra.
Helping Others and the Environment
Tengku Zatashah is very active in charity work and environmental causes.
Community Involvement
When she returned to Malaysia in 2010, Zatashah joined Alliance Française Kuala Lumpur as vice-president and later became its president. In this role, she helped expand classes and raise awareness of French culture. She represented Asia and Malaysia at a convention in Paris in 2013. As president, she organized Le French Festival in April 2019, which included the largest French Film Festival in Malaysia.
Since 2015, Zatashah has been the royal patron of Make-A-Wish Malaysia, an organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses. She has also volunteered at Kechara Soup Kitchen, a non-profit group that feeds homeless people, since 2015.
Environmental Efforts
In 2016, through Make-A-Wish Malaysia, she started the #ZeroFoodWaste campaign. This campaign encouraged big hotels in Klang Valley to give their extra food to Kechara Soup Kitchen. She launched this campaign after learning that a lot of food, especially from Ramadan buffets, goes to waste.
She also began a social media campaign called #SayNo2Plastic in 2016. This campaign encouraged Malaysians to stop using single-use plastics, and it became one of the biggest anti-plastic movements in the country. She posted pictures of herself and royal family members carrying their Tiffin carriers to bazaar Ramadan to avoid plastic bags. She also showed how she switched from plastic straws to metal straws and carried her own reusable coffee cup and tumbler. Because of her eco-friendly habits, vendors sometimes call her "the girl with the tiffin." She received an award for her campaign at the International Dive and Maritime Expo Adex Singapore in April 2019 and was named an Adex Ocean Ambassador.
On October 8, 2018, she worked with CH Carolina Herrera on a "Shop with a cause" campaign. Ten percent of sales from the event went to Make-A-Wish Malaysia.
In May 2019, Zatashah hosted a beach clean-up in Pulau Redang, where volunteers collected 4,655 plastic water bottles in just two hours. In July 2019, she led another beach clean-up at Pantai Morib Baru. She and 500 volunteers collected about 780 kg of trash, with nearly half of it being plastic waste.
She also launched a collection of hairbands called SSxTZ in collaboration with Sereni & Shentel. The collection featured headbands inspired by Zatashah's personal batik collection. All the money raised from this collection goes to Make-A-Wish Malaysia.
Awards and Recognition
Tengku Zatashah has received several honors for her work and royal status.
Honors from Selangor
- Knight Grand Companion of the Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (SSIS) – Datin Paduka Setia (December 11, 2009)
- Sultan Sharafuddin Coronation Medal First Class in gold (March 8, 2003)
- Sultan Salahuddin Silver Jubilee Medal (September 3, 1985)
Honors from Malaysia
Malaysia
- Recipient of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal (September 23, 1999)
International Honors
France
- Chevalier (Knight) of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (April 19, 2017)
- Officer of the Order of Academic Palms (December 3, 2024)
