Hybrid Meeting - Asia’s Forgotten Kingdom

Hybrid Meeting 

12 noon - social, 12:15pm - meeting starts, 12:20pm program, 12:30pm lunch being served

Look forward to meet everyone in person, dim sum and noodle lunch $30/person. 

Please REGISTER ONLINE if you are attending in person or join us on Zoom

​ZOOM ID - 604 778 0162 | Password - 202020

https://zoom.us/j/6047780162?pwd=WjdCUWd5N1FyWnVicFI5M3FhSUZ6dz09

Asia Forgotten Kingdom - Dr. Matthew Pajares Yngson 

The Tausug people of Sulu have been a sovereign people for more than 600 years living in the Sulu Archipelago. The Royal Sultanate of Sulu was founded as a theocratic state in the early 15th century. The East King of Sulu was recognized as an equal by Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty when he died in China in 1417.

Once a strong and influential thalassocracy, the Sultanate faced several attempts to be abolished by colonisers including the English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and Americans. However, all these attempts failed to deprive either the Sultanate or its monarch of sovereign rights and state status. Since the 1950’s, the present-day Republic of the Philippines has recognised the continued existence of the Sultanate of Sulu and the status of its monarch as recorded in government documents. Certain prerogatives of the Sultanate, as a genuine traditional and indigenous institution, are supported by a correspondent Philippine law enacted in 1997. Furthermore, the Royal House of Sulu continues to correspond with both reigning and non-reigning royal families around the world.

The Royal Sultanate of Sulu has been part of an autonomous region in the Philippines since 1979 but despite its rich natural resources, vibrant culture, and significant heritage, it remains to be one of the poorest areas in Southeast Asia.

Datu Sadja Dr. Matthew Pajares Yngson, Rajah of Tambulian, KCR FRSA is a multifaceted diplomat with three decades of experience in technology, journalism, broadcast media, entertainment, international business, and philanthropy. He is the Representative Councillor of the Caribbean ASEAN Council, and the Diplomatic Affairs Envoy of the Eastern Caribbean-Southeast Asia Chamber, a United Nations recognized inter-regional NGO. He is concurrently the Trade Attaché of the Consulate of Guyana in the Philippines.

Datu Sadja Matthew holds a Doctorate in Professional Studies in International Relations and Diplomacy, and a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy. He is also the only Filipino-Dominican alumnus of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences since its establishment in 1956 by HRH the late Prince Philip. In 2018, he met HRH Princess Anne for this unique honour.

He volunteers his time supporting the less fortunate including the indigenous Tausug people of the Sultanate of Sulu, a traditional monarchy in the southern Philippines. He is the Royal Ambassador and Secretary General of The 35th Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo. For his services to the Tausug people, the Sultan raised Datu Sadja Matthew to higher nobility and was conferred a princely status as the 1st Rajah of Tambulian Island in Pata, Sulu. He has also received numerous honours and awards for his altruistic endeavours and has been admitted as a Knight Commander in the Order of the Knights of Rizal, the patriotic order of chivalry of the Philippines and a chartered award of the republic.