Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is currently in a Kuala Lumpur hospital "resting" after feeling tired during a Southeast Asian leaders' summit, Malaysia's prime minister said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, was responding to a question during a press conference on whether the 78-year-old sultan had been admitted to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur.
"He's a little bit tired and resting," Anwar said, confirming that the sultan had been admitted to the institute. He did not elaborate.
The sultan has ruled the oil-rich nation of Brunei, on the island of Borneo, since 1967. He was once the world's richest man and remains hugely popular, despite holding a firm grip on power in the country of nearly half a million people.
Under his rule, Brunei gained full independence from Britain and oversaw a rise in living standards to among the highest in Asia.
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