(AFP) The Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, a 58-year-old British-trained former army officer, was sworn in with royal pomp and ceremony today.

The proceedings were broadcast live from the palace in Kuala Lumpur after a welcoming ceremony for the king and queen outside parliament with a guard of honour, military bands and a 21-gun salute.

The new king, wearing a golden traditional Malay costume, took the oath of office in the presence of the country's sultans and rajas and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his ministers.

"I hereby pledge to remain loyal in carrying out the roles and responsibilities that have been or that will be determined by the laws and constitution of the country," he said.

Rotation system

Under the constitution the position of king - known in Malay as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (He Who is Made Lord) - is rotated every five years between the traditional Malay rulers of nine states.

Throughout the solemn ceremony, the king and the eight other Malay rulers were seated on a raised platform, facing the large audience of witnesses.

Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, elected in a secret ballot by the "Conference of Rulers" on Wednesday, is Malaysia's 12th monarch under a unique rotational system dating back to independence from Britain in 1957.

The Malay rulers retained 39-year-old Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu as the deputy king.

Today's ceremony, which was steeped in the traditions of Malaysia's constitutional monarchy, ended with Mahathir reading a declaration affirming the appointment of the country's king and deputy.

The new king takes over the figurehead role from Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, who died of heart failure on Nov 21.

Born in Arau, the state's royal town on May 16, 1943, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin was proclaimed as the raja last year after the death of his father Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail.

Head of state

The agrarian-based Perlis, the country's smallest state, is tucked in the northernmost tip of peninsular Malaysia and shares a common border with Thailand.

He was educated in Malaysia and at the Wellingborough public school in England before going on to Sandhurst military academy in 1964. After graduating he served as a lieutenant in the army for four years before joining the Army Reserve Force in 1970, where he now holds the rank of colonel.

The king, who is married to Tengku Fauziah Tengku Abdul Rashid and has two children, has been called a humble and friendly ruler known to set aside protocol to meet and mix with his subjects.

"I have always hoped he would be king one day for he is always a kind-hearted soul, even from young," said his former nanny, Asiah Osman.

Avid golfer

Asiah, 74, said the king would occasionally deliver her monthly allowances personally, and had often visited her at home.

The new monarch is also known as an avid golfer.

"The Tuanku and myself would challenge almost every golfer to a round," Osman Mat, his regular golf partner, was quoted by the Star daily as saying.

The king is head of state and the country's symbolic head of Islam, as well as the nominal head of the military and all three branches of government. He signs bills and appoints ministers, judges and ambassadors.

Acting on the advice of the cabinet, the king legally still enjoys discretionary powers over the appointment of prime ministers and can withhold his consent to any request to dissolve parliament.

But real power is wielded by Mahathir, who has been prime minister for the past 20 years. Twice he has clashed with royalty over their rights, and both times he won.

In 1983 kings were stripped of their veto over government bills and 10 years later their immunity from prosecution was removed.