Violet Coulson - Marriage

Marriage

Tunku secretly married Coulson in Geylang Serai, Singapore, witnessed by Syed Ahmad al-Sagoff, according to Islamic rites. After their marriage, Coulson stayed in Penang, and Tunku stayed alone in Kuala Nerang, where he was District Officer, in order to avoid public criticism.

There was a law in Kedah which forbade members of the royal family to marry non-Malays without the prior approval of the Sultan of Kedah or the Regent. Tunku Ibrahim, the Regent, was known to be strongly opposed to mixed marriages, but he died unexpectedly in 1934 and was succeeded as Regent by Tunku Mahmud, the Sultan's younger brother, who was more broadminded and gave consent to the marriage. This enabled Coulson to move to Kuala Nerang to be with her husband, but the Secretary to the Government showed his disapproval by transferring the Tunku to the isolated post of District Officer of Langkawi.

S.W Jones M.C.S, who was the acting British Advisor in Kedah, visited Langkawi and was so impressed by the initiative and improvements shown by the Tunku that he persuaded the Council of State to transfer Tunku and to promote him to the post of District Officer of Sungai Petani, the second most important district in Kedah.