Bookstore owner Adrian Ung, however, has a soft spot for the monarch, having amassed a huge collection of memorabilia of the queen over the years.
One of the first items he acquired was a car badge emblem while in London. “I started collecting memorabilia of her about 22 years ago, and I especially love the items that have a local connection, such as the Queen’s coronation car badge emblems that also feature the Malaysian flag.
Ung, 52, said these items are rare and have a high collectible value, especially for Malaysians.
Ung’s collectibles include button badges, plates, coin pendants, a tin cigarette box, trophies, a calendar board, a powder case, books, magazines and old news clippings.
He also has programme flyers and photographs from the celebrations held in then Malaya in conjunction with the Queen’s coronation in 1953.
“There were a lot of memorabilia during that time, including commemorative mugs by the Malayan Breweries and F&N, although I’ve since sold quite a few items as they’ve been with me for a long time,” he told FMT, adding that there are other local collectors interested in royal mementos.
Ung explained that he procures the collectibles from a variety of sources including eBay, Carousell, antique dealers as well as flea markets at Amcorp Mall and Lorong Kulit in Penang.
“The runners or the people who sell these things will usually contact me once they come across more memorabilia,” he explained.
His favourite items are none other than the car badge emblems as they’re hard to come by.
“They’re neither mass produced nor sold to the public; they probably belonged to government officials who attached them to their cars back in the day,” he said, adding that he’s on the lookout for more car badge emblems.
He is however trying to sell off the books and magazines about Queen Elizabeth II.
He joked that although he is trying to reduce his collection, he is still buying more memorabilia especially if they’re rare.
Besides items denoting Queen Elizabeth II, Ung also collects memorabilia of other members of the British royal family.
In his possession are items on Princess Margaret’s wedding, King Edward’s abdication from the throne as well as Prince Harry’s wedding. “But the interesting items are centred around Queen Elizabeth.”
Besides his fascination with Queen Elizabeth, Ung also collects rare books on various topics, as well as Merdeka memorabilia like commemorative cups, sauces and car badge emblems.
In fact, he also has a car badge emblem from decades ago of the Home Guard, a multi-ethnic local defense volunteer group made up of local residents.
Ung said he is also fond of collecting old enamel signs once used in advertising. “These are works of art from 1930-1960. You can hardly find them these days, and each piece sells for a few thousand ringgit.”
Ung said he began collecting memorabilia of Queen Elizabeth II as he was genuinely inspired by her loving and lasting marriage to Prince Philip, who she fell in love with when she was just 13 years old.
“Looking at photos of them together, from when they were young till now; I think they were simply meant for each other. And because of that, she did so well in her role as Queen,” he remarked.
He said that although the Queen is from England, many Malaysians, especially those of the older generation, remember her with fondness and would feel a sense of loss at her demise as Malaya was a British colony.
“Even though we fought hard for our independence, there are quite a few people who wonder if we could have been better off under the British,” he said laughing.