Among other incidents which drew the ire of Batavians and Singaporean Arabs was Habib Uthman's reading of prayer on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Wilhelmina in 1898, at which time the Orde van de Nederlandsche Leeuw (Order of Netherlands Lion) was conferred on him. Calling him as friend of unbelievers, his opponents condemned Habib Uthman in letters to the Arabic Press and pamphlets printed in Singapore.
