SA Vigneswaran
Published: Dec 24, 2025 9:35 AM
Updated: 12:37 PM
COMMENT | Recent public reactions to the High Court’s decision on former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s house arrest application have revealed a troubling trend: justice has been transformed into spectacle.
Certain political actors, including Tony Pua, have openly framed the court’s ruling as a moment for celebration, pride, and political self-congratulation.
Arrests are cheered. Convictions are applauded. Judicial outcomes are treated as scorecards. Victory laps are taken.
This is not the law; this is entertainment.
Courts are not scoreboards, judges are not referees in a political contest, and justice is not validated by public applause, especially when that applause is fuelled by personal animosity rather than constitutional principle.
Dangerous selective amnesia
What is conspicuously absent from these celebrations is context.
The house arrest application did not arise in a vacuum. It followed a royal proclamation, issued through proper constitutional processes.
When some now applaud the rejection of the application as though it were a political triumph, they are, whether intentionally or not, applauding the effective dismissal of a royal act.
That should trouble every Malaysian.
Belittling or mocking a royal decree is not merely disrespectful to an individual; it risks undermining the constitutional framework itself.
The issue before the court was not a personality contest. In substance, it was the legal effect of a royal decree that stood for scrutiny.
To reduce such a matter to a punchline is profoundly irresponsible.
Respect for institutions not optional
Equally reckless are claims that the courts have somehow “overruled” the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. That narrative is not just inaccurate, it is constitutionally dangerous.
The Agong acts within the framework of the Federal Constitution. Respect for the monarchy is demonstrated by fidelity to that framework, not by distortion, mockery, or selective outrage.
It bears repeating: His Majesty acted after due consultation and in accordance with established constitutional processes.
To ridicule the king for doing precisely what the Constitution requires is to attack the very institutions that safeguard Malaysia’s democratic order.
There is a bitter irony here. Many of the loudest celebrants are often the quickest to lecture others about restraint on the so-called 3Rs: race, religion, and royalty.
Yet in their eagerness to mock, cheer, and provoke, they have already crossed into dangerous territory involving race and royalty themselves.
Apparently, restraint is only fashionable when convenient.
Justice demands dignity, not pleasure
Let this be clear: no one is asking for sympathy. But a mature democracy must at least demand dignity, restraint, and respect for institutions.
Someone’s arrest, conviction, or failed application is not a reality show. It is not a national festival. It is not a source of pleasure.
Courts are not stages, verdicts are not trophies, and constitutional institutions, including the monarchy, are not conveniences to be mocked when outcomes align with partisan sentiment.
When justice is reduced to entertainment, restraint is abandoned, and dignity is lost, democracy itself begins to resemble theatre.
That should concern every Malaysian who values the Constitution, the integrity of our courts, and respect for the institutions that hold this nation together.
SA VIGNESWARAN is MIC president.
Published: Dec 24, 2025 9:35 AM
Updated: 12:37 PM
COMMENT | Recent public reactions to the High Court’s decision on former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s house arrest application have revealed a troubling trend: justice has been transformed into spectacle.
Certain political actors, including Tony Pua, have openly framed the court’s ruling as a moment for celebration, pride, and political self-congratulation.
Arrests are cheered. Convictions are applauded. Judicial outcomes are treated as scorecards. Victory laps are taken.
This is not the law; this is entertainment.
Courts are not scoreboards, judges are not referees in a political contest, and justice is not validated by public applause, especially when that applause is fuelled by personal animosity rather than constitutional principle.
Dangerous selective amnesia
What is conspicuously absent from these celebrations is context.
The house arrest application did not arise in a vacuum. It followed a royal proclamation, issued through proper constitutional processes.
When some now applaud the rejection of the application as though it were a political triumph, they are, whether intentionally or not, applauding the effective dismissal of a royal act.
That should trouble every Malaysian.
Belittling or mocking a royal decree is not merely disrespectful to an individual; it risks undermining the constitutional framework itself.
The issue before the court was not a personality contest. In substance, it was the legal effect of a royal decree that stood for scrutiny.
To reduce such a matter to a punchline is profoundly irresponsible.
Respect for institutions not optional
Equally reckless are claims that the courts have somehow “overruled” the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. That narrative is not just inaccurate, it is constitutionally dangerous.
The Agong acts within the framework of the Federal Constitution. Respect for the monarchy is demonstrated by fidelity to that framework, not by distortion, mockery, or selective outrage.
It bears repeating: His Majesty acted after due consultation and in accordance with established constitutional processes.
To ridicule the king for doing precisely what the Constitution requires is to attack the very institutions that safeguard Malaysia’s democratic order.
There is a bitter irony here. Many of the loudest celebrants are often the quickest to lecture others about restraint on the so-called 3Rs: race, religion, and royalty.
Yet in their eagerness to mock, cheer, and provoke, they have already crossed into dangerous territory involving race and royalty themselves.
Apparently, restraint is only fashionable when convenient.
Justice demands dignity, not pleasure
Let this be clear: no one is asking for sympathy. But a mature democracy must at least demand dignity, restraint, and respect for institutions.
Someone’s arrest, conviction, or failed application is not a reality show. It is not a national festival. It is not a source of pleasure.
Courts are not stages, verdicts are not trophies, and constitutional institutions, including the monarchy, are not conveniences to be mocked when outcomes align with partisan sentiment.
When justice is reduced to entertainment, restraint is abandoned, and dignity is lost, democracy itself begins to resemble theatre.
That should concern every Malaysian who values the Constitution, the integrity of our courts, and respect for the institutions that hold this nation together.
SA VIGNESWARAN is MIC president.
***
Very good article by Vignes.
When some now applaud the rejection of the application as though it were a political triumph, they are, whether intentionally or not, applauding the effective dismissal of a royal act.
That should trouble every Malaysian.
That should trouble every Malaysian.
Pancung Pancung Pancung
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