A king reigns but never governs

I had previously written against our monarchs or their immediate heirs taking part in politics, especially in polemical politics, because their royal statements or opinions would confer or deprive unfair advantage to/from a side of politics in the eyes of the public especially the rakyat of the Heartland who have for centuries menjunjung tinggi our sultans.

A ruler by staying above politics assumes the role with which HRH has been assigned by our Constitution, that of being our respected and loved head of state (in the respective sultanate, or in the case of the Agong, our nation). He assumes the important, nay, vital role of an important father-figure for all of us to focus on as a pillar of stability, continuity and centre of gravity of our undivided loyalty. Without such a central figure, our nation will be internally ripped asunder.

Just recently, HRH Sultan of Selangor has with just a few kind and encouraging words to our redoubtable gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi would undoubtedly have effectively shut up the vulgar obscene clams of those kay-poe-chnee kerang kotor who preferred to zoom in on the gymnast's physical profile rather than the gymnast's perfect performance during the recent ASEAN games.

HRH has just demonstrated the perfect role of a constitutional monarch by being a pillar of stability, continuity and centre of gravity of our undivided loyalty amidst worrying Taliban-Saudi-like mafulat-ish misogynistic misdemeanours.

So, our young prince of Johor, HRH Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim has left his earlier threat of Johorean secession aside to also join HRH Sultan Selangor in putting his royal imprimatur on exceptional gymnastic performance, with a very telling advice by a well-known Mufti to not judge a person superficially or more correctly to not usurp the prerogative of Allah swt by pre-judging a person by his or her external appearance.

Now, I have been one who have not been happy with, in fact against royal intrusion into the political arena, only for fear of two issues, namely, (1) as mentioned above, it provides one side of politics with unfair and undue advantage, but more importantly (2) it exposes the royal figure to political 'whacking' (wakakaka) because by the royal person choosing to enter the grubby grotty grim of the political arena, he has voluntarily and automatically invited counter-political comments which can be in very harsh adversarial forms.

Such are the rules of democratic adversarial politics a la Newton's 3rd Law. One can't have his cake and eat it also, in wrongly believing the royal person can make political commentaries but would be exempt from counter-challenges or criticisms. You may also wish to read my post The ultimate cake wakakaka.

By playing a firm, stern but fair father figure in deciding on non-political issues, such as whether social attacks on a leading sports personality who had participated exceptionally in a sports on behalf of our nation have been fair or worthy, the royal person ensures the stability of our society and continuity of our state as a safe, stable and secure nation.

But was the young prince seeking social rehabilitation after his bizarre threat of Johor seceding from Malaysia?

Who knows and who cares as this time he has done a damn good and to-be-highly-commended non-political job of 'protecting' Farah Ann Abdul Hadi from the sleazy scums and slugs.

Perhaps in today's more politically-conscious society it may indicate the growing power of the people, to whom even the royals want to be on their good side?

To quote Otto Von Bismarck, a king reigns but never governs. Daulat Tuanku!

Read also: Constitutional monarchs & politics in Malaysia