S Thayaparan
“It is unusual for Malays (to go against their own rulers) but such is the feeling now on the ground.”
COMMENT | Of course, the former prime minister (twice) Dr Mahathir Mohamad would want to answer any charges in a court of law.
He and Perikatan Nasional (PN) need the attention. Going against the royalty while claiming to defend Malay rights is exactly the strategy that a theocratic state engages in to attain hegemonic control.
The spectacle of Mahathir defending his speech would galvanise not only his political fortunes but would serve the agenda of the theocrats-in-waiting.
People who vote for this religious extremist organisation who for years were taught to obey and respect the feudal culture would turn themselves over to another kind of theocratic feudal system.
Now, rational people can have their views on the royal institution in this country and those views may very well get them in trouble with the law.
But for Mahathir, PN and the rest of the Malay uber alles crowd, going against the royal institution means bupkis.
Nothing Mahathir is alleged to have said and not been spoken before in the corridors of power. There are many allegations regarding the institution which are a matter of public record and discussing it would no doubt invite sedition charges.
Even as I write this, I know that unlike PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, and Mahathir, I am not immune from the sanctions of the state.
“It is unusual for Malays (to go against their own rulers) but such is the feeling now on the ground.”
- Former prime minister
Dr Mahathir Mohamad on PN’s emergency.
COMMENT | Of course, the former prime minister (twice) Dr Mahathir Mohamad would want to answer any charges in a court of law.
He and Perikatan Nasional (PN) need the attention. Going against the royalty while claiming to defend Malay rights is exactly the strategy that a theocratic state engages in to attain hegemonic control.
The spectacle of Mahathir defending his speech would galvanise not only his political fortunes but would serve the agenda of the theocrats-in-waiting.
People who vote for this religious extremist organisation who for years were taught to obey and respect the feudal culture would turn themselves over to another kind of theocratic feudal system.
Now, rational people can have their views on the royal institution in this country and those views may very well get them in trouble with the law.
But for Mahathir, PN and the rest of the Malay uber alles crowd, going against the royal institution means bupkis.
Nothing Mahathir is alleged to have said and not been spoken before in the corridors of power. There are many allegations regarding the institution which are a matter of public record and discussing it would no doubt invite sedition charges.
Even as I write this, I know that unlike PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, and Mahathir, I am not immune from the sanctions of the state.
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin (left) with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
This unity government is a slap in the face for the religious extremist coalition led by PAS. Keep in mind that Muhyiddin publicly declared that he rejected the Agong’s suggestion that his coalition forms a unity government with Pakatan Harapan:
“Since the beginning, we already discussed that we will not cooperate with Harapan. No matter what is the purpose, we will not agree to it. So when I was asked to sign the offer letter, I signed ‘disagreed’.”
Meanwhile, Mahathir has a long history of not only curtailing the powers of the royalty but also using state propaganda organs to discredit them.
This unity government is a slap in the face for the religious extremist coalition led by PAS. Keep in mind that Muhyiddin publicly declared that he rejected the Agong’s suggestion that his coalition forms a unity government with Pakatan Harapan:
“Since the beginning, we already discussed that we will not cooperate with Harapan. No matter what is the purpose, we will not agree to it. So when I was asked to sign the offer letter, I signed ‘disagreed’.”
Meanwhile, Mahathir has a long history of not only curtailing the powers of the royalty but also using state propaganda organs to discredit them.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Remember when Mahathir claimed that the government really did not want to withdraw from International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) but they had to because “someone” created confusion?
From reportage - stressing that the withdrawal was not because the treaty was harmful to the nation, Mahathir claimed that there was an attempt to smear the government's name and to engage the country's royalty to sign an order against him, which move may have involved some members of the royal family.
And of course, who could forget this juicy tidbit from his press statement:
“Jadi kita punya keputusan kabinet (our cabinet’s decision) this morning is that we will withdraw our ratification of the Statute of Rome kerana (because of) confusion, bukan kerana (not because) we believe it is going to be bad for us but because of the confusion created by one particular person who wants to be free to beat up people and things like that.
“And if he beats up people again, I will send the police to arrest him, I don't care who he is.”
When Mahathir went up against the royal institution back in the day, he used the instruments of the state to make his case.
As reported by the Independent - “In the meantime, the government is waging all-out war on the rulers.
“Civil servants have been told to seek the prime minister's permission before seeing the king, state governments are under orders to refuse business favours to their rulers.
“For the past month, page two of the government-controlled New Straits Times has been devoted to the sultans’ excesses: how Sultan Ismail Petra of Kelantan, for example, imported 30 duty-free luxury cars rather than the seven allowed and how he got away from customs officials in a Lamborghini Diablo on the pretext of test-driving it.
“The RM200 million cost of maintaining the rulers has been lavishly detailed, including the hospital wards kept for their exclusive use, and the RM9.3 million spent on new cutlery and bedspreads for the king, which the newspaper said could have built two hospitals or 46 rural clinics, or 46 primary schools.
“Religious teachers have been encouraged to comment on the un-Muslim behaviour of the supposed guardians of Islam.”
Slaying sacred cows
And of course, that other great protector of Malays rights, Hadi, has shown us what he thinks of the royal institution.
He thumbed his nose at the sultan of Terengganu and nothing happened to him.
“I will continue my sermons as per usual in surau and mosques."
Hadi said that in Islam there is no separation between politics and religion.
It basically means that as the gatekeeper of religion, he alone decides which political edicts he and his brethren follow.
To stop Anwar, PN and PAS are willing to slay sacred cows of Malay-Muslim institutions because as I have argued before, these are the agendas of the deep Islamic state and the religious industrial complex.
This is not about whether you support the royal institution or not. This is about how these defenders of race and religion, in reality, have no respect for the institutions they claim to champion.
These are the same people who would use the royal institution as a hammer to whack recalcitrant Malays and of course, the non-Malays - whom they claim are disrespecting the royal institution - the Malays, and of course, Islam.
This is about the hypocrisy of the Malay political elite who use the royal institution as a cudgel to bash anyone who supports democratic imperatives but has no problem disrespecting the institution when it suits their purposes.
Do not for one moment think that there is any democratic or people-oriented agenda in these attacks against one of the tiang seri (pillars) of Umno.
Do you really think that Mahathir and PN's agenda are in any way about institutions or returning power to the people? No, this is about the Malay elites squabbling over power.
And the losers will always be the majority polity.
Remember when Mahathir claimed that the government really did not want to withdraw from International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) but they had to because “someone” created confusion?
From reportage - stressing that the withdrawal was not because the treaty was harmful to the nation, Mahathir claimed that there was an attempt to smear the government's name and to engage the country's royalty to sign an order against him, which move may have involved some members of the royal family.
And of course, who could forget this juicy tidbit from his press statement:
“Jadi kita punya keputusan kabinet (our cabinet’s decision) this morning is that we will withdraw our ratification of the Statute of Rome kerana (because of) confusion, bukan kerana (not because) we believe it is going to be bad for us but because of the confusion created by one particular person who wants to be free to beat up people and things like that.
“And if he beats up people again, I will send the police to arrest him, I don't care who he is.”
When Mahathir went up against the royal institution back in the day, he used the instruments of the state to make his case.
As reported by the Independent - “In the meantime, the government is waging all-out war on the rulers.
“Civil servants have been told to seek the prime minister's permission before seeing the king, state governments are under orders to refuse business favours to their rulers.
“For the past month, page two of the government-controlled New Straits Times has been devoted to the sultans’ excesses: how Sultan Ismail Petra of Kelantan, for example, imported 30 duty-free luxury cars rather than the seven allowed and how he got away from customs officials in a Lamborghini Diablo on the pretext of test-driving it.
“The RM200 million cost of maintaining the rulers has been lavishly detailed, including the hospital wards kept for their exclusive use, and the RM9.3 million spent on new cutlery and bedspreads for the king, which the newspaper said could have built two hospitals or 46 rural clinics, or 46 primary schools.
“Religious teachers have been encouraged to comment on the un-Muslim behaviour of the supposed guardians of Islam.”
Slaying sacred cows
And of course, that other great protector of Malays rights, Hadi, has shown us what he thinks of the royal institution.
He thumbed his nose at the sultan of Terengganu and nothing happened to him.
“I will continue my sermons as per usual in surau and mosques."
Hadi said that in Islam there is no separation between politics and religion.
It basically means that as the gatekeeper of religion, he alone decides which political edicts he and his brethren follow.
To stop Anwar, PN and PAS are willing to slay sacred cows of Malay-Muslim institutions because as I have argued before, these are the agendas of the deep Islamic state and the religious industrial complex.
This is not about whether you support the royal institution or not. This is about how these defenders of race and religion, in reality, have no respect for the institutions they claim to champion.
These are the same people who would use the royal institution as a hammer to whack recalcitrant Malays and of course, the non-Malays - whom they claim are disrespecting the royal institution - the Malays, and of course, Islam.
This is about the hypocrisy of the Malay political elite who use the royal institution as a cudgel to bash anyone who supports democratic imperatives but has no problem disrespecting the institution when it suits their purposes.
Do not for one moment think that there is any democratic or people-oriented agenda in these attacks against one of the tiang seri (pillars) of Umno.
Do you really think that Mahathir and PN's agenda are in any way about institutions or returning power to the people? No, this is about the Malay elites squabbling over power.
And the losers will always be the majority polity.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
Lamentations, lamentations, nothing will change.
ReplyDeleteNothing will happen to them too. Frankly, I believe the Sultans and Agong are terrified of these toxic hypocrites.