Local, Sarawak News - Saturday, May 17, 2008 10:00 - 0 Comments

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As loyal subjects, let us accord the sultans due respect

FOR us in Sarawak, we do not have a sultan as head of state. We have a Governor or the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri. The Governor of Sarawak, as are the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah, Penang and Malacca are appointed by our King or the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, mostly on the recommendation of the respective state governments. As heads of state, the governors exercise the same ‘limited’ powers as the sultans of the other nine Malaysian states. More importantly, in Malaysia, they are also the heads of Islam of their respective states, as are the sultans. The only difference is that the sultans are royalty and their positions are hereditary while the governors come and go. The sultans will rule until their end of days while the governors serve in what we can describe as “at the pleasure of the king”. Looking back at history, Sarawak actually had a sultan 150 years ago. The state was under the Sultan of Brunei until he decided to allow James Brooke to rule the then backward, troublesome quarter of Borneo which was infested with rebels, pirates and headhunters. In those days, the sultan’s subjects did not know loyalty. There were frequent rebellions against the palace. Revolts and uprisings were common occurrences. So it was not totally surprising that the Brunei Sultan decided to give away Sarawak to British adventurer James Brooke after he helped the sultan quell a rebellion. Oh yes, the sultan was happy to give a problematic territory away and that British guy became the First White Rajah of Sarawak. The Brooke Family then ruled Sarawak for a century. For today’s Sarawakians like you and me, we never had the opportunity to be subjects of a sultan so I believe we never know what loyalty to a royal family really is. But we do realise that it is only proper to accord due respect to our head of state, whether he is a governor or a sultan. This is the essence of my discussion this week in the light of recent controversies involving politicians and royalty in the country. Several incidents following the March 8 election have been quite mind-boggling to me and I believe, to many of you as well. Firstly, there was the appointment of the Menteri Besar of Perlis. Umno, which has the most seats in Malaysia’s smallest state, wanted the incumbent menteri besar to continue. But the Raja of Perlis had a different take on the matter. He wanted a new man to helm his state government. After a week of negotiations and talks among the interested parties and the royal family, Umno gave way to the wishes of the sultan and allowed his choice as menteri besar to be appointed. A similar incident was repeated in Terengganu. Now, the Sultan of Terengganu is also the serving Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. Again, Umno’s choice of the incumbent menteri besar to continue leading the east coast state was turned down by the sultan. Again, the sultan had another choice and again, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi finally relented and allowed the sultan’s preferred candidate be appointed to head the Terengganu state government. From these two episodes, we can conclude that no matter how the prime minister and the ruling party might disagree with the sultan politically, they would still bow down to royalty in the end. If anything else, this is part of Malay culture and way of life at its loyal best. They would show total loyalty and obedience to the sultan. Of course, Umno and its leaders could argue on points of law and the powers of the sultans on political appointments but they chose not to. Whether this is democracy at its best or not, I don’t know. What I know is that there are reasons to admire and applaud Pak Lah’s and Umno’s decision to give way to the sultans, although the lower Umno rungs might not agree with their leaders’ decision. Let me say this sincerely. As a Malaysian, I have the greatest respect and admiration for the Malays of this country in showing respect and loyalty to the sultans. I feel that all of us Malaysians who are non-Malays should do likewise. It is rather impolite and disrespectful to be involved in a public spat with members of royalty. This is the same way I feel about Karpal Singh’s brush with the Perak royalty recently. From the point of law, I honestly think that Karpal has a point. Then again, what the veteran DAP chairman had questioned is not actually new. I recall that a senior Umno leader had brought up the same argument several years ago. The only difference here is that Karpal is not a Malay while the Umno leader is. Let’s be honest about race relations in this country. It is easily more acceptable for the Malays to see through a Malay’s disagreement with royalty than a non-Malay’s. Similarly, it is easier for Christians to accept a Christian’s clash with the Archbishop for example than for a Muslim to be involved in a public spat with the Christian clergy as that would be viewed very negatively. In that aspect, if I were Karpal Singh, I would have asked a Malay colleague in Pakatan Rakyat to raise the matter on the so-called Perak Sultan’s ‘interference’ rather than doing it himself. That would have saved Karpal some personal loss of time, anguish and worries and his colleagues in Pakatan, especially the Malays, a lot of uneasiness and embarrassment. I had the opportunity to speak to Karpal on a few occasions in the past. From the little that I know of him, I can honestly say that his credibility and integrity can never be doubted. He is a people’s politician and I know that this man will fight to the end for what he believes is right for the people and country. But Karpal may not be fighting all his ‘wars’ in the proper and right manner. That is his main liability. It would be sad to see him in prison again with his advancing age and current immobility. For us Sarawakians, we may never be the subjects of a sultan but as Malaysians, we are subjects of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. Let us remember one thing though — we know that the King is not above the law and is only human but still, it is incumbent upon us to accord him due respect at all times. Even if we are politicians, it does not pay to clash with royalty. This is no longer the era of the Rajah Brookes where we could have gotten away with a lot of our mistakes. So be smart today — avoid it! Comments can reach the writer at paulsir99@hotmail.com