Guilty as charged

Selangor, at that time, was a territory of Perak. And it was the Sultan of Perak who crowned Raja Lumu as the Sultan of Selangor. The ceremony was conducted in Lumut. Hence Raja Lumu did not invade Selangor and illegally occupy the state, as you are trying to imply, Simon. He was legally crowned as the Sultan of Selangor by the ruling house of Perak -- that was in existence for more than 200 years and came into existence soon after the Portuguese invaded Malacca in 1511.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Dear Simon, I thought instead of publishing your comment I would reply to it point-by-point so that we can engage in a mature and civil discourse. I know your comment was meant to insult me and probably provoke an equally insulting response from me. However, such a low-class response to a low-class comment will not get us anywhere, don’t you think so? Hence bear with me as I respond to what you have said.

First of all, with regards to your allegation that I am a coward who dares not return to Malaysia. Now, Simon, you posted your comment using what I can only assume is a false name. Even if ‘Simon’ is not a false name there must be millions of Simons all over the world. Hence why did you not use your real or full name and prove to me that you are not a coward.

I mean, only someone who is brave has the moral right to call someone else a coward. It is like a prostitute calling a woman a prostitute. Calling a woman a prostitute is supposed to be an insult. But if you yourself are a prostitute how can you consider calling another woman a prostitute as an insult? I trust you understand what I mean.

Furthermore, the e-mail address you used is a fake e-mail address. I tried e-mailing you this response but the e-mail bounced. Hence not only is your name false (or at the very least incomplete), even your e-mail address is false as well.

This can only mean you lack the courage to reveal your true identity -- or, to put it a bit more crudely, as you have done: you are a coward. And you call me a coward? Can you now see the irony in this whole thing? Maybe you do not see it this way because I realise you need to be of a certain intellectual level to possess the ability to apply reasoning.

If you were to take a course in philosophy you will appreciate how crucial the ability of reasoning is to be able to understand what you are studying. Without that ability you will never be able to grasp the fundamentals of philosophy. And that was the whole purpose why I took a course in Philosophy of Religion in Oxford back in 2010 although I was already 60 years old and really did not need to do so. I wanted to sharpen my skills in reasoning, especially with regards to religion.

You then referred to my family background and said that I come from a family of pirates. Actually that is very true and I have never denied that fact. In fact, I have written about this so many times if you had been following my writings since back in the mid-1990s. I even set up a website, which you can see here: http://www.tun-uda.com/. Not only have I never denied that I am a descendant of pirates, I am in fact even proud of it, so proud of that fact that I even set up a website.

Yes, my family were pirates back in the old days around 400 or 500 years ago. But then ‘pirate’ is the reference made only in the context of today’s value system. Back in England, Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, etc., that is 400-500 years ago, piracy was a noble profession.

The government, in fact, licensed ‘pirates’ back then and they were called ‘privateers’ -- such as what governments do today: privatisation of certain services. And you had to be favoured by the government to be given the licence to become a privateer. People like Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake were even knighted by the Queen because of their tremendous success in attacking and plundering enemy ships (plus, of course, for sharing the ‘spoils of war’ with the government).

Today, many of the millionaires and nobility of Europe are descendants of privateers who, if measured by today’s value system, were nothing short of pirates.

But then such was the value system of those days. What was considered acceptable back in the old days may not be seen in that same light today. I mean, girls aged ten could get married even as late as 150 years ago, and even in countries like America. Do you know that America abolished slavery 150 years ago but they did not abolish the practice of ten-year-old girls getting married? Today, if you married a ten-year-old girl you will get sent to jail, as would you if you attacked and plundered ships on the high seas.

I have always said that the victors, not the vanquished, write the history books. Hence Raja Haji, the son of Daeng Chelak bin Daeng Rilaka (or sometimes called Rilaga) of Riau is called a pirate. But that is only because Raja Haji fought the Dutch in Malacca (now Melaka) and lost due to treachery.

Hence Raja Haji and not the Dutch is the pirate. But the Dutch also attacked the British ships in the Straits of Melaka that sailed from India to Hong Kong carrying opium. Is this not also piracy? All Raja Haji did was to attack the Dutch ships that attacked the British ships. But Raja Haji is the pirate while the Dutch are ‘good Christians’.

Okay that is what the western history books tell us: that Raja Haji was a pirate (and hence I am a descendant of a pirate). Now read what the Malay language history books have to say about Raja Haji:

Raja Haji Fisabilillah ibni Daeng Celak (1727 - 18 Jun 1784) atau lebih dikenali sebagai Raja Haji adalah seorang pahlawan Bugis dan Yang Dipertuan Muda Kesultanan Johor-Riau-Lingga (1777 - 1784). Dilahirkan di Ulusungai, Riau, Raja Haji meninggal dunia di Teluk Ketapang, Melaka, dan dimakamkan di Pulau Penyengat Indera Sakti, Kepulauan Riau, Indonesia.

Now, note the following key words: Fisabilillah and pahlawan. Do you know what these two words mean? The first word means ‘to fight in the way of Allah’ and the second word means ‘patriot’. In short, according to the Malay version of history, Raja Haji is a Mujahideen warrior and died a mujahid (martyr). There is no mention oflanun (pirate) in that version of history.

I suppose this is how the Chinese would look at Chin Peng compared to how the British look at him. Does that now begin to make sense?

Now, Daeng Chelak, the father of Raja Haji, also had another son called Raja Lumu. And Raja Lumu became the First Sultan of Selangor in 1742 and he took on the name of Sultan Sallehuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Daeng Chelak.

Selangor, at that time, was a territory of Perak. And it was the Sultan of Perak who crowned Raja Lumu as the Sultan of Selangor. The ceremony was conducted in Lumut. Hence Raja Lumu did not invade Selangor and illegally occupy the state, as you are trying to imply, Simon. He was legally crowned as the Sultan of Selangor by the ruling house of Perak -- that was in existence for more than 200 years and came into existence soon after the Portuguese invaded Malacca in 1511.

In case you have forgotten your history, Simon, the Portuguese invaded Malacca in 1511 and sacked Sultan Mahmud Shah, who then retreated to Kampar in Sumatra. One of his sons, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Shah, became the Sultan of Johor, while the other son, Sultan Muzaffar Shah I ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Shah, became the First Sultan of Perak.

Hence, Raja Lumu, a.k.a Sultan Sallehuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Daeng Chelak, was crowned the First Sultan of Selangor by the legitimate heir of Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca -- a Sultanate which was founded in 1400, and which originated from the Srivijayan Empire of the 600s, which was around the time of the birth of Prophet Muhammad 1,400 years or so ago.

So you see, Simon, I can trace my roots in great detail up to about the year 600 or so (and if I really wanted to I could even trace it to earlier times). And I know who my ancestors are. And, yes, some of them were pirates or privateers or mujahideens or pahlawan -- depending on which side of history you stand. However, can you trace your ancestry?

Simon, I do not know whether you are Malay, Chinese, Indian, or one of the natives of East Malaysia, because you have not revealed your true identity. But I bet you do not know where you came from. Hence to insult my ancestors the way you have could actually backfire on you. Could you, in fact, be a descendant of one of those ‘comfort women’ whom Yap Ah Loy brought in from China to work in his brothels in Ampang Road back in the late 1800s?

We will never know, will we?

Anyway, do keep in touch and do continue to post comments. I shall be most pleased to engage you in further discourse if you feel there are more issues we need to thrash out. In the meantime, keep safe and stay healthy. Oh, and do try to lose some of that hate because hate is not too good for the state of your mental health.