The apology that was an insult

Instead of repairing the damage, Lim Guan Eng and Anwar Ibrahim have made it worse.

COMMENT

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has apologised on behalf of DAP for insulting the Sultan of Selangor. PKR’s de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, too, has apologised in the event the Sultan felt slighted by the insult.

However, Anwar insists that he did no wrong in submitting only one name for Menteri Besar instead of three names as commanded by the Sultan since, if we follow convention, this is what Umno also does.

In short, if Umno can do it, why can’t PKR also do it? What gives Umno special privilege to be able to submit only one name while PKR is denied that same privilege?

This is almost like being asked to apologise for calling someone stupid and instead of saying, “I am sorry I called you stupid,” you say, “I am sorry you are stupid.” Is that an apology or a further insult?

The Sultan has been slighted, and the custom is for you to have an audience with him and ask for forgiveness. You do not issue a press statement like Lim and Anwar have done. That is not proper adat and protocol.

Instead of repairing the damage, Lim and Anwar have made it worse. They have just given the Sultan a second slap. Now, even if they request an audience, the Sultan will turn them down.

I am not sure whether Lim and Anwar are really that ignorant of proper protocol or whether they purposely wanted to insult the Sultan a second time. Whatever it may be they seem to not only want to close the door but they want to lock it and throw away the key.

Good luck to DAP and PKR in their effort to replace Khalid Ibrahim as the Menteri Besar of Selangor. If you do not even know how to be civil with the Sultan, how are you going to move forward?

Roslan Bistamam is an FMT reader