THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN

And did not Mao Tse Tung say, ‘political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’? Hence the British, in their wisdom, gave the power of the gun to the Rulers so that the position of the Rulers and everything that the Rulers are supposed to protect can remain protected.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tengku Indera Setia Selangor, Tengku Ahmad Shah, brother to His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor, on behalf of the royal household and the royal court, pledged loyalty to HRH (READ HERE). This, in fact, can be regarded as an oath.

In case some of you may not be aware, Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali is a member of the royal court. Hence Azmin is included in this pledge of loyalty. Anyway, Azmin has already given his separate and personal pledge of loyalty to HRH at the time he took his oath of office as Menteri Besar.

I, on the other hand, am a member of the royal household, although not in line to the throne. Hence my immediate family and I are included in that pledge of loyalty, unless I announce that I am distancing myself from that oath, which I do not.

So there you have it. The Selangor Palace stands united. And if either Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, dan orang-orang yang sewaktu dengannya, wishes to cross swords with the Sultan, HRH does not face this challenge alone. HRH has the backing and support of the entire royal household and royal court. And it is going to be a bloody fight indeed if you wish to start one.

Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy. However, Malaysia’s form of Constitutional Monarchy should not be confused with a rubber stamp monarchy or a monarchy that is a eunuch or has been castrated. Malaysia’s Rulers do have some powers and authority, in case many of you may not be aware.

Does this sound weird? Well, there are many things you need to know about Malaysia. If you think a Constitutional Monarchy where the Rulers still do have some authority and powers is weird, what about Malaysia’s Secular system where Islam is the religion of the Federation and where Islam dictates what you can and cannot do?

So you can stop quoting the UK or the US when you talk about Malaysia. Malaysia’s Constitutional Monarchy is not like that of the UK and Malaysia’s Secular State is not like that of the US. And to challenge Malaysia’s Constitutional Monarchy and Secular system because it does not follow the UK or US just shows how ignorant you are of the country called Malaysia that you live in.

Malaysia has a written Constitution (unlike the country that gave us this Constitution). And in this Constitution certain freedoms and rights are guaranteed. However, as I have pointed out many times over the last few years, these freedoms and rights are kept in check and can be cancelled by other Articles in the Constitution. Hence these freedoms and rights that the Constitution guarantees can be removed by that same Constitution.

In short, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

You have freedom of assembly but you need police permission to assemble and the police can say no. You have freedom of religion but no freedom to propagate your religion to Muslims or for Muslims to leave Islam. You have freedom of choice but you cannot choose to be gay. You have freedom of association but you cannot associate with the Communist Party of Malaysia.

And so on and so forth.

Can I sum it up by saying that you have freedom to do what I allow but not freedom to do what I don’t allow? Hence, as Lee Kuan Yew said (in referring to Singapore), Malaysians live in a guided democracy. The government guides you and decides what you can and cannot do and say.

So, Malaysia is a Secular State and yet is not. Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy and yet is not. You have freedom of speech, assembly and association in Malaysia and yet you do not. Malaysia is a democracy and yet is not. And the list goes on.

Oh, and every one is equal in Malaysia and yet are not: the Malays have special privileges, which cannot be disputed under the Sedition Act and cannot be removed even by Parliament without the UNANIMOUS consent of the Conference of Rulers (which comprise of ten Rulers, the Agong included).

That is right, unanimous consent, not just a simple majority or two-thirds majority. And this was a creation of the British Colonial masters who wanted to make sure that the special position of the Malays, Islam as the religion of the Federation, and Malay as the National Language, are protected once Malaya gained independence.

So the British created this ‘problem’, if you wish to refer to it as a problem. And that is ‘locked’ in the Constitution and which cannot be unlocked even if you control two-thirds of Parliament. And to ensure that no one tries to unlock it, the British created the Royal Malay Regiment and appointed the Rulers as Colonels-in-Chief of the various branches of the Armed Forces and the Agong as the Commander-in-Chief of the entire Armed Forces.

And did not Mao Tse Tung say, ‘political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’? Hence the British, in their wisdom, gave the power of the gun to the Rulers so that the position of the Rulers and everything that the Rulers are supposed to protect can remain protected.

This is the reality of the country called Malaysia that you live in. And if you believe the opposite or believe that through political power you can change that then you are more naïve than I thought. And the faster you accept this and move on the less heartache for everyone. Malaysia is Malaysia and is not a carbon copy of the UK or the US.