Expect more royal reprimands after Agong Sultan Ibrahim’s maiden visit to Singapore Parliament

 

THAT His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim King of Malaysia is the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) to attend the Parliament of a neighbouring country – in this case Singapore – is something that is worth watching closely.

By convention, the Agong’s duty is confined to only delivering a royal address at the opening of a parliamentary session. This will then be followed by a motion of thanks and a series of debates on the King’s speech.

Apart from that, we know that our constitution places the rulers above politics. However, Sultan Ibrahim’s visit to Singapore’s Parliament does not necessarily mean he has a keen interest in politics but more so, the conduct of it.

Rather than meddling into the politics of the day, we can expect Sultan Ibrahim to take interest in steering the way the country’s politicians behave themselves – first in the Parliament and next, outside the Parliament.

His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim King of Malaysia (sixth from left) during his visit to the Singapore Parliament recently

It’s time, Tuanku!

In his royal address at the opening of the First Meeting of the Third Session of the 15th Parliament on Feb 26 this year, Sultan Ibrahim had warned that he wanted to see order in the way the Malaysian parliament is conducted.

The parliament is the platform for the people’s elected representatives to bring to the table quality debates which allow the government and the Opposition to pick on each other’s brain.

To date, the Malaysian parliament is very much a circus affair where frogs trill, chirp, scream, bark, grunt, peep, beep, cluck, croak, quack, whistle, bellow and hoot while the primates screech, scream and squawk.

Only a few lawmakers are trying to make sense in what they are speaking yet – often than not – they are being disrupted by their opponents. It is embarrassing just to show our children how adults conduct themselves in the Malaysian Parliament.

It is timely that the Agong will be leading the reforms in our Malaysian Parliament as “lawless” lawmakers are making a laughing stock of themselves in the circus arena. This picturesque attracted even the attention of the Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah who bought a painting featuring frogs and primates in the Parliament.

In his inaugural speech, Sultan Ibrahim had instructed the Dewan Rakyat speaker to take stern action, including a 14-day ban for any lawmaker who “goes overboard”, especially those who fan 3R (race, religion and royalty) sentiments.

In the past, MPs might think that they automatically become a hero in the eyes of the people after they are ‘banned’ or thrown out of parliament by the Dewan Rakyat speaker who is usually from the ruling party.

In the eyes of the Malaysian public, politicians should feel embarrassed being labelled as “scums” and a waste of public funds.

Perhaps, their salaries should be cut until it hurts! Otherwise, despite the rakyat having voiced out their disgust, there will still be no change in the way the lawmakers conduct themselves.

Everyone’s wish

It was everyone’s hope that after Sultsn Ibrahim’s augural speech this year, Malaysian MPs would behave themselves as adults by bringing to the table debates that are well-thought through in bringing the country forward.

His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim King of Malaysia delivering his royal address during the opening of the Third Session of the 15th Parliament on Feb 26 this year (Image credit: Bernama)

Parliamentary sessions should be a process of picking on each other’s brain instead of hurling insults or shouting foul language at each other. Demeaning words such as bocor (referring to women’s menstruation) and four-letter words should be avoided at all cost.

If lawmakers want to be known as Yang Berhomat (YB), they should take the debates seriously instead of treating it like a school classroom. There is a story told about the late Karpal Singh who is touted as the “Tiger of Jelutong” even till today.

Karpal, being Karpal had a tendency to flip his pencil whenever he stood up to speak at the Penang state assembly. At one point, the pencil landed right on the then chief minister, Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu following which Karpal was suspended.

The rakyat can rest assured that His Majesty’s visit to Singaporean parliament is to learn how the lawmakers in Singapore (as in the UK) are able to argue intelligently the issues that matter to the rakyat.

For that reason, we should eagerly wait for the next session in our Malaysian parliament to see if lawmakers from both sides of the divide will toe the line lest they risk a royal reprimand if they choose to ignore the King. – Focus Malaysia