The Ruler and His Subjects are always together.
This, according to our sycophantic Information, Communications and Culture Minister, is the theme for the installation of our new king. You can read all that Rais had to say HERE.
Most of his ramblings got me bored.
Three things he said, though, got my attention.
First, and most importantly, in my view, he reminded us that Tuanku’s first term as Yang DiPertuan Agong was between 1970 and 1975.
Before I say why this is so important, let me touch on the second and third matters by quoting Rais verbatim.
“His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is ruling based on the concept of Constitutional Monarchy, a King who has to listen to the advice of the Cabinet or its representative (normally the Prime Minister) as provided for under Article 40 of the Federal Constitution”.
and
“… the theme stresses the notion that “there will be no King without his people” and that the relations between the two entities should be carefully safeguarded in that the people’s interest should not be neglected and at the same time, the Constitutional Monarchy institution should be upheld and respected”.
That the King must heed the advice of the cabinet or the PM is founded on the premise that the latter are the elected representatives of the people who must, themselves, have their finger on the pulse of the nation and the welfare of its people in their hearts.
It behoves a king, then, who will have his people love him, that he, too shall love them and at all times place their well-being over his own.
And as his loyal subjects loudly proclaim “Long live the King”, His Majesty must loudly return “Long live my people, and well, too”.
Not just in word, but in deed.
Anything less, and he will have shown himself unfit for the regal stature that the people afford him.
Yes, Rais reminds us that His Majesty served as king between 1970 and 1975.
His Majesty will then remember May 13, 1969.
He will remember, too, the foundation for nation-building laid out in the Rukunegara during his term.
His Majesty must remember all too vividly the launch of the New Economic Policy in 1973 to eradicate poverty, then at a high 50% of the population, without discrimination on grounds of ethnicity.
And His Majesty will surely recall the creation of Petronas in 1974 to mark our nation’s entry into the international oil and gas industry.
His Majesty then had occasion to live in the palace of old.
Now, as he is driven to the spanking new palace paid for by the people and approved by the Cabinet that is supposed have the best interests of the people at heart and to advice him accordingly , he may, perchance, pass squatter areas in the city that may well remind him of the many dilapidated homes of the people in his own home state.
Might this move our king, much in love with his people, to summon the prime minister and demand to know why this monstrosity was built when a great many of his people live in putrid squalor?
It may interest His Majesty to know that after more than 35 years of oil and gas production and almost 2 to 3 trillion ringgit therefrom into federal coffers, the objectives of the NEP have not been met. Instead, near 50% of a much increased population continue to live in abject poverty, whilst much of the national wealth has found its way into the vaults of an elite few.
Might this move our king, much in love with his people, to summon the prime minister and demand the wealth be returned to his people?
In the coming days, weeks, and months, if His Majesty cares to himself place his own finger on the pulse of the nation, he will increasingly sense a majority in parliament serving, not the people, but the dictates of a few elites in a cabinet of ministers that has never given any thought for his people.
In a matter of days, his people will step forward to again say “Save Malaysia Stop Lynas”.
The day after, his beloved university students will call on many others to join them in saying“MANSUHKAN PTPTN” and demanding that tertiary education should not leave our young debt-laden when this nation has been blessed with wealth in abundance.
And on the 28th of this month, in what may turn out to be the mother of all rallies this nation has witnessed thus far, 100s of thousands of His Majesty’s people will “DUDUK BANTAH BERSIH 3.0″ to send a message to the cabinet that advices His Majesty that they will no longer countenance a fraudulent electoral process.
As His Majesty hears and sees his people in the coming days, weeks and months, he would do well to remember the little wisdom in Rais’s words.
There will be no King without his people.
- The People's Parliament
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