The son of hockey coach Douglas Gomez, who was reportedly assaulted by then Johor ruler Sultan Iskandar in 1992, described the period as when the people of Malaysia rose to defend his late father.
"I still remember, in the midst of the struggle between two giants, the common rakyat was the one who stood up and brightened the way," Brian wrote in a Facebook post last night.
This comes after Sultan Iskandar's grandson, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, recalled the 1992 constitutional crisis and reminded the government not to repeat such greed-driven episodes.
The prince said he remembers how his family was treated by federal government officers, including his mother being stopped by the Malaysian customs upon entering Johor from Singapore.
"She was told to step out of the car because they wanted to inspect everything in the car. I still remember everything and I still remember the individuals responsible for it," he said yesterday, also in a Facebook post.
Brian, in his posting, said he still remembers when his father came home from the palace with a black eye.
"I still remember his story about what happened in the palace and to whom the hand which caused the black eye belonged to," he said.
For months after that incident, he recalled that his father had become a pawn for those who were "elected to power and those who were born to power".
Brian said he remembers how the family received hundreds of letters of support from Malaysians from every layer of society.
"I still remember taxi drivers in Johor Bahru who, for years, refused to accept any taxi fees from my father," he added.
That was when he realised that the true power does not lie with the "powers that be", but that it lies in the human instinct that can differentiate between right and wrong.
"It exists in bravery, in self-confidence and the right of every individual to question the status quo.
"The real power belongs to the rakyat," he said.
In 1992, when the Malaysian Hockey Federation slapped Tunku Abdul Majid with a five-year ban for hitting the goalkeeper of the Perak hockey team after it defeated his Johor team, his late father, Sultan Iskandar, was enraged and apparently pressured the state education department to order school hockey teams in the state to boycott national tournaments.
This had upset Douglas, who criticised the education department and called for the resignation of key office bearers in the Johor Hockey Association, which incurred the wrath of the late ruler.
Following this, a special parliamentary session was held in December 1992 which saw the passing of a resolution to curb the powers of the rulers if necessary. -Mkini
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