In his public spat with the Johor royal household, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad opened the floodgates and unleashed our outpouring of contempt. In Malaysia, people have suffered in silence, for decades, fearful of investigation under the Sedition Act 1948.
Zaid Ibrahim, the former de facto law minister, was being disingenuous when he pannedPutrajaya, in particular Mahathir, for criticising the royals; but does Zaid recall the incident two years ago when the Selangor sultan took issue with his tweet that the ruler should be careful with his words and that everyone would be affected if "the country burns"?
Zaid had responded to an interview in December 2017, when the sultan warned about the deliberate use of race, religion and other sensitive issues to fish for votes in the general election, as this would destroy the country.
The former minister refused to apologise (why should he?), but the sultan was furious and called Zaid "biadap" (uncouth) before warning him: "He lives in Selangor, but he can go back to Kelantan if he does not agree, build a big house and help the Kelantan people. Do not look for sustenance in Selangor.
"My advice to Zaid is simple, do not forget where you come from."
Didn't Zaid once say that Malaysians should not live in a climate of fear?
Zaid also criticised Pakatan Harapan and said, "When Najib was having a free run on 1MDB, his ministers kept mum. Harapan then poked fun at them for their silence.
“Now the PM is having a free run at the Johor sultanate, and his ministers are no different. Pot calling the kettle black! Sad.”
Really, Zaid? Have you forgotten that the Sedition Act hangs over us?
Moreover, the 1MDB scandal was an issue which affects the nation. Members of the previous government, led by disgraced Najib Abdul Razak, were allegedly stealing the rakyat's money. They ignored the rule of law.
The recent Mahathir-Johor spat escalated when the Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said that Mahathir should be replaced. As Mahathir pointed out, only the rakyat can do that, but as we all know, a ruler is there for life.
It is best to allow Mahathir to deal with the royals. If his ministers were to join in, the Umno-Baru, PAS and ketuanan Melayu thugs, waiting on the sidelines, would say: "See what we told you? Mahathir is a puppet of the DAP. His ministers seek to destroy the Malays. Islam needs protecting. They want to get rid of the sultans. The Malays will become extinct", and so it goes on.
Political minefield
Perhaps, the Sedition Act is one reason for Zaid not directing his salvo at the Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, and attacking Mahathir, instead.
Any royal who strays into political territory should be mindful of their role as constitutional monarchs, and either remain silent or enter the political minefield as a proper and legitimate candidate.
If not for Mahathir's spat, we would not have known about the royal land grabs, or the deals which Najib allegedly made with China to inflate the cost of the rail project, and probably other projects, too.
If truth be told, the land grabs are not exclusive to Johor. Ask around.
It is not just land grabs, or sand mining, or the alleged sale of titles to unscrupulous businesspeople, who proceed to abuse their positions; but it is also business opportunities. Ordinary businesspeople struggle with business taxes, but there are allegations that some have to pay royal commissions. You help me, I help you.
Others allege that if a council rejects the proposal of a businessperson to build or demolish a building, that person will use his royal connections to overturn the ban, and lo and behold, the corrupt businessperson finds that the council will approve his work. So when Zaid said that the royals have no power and cannot interfere, he is misguided.
Zaid also dismissed the claim that royals were interfering with the work of the executive, saying they did not have powers to control government agencies like the police or military. He said, “How can people with no power interfere?”
If that were true, why has the assault, kidnap and unlawful detention of Tuanku Nadzimuddin Tunku Mudzaffar from Negeri Sembilan by the private army of a Johor prince not been resolved?
Why could the rakyat only watch in disbelief, unable to act, when the former Kelantan sultan was surrounded by armed guards on his way to the airport?
Why did some men lay down on the road, in front of the car carrying the then regent, who was on his way to the palace in Kuala Kangsar, to install former Umno-Baru MB, Zambry Abdul Kadir?
Teargas was lobbed into the mosque, where many people had taken shelter. This was certainly a threat to Islam. Sadly, Najib had corrupted many with his “cash is king diplomacy” in the Perak coup of 2009.
There are other allegations, which are best reserved for another day.
The 4Rs, in its simplest form, is this:
Race: You are born with this.
Religion: A choice you make, but perhaps not for the Malays in Malaysia.
Royalty: A quirk of birth, but are illegitimate babies denied the title, like the Welshmanwho allegedly has a royal father?
Rakyat: The people of a nation.
Some people tend to forget without the support and respect of the fourth ‘R’ to give it meaning and credence, the third ‘R’ will cease to be pertinent.
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