Pearls & Gem : Perak Fiasco

Friends ,

Perhaps the 'raayats' are really expecting too much from the current Ruling House of Perak .Too much wisdom ,neutrality and sense of fair play beyond the realm of the present royal players ! Putting aside any public heresay and inuendoes related to probable Gamuda interest ,double tracking business etc etc and etc that was alledged to have skewed the decision process [ I do not believe this is so ] royalty in business is another issue ,perhaps not relevant here but public inuendoes will remain public inuendoes .That stigma will remain the problem of royal houses deeply involved in business ,especially involving big govermental tenders .

I have to agree with Ku Li though who justifiably feels that unless and only unless Datuk Sri Nizar get booted out in a full session of the Dewan Negeri ,he is still the de facto numero uno in Perak .

If anyone cannot appreciate this simple fact and decides to play politics [ which is really unnecessary ]he is doing it at his own peril ,royalty or otherwise .If he is Najib Tun Razak ,the PM incumbent ,he will be given a very tight slap in his next 'erection' .If he is the ruler ,the damage had already been seen ,by millions on the ubiquitous U-tube of his Malay subjects sprawled on the tarmac in front of Raja Nazrin's entourage .What more disrespect does the Perak royalty wants . A picture speaks better than a thousand word ! The 'raayats' are telling young Raja Nazrin and his father in a very public way that 'respect' and 'daulat' ,unlike days of old , must be earned .

At least in the old days the Sultan's prowess at keris-play and silat along with help from his 'hulubalangs' and bendaharas helped maintain the semblance of enforced respect and the intangible 'daulat' .The Sultans of present day Malaysian Constitutional Monarchy have none of these help except to reinvent themselves at least 'hypothetically' as the final 'saviours of the Malays' against perceived encroachments ,aggressiveness and adventurism of the perceived 'pendatangs' .Hypothetical only because in the real world if the Malays are not numerically in power tomorrow in parliament that whole concept of 'saviour'would just become a pure academic exercise .

How they reinvent themselves are beyond mortals like me to comment but when Malays are equally divided ,then perception of fairness ,neutrality and wisdom certainly play more dominant role in galvanizing a more positive and 'still relevant' perception of the monarch ,at least amongst present day Malays .The Malays on both side of the divide still love [ ..love perhaps is not the correct term ,'can still tolerate' would be a more appropriate expression ],their rulers ,fullstop and this is the beauty that need to be recognized ,which to my simple mind,at least , has been neglected in this present Perak Fiasco .

In 2009 and beyond the survival of the Malay Monarchy hangs in having a proper balance of inherent wisdom ,decorum ,political neutrality and having both ears and mind close to the heartbeats of the common 'raayats '.No one is going to escape scott's free in 2009 if he or she whacks a caddy to death with a golf putter anymore .This is the reality as real as some clowns in the ruling coalition now realised having to face their previous outright corruption ,nepotism and misdemeanour .If they cannot change please 'ship out' before the 'raayats' vote them out .Sadly most of them are still in a prolonged state of denial .

If I were to present a 'sembah ' this would be in essense what I have to say :

" Tuanku , in 2009 and beyond even the very compliant Malays amongst us have progressed that far and would not tolerate such nonsense anymore .This is 'sembah derhaka Tuanku' but a necessary evil for the survival of the Malay Monarchy ".

"As Tuanku can see the present dichotomy amongst the Malays [..and please do not expect Karpal Singh or Lim Kit Siang et al to be the strong supporter of the Malaysian Monarchy ] are in my humble estimation now equally 50:50 and thus only a very high sense of neutrality and apolitical position and shrewd wisdom exercised by Tuanku will keep the respect and the awe the 'raayats' still have for the monarchy .Even that is weaning thin .The younger generations of Malays Patik suspect do not give a hoot whether the monarchy is still around tomorrow and this further is not helped by their perception of very low respect of the present leadership in UMNO who seem to still think 'the rest of the world owe them a living ".

" Patik has been keeping Patik's ears and eyes on the groundswell and what Patik hear is not very complimentary , and Patik as a senior and responsible raayat is equally saddened and distraught about this state of affair .Patik hope the Malay Monarchy could last forever as long as the sun rises from the East and sets in the West .One should not underestimate the power of the raayat in this time and age .Recent event in Negeri Sembilan should be a lesson in humility for everyone and sundry .[ Patik was very sure the whole loads of Undangs have been 'bought' left right and centre by the incumbent royalties years prior to the untimely demise but lo and behold ,alhamdullillah , by the grace Of Allah truth and the proper 'adab' finally prevail .Who can expect that kind of surprise but 'Hanya Dia yang dapat membolakbalik kan hati' "

"The Morroccan sufis and simple folks put it succinctly in French:Cest Du Qui Direct ,meaning It is just human to plan ,Allah direct ".

"Daulat Tuanku" !

Dr Nik Howk