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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Friday 13 June 2014

A Discourse on the Love of Our Country.



Assalamualaikum and Good Day.
Many of us are supporters of limited monarchy. Of that I want to be clear right from the start. Malays like me have cultural affinity with the monarchy. We can’t and it is impossible to abandon our culture. In the Malay culture, the Malay rulers are an intrinsic part. Cut it off, we are cutting part of us off too.
Many of us are very against absolute monarchy. We reject the idea of a rule by an absolute monarch which often naturally led to tyrannical rule. The idea of having power concentrated in the hands of one person and to his successors is abhorrent to the ideals of a free man.
The ideals of free men in a free society are grounded on the belief of his own responsibility for his own destiny. To the free man- the government and by extension, king is my protector is no longer valid. To the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them. He regards government as a means, an instrumentality, neither a grantor of favours and gifts, nor a master or god to be blindly worshipped and served.
In Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman echoed the ideals of the free man when he said; the free man will ask "What can I and my compatriots do through government" to help us discharge our individual responsibilities, to achieve our several goals and purposes, and above all, to protect our freedom? And he will accompany this question with another: How can we keep the government we create from becoming a Frankenstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to protect?
We secured our independence in 1957 as our affirmation and commitment to be freemen- free from the rule of despots and tyrants, free from a climate of fear and oppression. We wanted to be free from the feudal rule of olden days. Our founding fathers recognised that in order to progress, we had to abandon some of the old values, retained some and acquire new values. That was why we chose limited monarchy and we retained the monarchical institution as celebration of our cultural affinity.
To the Malays especially, they need to pay attention to the message left by one of the foremost Malay thinkers of the last century- Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad or Pendita Zaaba. The Malays, according to Zaaba inherited many of debilitating traits that made them lag behind in the race in life because for centuries before the coming of the British, they were subjected to the harsh and oppressive rule of feudal rulers. The Malays need to free themselves from the mental bondage of being attracted to old feudalism.
Freedom is a rare and delicate plant. Our minds tell us, and history confirms that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power. Government is necessary to preserve our freedom, it is an instrument through which we can exercise our freedom; yet by concentrating power in political hands and in the hands of a single person, it is also a threat to freedom. Even though the men who wield this power initially be of-good will and even though they be not corrupted by the power they exercise, the power will both attract and form men of a different stamp.
How can we avoid the threat to freedom?
First, the scope of government, authority, rulers must be limited. Those in authority, who has the monopoly on legitimate coercive forces- their main function must be to protect our freedom both from the enemies outside our gates and from our fellow-citizens: to preserve law and order, to enforce private contracts, to foster competitive markets. Beyond this major function, government may enable us at times to accomplish jointly what we would find it more difficult or expensive to accomplish severally.
We must however hold those in authority in balance and check  by intentionally creating and being in the opposite forces that watches the excesses of those in legitimate authority. We should create and be part of a formidable countervailing movement be it in the form of private sector consisting of the business and corporate sector or political parties, or non-government associations or other social organizations who constitute a check on the powers of the governmental sector and an effective protection of freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought.
The state of Johor has dealt a blow against the ideals of the free man. The Housing and Real Property Bill tabled by the Johor government is at the same time revolutionary. At the moment, because of political convenience and expedience, UMNO and the Malays appear to support the return of an absolute monarchy in a stylised form (the bill). They think, they can bank on the monarchy to protect the Malays. If they think so, then it is an indictment on UMNO for failing to protect Malays so that it now needs another device to do the job.
It means to me, that in future it is possible for the Malays to carry out an uprising and recall their support to an absolute monarchy. It works both ways. Now, we support and if accepted, the arrangement is underlined with the implication- next time we can recall that support and perhaps even transform the monarchy into something less than it is today.
That should be a clear indication as to where we stand on the question of allegiance to the King.
We want the institution to exist, but we love this country and want nothing to do with the humiliation, oppression and repression which an absolute monarchy promises and represents. We are certainly not going back to the Malacca Sultanate. We are not having the absolute monarchy smothering our best democratic impulses. Let me be blunter, we don’t want to be subjects of tyrants.
Throughout history, we have seen that fawning before royalty produced "idolatry as gross and stupid as that of the ancient heathens.

23 comments:

the mean machine,  13 June 2014 at 07:31  

The Johore royal household have a tendency of breaking the laws.Murder,rapes and beating up of innocent people.

And now going into big time business.What the heck is going on.Isn't their month allowances worth a king's ransom enough to satisfy their egos.

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 08:45  

Right on Dato'...in the UK the people are quite free to comment on the Queen and its household . This is even done in Parliamentary debates where MPs has been known to question the royal spendings. Try doing this in Bolehland...

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 09:07  

I keep hearing/reading that the Malays need to be protected. From what actually? Isn't this mindset that holds the community back?

Unknown 13 June 2014 at 10:15  

Walaikkum Sallam Dato,

Was the Malayan Union NOT a political ploy mooted by the British in chaoot with the UMNO Elites to usurp the powers of the Monarchy and to setup UMNO as a new class of Elites in the new Federation of Malaya? The irony is that the Elites made use of the Palace in Johor for a hostile takeover of UMNO, today it comes full cycle.
Then Was it NOT the Emergency Proclamation made right after 13th May - that seal the fate of the monarchies to the whim and fancies of UMNO's Elites? such that the Sultans cannot move without the approval from the UMNO Elites to be specific the Federal Cabinet?
Was it NOT Mahathir that made use of these new found power and abuse it to support the power of the UMNO Elites to govern? that The Monarch of the State is the Monarch of the State - you can call them absolute Monarch or Constitutional Monarch. Their power over the mass of people remain the same.
The lifting of the Emergency Proclamation by Najib 2011 - finally release the Monarchs from control by the UMNO Elites.
There must be check and balance of power in this country to avoid the center from holding too much power. We have seen the effect and we have seen the consequence of too much power at the center. We did not bargain for a Unitary State when we agree to build this great nation.
Therefore Dato' there should exist another layer of power that will put a check on the rampant and blatant abuse of power at the
centre today.

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 10:35  

Dato,

Thanks for this mind-teasing article!

‘Malays like me have cultural affinity with the monarchy. We can’t and it is impossible to abandon our culture. In the Malay culture, the Malay rulers are an intrinsic part. Cut it off, we are cutting part of us off too.’

Many cultures all over the world share such cultural affinity over their royalty. Many cultures evolve such a government due to the land ownership system of an agrarian system. Such concept can be seen as an integral part of a medieval culture. The upper class elites love it while the lowly peasants hate it.

However, over time, this ‘love-hate affair’ has been altered by the changing attitude of an individual’s power to lord over other, purely due to hereditarily consideration. The rise of industrialization limits the dependency on land. Widespread education helps too in propagating the idea to disperse the mis-conception of ‘heavenly mandate’.

Thus, ‘The ideals of free men in a free society are grounded on the belief of his own responsibility for his own destiny. To the free man- the government and by extension, king is my protector is no longer valid. To the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them. He regards government as a means, an instrumentality, neither a grantor of favours and gifts, nor a master or god to be blindly worshipped and served.’

Many cultures have since disbanded with this royalty concept, as it goes again the universal equality of ALL human, san what yr ancestors had done to ‘deserve’ their ‘mandate’.

So when r the Malays going to cut off these historical appendices that the average Malay is still served as a feudal sycophant? One is more than tolerable, but nine?

‘Our founding fathers recognised that in order to progress, we had to abandon some of the old values, retained some and acquire new values.’ When it comes to the crunch, even non-behaving constitutional monarch should go.

To quote utusan – ‘..zaman sudah berubah’. The long held meme of ‘..the Sultans do represent the Malay race, the Malay culture and the Malay identity. No Raja Melayu, then the identiti Melayu will also be dented.’ belongs to the history’s garbage bin.

Other cultures have done it, so would the Malay (constitutionalised or not) in the march of change!

This is also in absolute agreement with what Pendita Zaaba’s claim of ‘many of debilitating traits that made them lag behind in the race in life because for centuries before the coming of the British, they were subjected to the harsh and oppressive rule of feudal rulers. The Malays need to free themselves from the mental bondage of being attracted to old feudalism.’

Bravo!! Dato.

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 11:27  

Dato,Power corrupts and absolutely power corrupts absolutely.This is very true indeed in this world.just look at North Korea, a Kim Dynesty,see old Phillipines of Marco and family and many third world countries including Malaysia.for lat 56 years,Malaysia voters had given absolutely power to BN.Malaysia debt is on 55% marks of RM600 Billions.How to pay back the Cpital let alone yearly interest ?

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 11:56  

Well, whatever you may say, the real stuff about the monarchy are said in whispers.Not that the people are disrespectful but because of the behaviour of the monarchs themselves.
One of them lost millions in a casino, another killed someone, another goes for wine, women and song, another makes money in the billions, another interferes in the running of the government, another takes over government assets, another buys fancy number plates for millions of ringgit.
But they are the head of religion. Should they behave as such? Simple, humble and moral lives.
Perhaps they could learn from Nik Aziz.

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 15:33  

Dear Datuk Sak,
I just do not understand why in this present day, the malays are still very much in feudalistic mindsets and treats the Royalties and even VIPs as demi gods srnt by heaven to protect and guide the people. If our country want to advance, we need to follow nations like China, Japan and many Europeans where the Monarchs are simply abolished or to be placed as symbolic status and not intervened in the running of the government. Only then can the people, especially the malays, can progress and be free from such mental bondage

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 15:57  

Assalamualaikum dato sak,
Please propose a bill in parliment for citizen right to bear arms..its time that citizen to protect themselves

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 18:14  

Well said, Sir.

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 20:46  

13 June 2014 15:57

Do you not know the tangent of extreme risks it will lead us to?

Had the PDRM and the ATM been most stringent, swift, capable, and independent, there is no need for the implementation of the hudud law in Malaysia. Plugging the loopholes, but UMNO Baru are nursing these failures. So why keep voting for a failed system of governance of going after the murderers and criminals are on the loose.

PAS should instead sit down with PK and the many outstanding honest lawyers to brainstorm better ways than hudud law in handling crimes. Weaken the " anu " by progressive injections or have it castrated when found guilty. Hudud law is the trump card for UMNO Baru- BN regime to stay in power and continue the corrupt system of governance. Habis cerita.

Do you think that Malaysians are daft, not to realise what are the implication of importing and selling weapons ? Importing the failed American system ?

Legalising the purchase and sale of weapons ( easy way of hitting the multi billion bucks, a potential agent ? ). And the easiest target of mass murder ?!!! of innocent citizens across the board.

Already what is the credibility of the PDRM, Zahid Hamidi, the cabinet ministers and some abusive loya pootras - pootris. Our men and women in blue are improving but each time their supreme leaders utter garbage, squint their eyes in mafiasm and flash their threats, they become a liability to the PDRM's " slow but improved image of serving the public ".

What about the loss of lives of our security personnel, police and soldiers? The enemies were unarmed ?? Weapon purchase controlled stringently ? Yet the massive money is not used to address the roots of the social problems and create a better social system of part - time employment for abled people.

Hence is it a crime to be destitute that they are to be incarcerated ? The consequences of their bad actions, yes, it is a crime. In order for Malaysia to be perceived beautiful and well managed outwardly, to foreign officials, investors and tourists ?? But inside, haprak.

How credible have the government social welfare organisations perform ? Ask the zakat payers lah and the victims themselves. Rope in the NGOs who have rehabilitate and retrain destitutes successfully for decades and pay the big allocation.

Figure it out about the superiority of weapons and the easy availability, in the hands of abusers and potential criminals, humanised by a corrupt system of whatever.

What about the many psychotics on the loose ? Using our most sophisticated satellite images to trace their whereabouts ?? Back track, don't the impending effects from Malaysia's and its escalating household debts scare the hell out of us ? So where is the budget ?

American citizens are damned enraged by the loss of innocent lives and the feet dragging of their political leaders in addressing this most critical national issue of theirs. It will cost some ministers to be booted out in their next election.

YYS,  13 June 2014 at 22:56  

Ok, agreed with the sickening fawning and saluting of royalties. But have you also noticed the phenomenon of YB culture? Everytime I attend a function where some adun or MP is invited, I get sick watching the crowd sureg forward shouting YB! YB! I used to think. bugger me, if I ever do that!

Look at those sycophantic creatures when they see LGE, wah! Its like they saw god! Its no wonder, sometimes I begin to think there is some truth to the rumours that the reps in PR are getting swollen headed.
Tony Pua once said to my face - don't expect me to go round shaking hands in DU kopitiams, I am not that sort of MP. Great! Ok so you are Oxbridge? Ok. But those were the people who just elected you, don'tyou at least have the bloody decency to go round thanking them?You can go on the stump when you want their voyes, but dump them when you are elected? Assinine behaviour.
So tyrannical and dumb behaviour is not exclusive to royals. It also afflicts our elected reps from both sides of the divide.

Anonymous,  13 June 2014 at 22:56  

To every action, there is reaction, and the recent debacle of the Housing Bill in Johore leads to accelerated loss of respect and confidence with the Menteri Besar and his state govt for trying to push through a bill which in its original state was so obviously imbalanced. Have they forgotten who elected them? The people will not forget so easily even though the bill has been watered down, Pandora's box has been opened and all kinds of past unsavoury events will be brought up. Malaysia has a constitutional monarchy, not an absolute monarchy. The Malaysian peoples of different races, faiths, political beliefs came together united in their opposition to the Bill in particular and to any threat to their democratic freedom. Let this be a wake up call to anyone who dares to threaten this.

Umeno's worse nightmare.,  14 June 2014 at 00:32  

Umno must bring the state rulers back into the picture.They have to forced and indoctrined the believes into the heads of Malays that they must respect the Malay rulers at all times.

Umno is slowly and definitely losing the support of the young Malays.So Umno have to get the rulers back into the political games so that they can get the Malays back into their corner.

bruno 14 June 2014 at 00:59  

Hannah Yeoh shows Umno Selangor who is the boss when it comes down to the game of poker.

Umno Selangor knows that the DAP is 100% against hudud.So when they sent in the motion of hudud for debate,they for sure know that the speaker would reject their motion outright.What they did not know is that the speaker is a much smarter poker player than them.

These stupid political fools think that the lady speaker would play chicken and they can make fun of her after she has rejected their motion.They of course were shocked when Hannah Yeoh allowed their motion of hudud.

So when these political fools knew that they have their balls wedged between the legs of a sawhorse,they like what all cowards do,raised the white flags and head for the hills.Do these fools need their grandmothers to teach them how to suck balls?

bruno 14 June 2014 at 01:54  

Hudud is a hot political potato.Even among Malays.Umno knows it.Do PAS know it?

If PAS is smart politically,they should kick the hudud ball into the Umno's court.Whichever party ends up holding the hudud ball will felt the effects when the hot political potato's timebomb goes off.

Anonymous,  14 June 2014 at 08:11  

The younger generation are making up the Malaysian numbers in elections, and they already question why they have to be hypocrites and fawn over or kiss the hands whenever any bigshot from whatever stratosphere is around.

Anonymous,  14 June 2014 at 10:37  

Malay have been beholden to the so called royal aristocratic blue blood since the ancient time. Today that has been replaced by the the new class of aristocrat and oligarch created by UMNO Baru bearing all sorts of titles.

Anonymous,  14 June 2014 at 13:09  

Sak, this will set precedence to other states. Let's see how UMNONGOK react to these deliema. Senang saja jawapan nya. Pergi jumpa Al kutty kerana dia pakar dalam soal membalun raja2 ni. I bet Al kutty will have the answer. Nak harap Ah jibby , simply impossible. Al jibby akan berkata it is ok yang tidak bertitik. Salam

Anonymous,  14 June 2014 at 13:53  

Decades of bad leadership and toxic and destructive politics had destroyed the country.

bruno 14 June 2014 at 21:12  

Much as I support Khalid and wants him to remain MB,he is really getting to be a big dissapointment.His latest instructions to the Jais to return the bibles going unheeded even after the AG has ruled in the church's favor.He is getting to be like a helpless primadonna.

If Khalid wants to serve his full term then he better buck up.Or get the hell out or else he will be chase out soon.Maybe he should learn a trick or two from the feisty Hannah Yeoh.It is time he deals the cards and go for broke.

Anonymous,  14 June 2014 at 21:46  

al kutty is another disguise of the said tyrants. As said before, to be relevant, the educated subjects will only respect royalty who earn their keep. They will not go "samba" about their good looks which is not an asset but a liability of high maintenance, using Rakyat's taxes whilst the young elites being "awarded" by pingat terhebat this that looks like they welcome the double-edged sword during their royals' birthdays' celebrations. Expected super scale extravagance ! Envious (?) No.. never, otherwise life in exclusive enclaves is too luxurious that ones might not lead a reflective life and dream to be with the Creator in eternity in heaven.

Drifting to the next line of thought, the common subjects and civil servants are subjected to stifling protocol and incessant commands, beck and call. How are they to carry out responsibilities in serving the people first ?

There's one royalty - former - who even started a protocol school " chocking the naiveté - similar to the selected type who had asked President Barack Obama cosmetic questions akin to primary school kids'.

The exorbitantly high cost of reconstructing a new palace and their maintenance and celebration of special occasions is another issue.

Hence Sultan Nazrin and our good Sultan Selangor deserve our great kasih and respect because they first control their expenditures and extravagance, they do away with suffocating protocol, they menunjuk kasih serta prihatin kpd rakyat biasa yg terdiri dpd berbilang kaum. PAKATAN MB TS Khalid did an excellent job by informing the Sultan the actual financial state of Selangorians. Dulu BN toyo punya time, kaki kuat bodek, semua super mega semasa menyambut hari keputeraan Sultan Selangor 2014.

Both Sultans without the circus entourage, but only with minimal and necessary aides, would go on field trips to witness how the commoners of all races struggle to eke out a living, then assist them in their capacity as Sultans prihatin and pengasih dan adil saksama. Then only they are relevant with time and high expectations by the working Rakyat, majority of whom are aware with progressive knowledge. And the subjects will continue to honor Sultans as merited.

Nonetheless, they both could do better by commanding crimes to be reduced to near zero with urgency, and any form of hatred and prejudice will be dealt with stringently as accountable to a just and compassionate Almighty God to all. And things are listened with the ears and hearts and seen to be improved tremendously, executed right in the spirit of wisdom, harmony and peace for all Malaysians.

Instead the Sultans will command that every positive vibe, voluntary social responsibilities and harmony are inspiring and will be enhanced, pursued vigorously and collectively as a society for the betterment of the respective states and the nation.

Every monetary gift by this that tan sris, dato seris, datos mak datins, might want to be channelled to deserving voluntary organisations ( less known ones ) of the respective Sultans'choice.

It is one of my many burning hopes, jauh dari perantauan for Malaysia, that is the two children of Sultan Nazrin will be so well brought up like their father and mother and their late grandfather and living grandmother, maybe one become a world renowned cardiologist ( the first ), yet humble and the other child, will become a distinguished competent, just AG of Malaysia Baru - just right in memory of the many untiring fighters and awesome bloggers here and across the board for a better Malaysia, just right for my gen and our future gens !!

Unknown 15 June 2014 at 13:14  

actually the malay are afraid of their own shadow and their own wrong doing and they put the blame on others. the indian had removed their royalty long time ago. So are the chinese and the indonesian because they were more of a burden to the country ... did the chineses, the indians, the indons beame extinct in doing so...???p0o

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