The Negri Sembilan crisis reminds me of the wolves vs sheep parable, except I can't decide who are the sheep and who are the wolves. Or who the shepherd is. But for sure there are many wolves in sheep's clothing there.
What started as a palace affair, where the state's 4 powerful Undangs did the previously unthinkable, which was to sack the Yang diPertuan Besar, who is the equivalent to a Sultan or Raja, the crisis spread quickly like wildfire, threatening to engulf the two political parties that make up the state government, namely Umno and PKR, the very same parties that make up the Madani government government led by prime minister Anwar Ibrahim (PKR president) and deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Umno president).
On social media, followers of the two parties fought it out, accusing each other of treachery and worse. In the olden days, there surely would have been bloodbath and civil war and disunity. In fact, the history of our sultanates was like that and that was how, partly, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British easily colonized us for 500 years. That's what I remember from my History lessons in school, anyway.
Good thing we are now a bit more civilized. And thank god Fahmi Fadzil issued the statement calling for both PKR and Umno to sober up. Because everyone else was either trying to feed more fuel to the fire.
The most important lesson we can learn, in my humble opinion, is that there are times when the government needs to interfere or intervene. In some cases, the PMX itself must weigh in.
Issues involving the royalty is one of them, especially when they threaten to jeopardize the people's well-being.
Yes, as a citizen and a voter, I am profoundly disturbed by the events at Seri Menanti involving the sacking of the Yamtuan Besar. I was particularly fed up with the politicians who, instead of working together to provide a solution, which would have been easily done, decided to add to the problem. In fact, they were actually working towards dismantling the existing government in the state so that they can, perhaps, rule.
Yes, I am talking about Umno Negri Sembilan's decision to resign en masse out of their loss of confidence in the Menteri Besar, who happens to be from PKR, who had decided to support the Yamtuan against the sacking by the 4 powerful Undangs.
Why couldn't they (Umno NS) sit down and talk to the Menteri Besar and their PKR partners in the state government? Together they could easily help resolve the Undangs vs Yamtuan fight, right?
The message young people like me are getting is that those guys are full of themselves. All the talk about custom is crap. They are merely using royal sentiments for politics
We need a new 21st century custom, one that puts the Rakyat above everything else. You see, we the Rakyat are fine with the ruling elites, namely the politicians and the royalty, enjoying their perks BUT not at the expense of the Rakyat.
The Rakyat voted in the state and federal representatives to govern for a full term. So respect the mandate and govern.
This mandate, I believe, includes making sure that our complex and sometimes problematic royalty structures do not come in the way of the Rakyat's welfare. Malaysians have had run-ins with the palace before. The Rulers are human just like you and me, they are not exempt from deaths or taxes, just like us hardworking citizens. No one is above the law. We even have a special court to try any member. of royalty involved in wrongdoing and criminal offence.
It's all in place to ensure everyone, the people and not just the kings, have a place under the Malaysian sun. We just need the politicians to stop being too full of themselves, banish the wolves among them, and for our dear PM to act like the shepherd whose duty is to protect the flock against the wolves.
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