THE Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has made it clear that the palace will not get involved in political machinations.
Whether it is London Move or Dubai Move, the King will not entertain the Opposition. With this latest development, the brouhaha caused by Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) and several others has fallen flat.
This came across as good news for the economy and potential investors amid talks of attempt to topple the Madani government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PMX).
Malaysians, too, are relieved that, for the next five years when the new YDPA Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar is installed, he, too, is unlikely to see another change of government.
People are already fed up with the frequent talks about having another backdoor government since the Sheraton Move. If that is all the Opposition can come out with, they are not doing their job.
Since the YDPA has set the direction, perhaps, it is time for the police to follow suit. Their time would be better spent on going after the criminals, than to appease politicians who continue to fan the 3R (Race, Religion and Royalty) sentiments.
Politicians who continue to harp on the 3R should also stop playing these issues or face the music. The rakyat are only interested in seeing the country move forward. Any form of sabotages by even the civil servants will only backfire on themselves and whoever their political masters are.
The losers in the last general election should just accept that they cannot change the government mid-way; for now, they are better off if they work harder and show that they can be a better government than to “monkey” around in parliament.
They should be reminded by a poster which Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had purchased depicting a parliament full of cheeky primates and frogs.
Stop intimidating each other
With due respect to the Sultan’s decree, DAP leader Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham had apologised for his proposal to include a non-Muslim constitutional expert in the committee looking into the syariah laws to represent the views of non-Muslims and the issue should be deemed settled.
In a related development, however, Tasek Gelugor MP Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan instructed one of his aides to lodge a police report against Puchong MIC division chief Awtar Singh Sidhu.
This is understandable if Awtar has interfered into Muslim affairs but in a video which Awtar has taken down himself, he had not said anything that contravened Sultan Sharafuddin’s decree. Instead, he has only pleaded with Muslims to reciprocate by “staying out” of non-Muslim affairs as well.
Therefore, for a police report to be made against Awtar is frivolous. What Awtar merely said in his video clip was that any form of enforcement to remove Hindu or Buddhist temples should be done with due respect to the religious sensitivities of the people involved.
There was no hint that Awtar was challenging His Royal Highness’ decree; instead, Awtar was merely expressing his views as a non-Muslim, which anyone else would do the same.
By lodging a police report against Awtar, the Bersatu Bangi division chief risks being seen as riding on the palace for his political mileage and further intimidating non-Muslims whom Perikatan Nasional (PN) is still trying to woo their votes.
Need for mutual respect
What Awtar has said is simply common sense. Mutual respect is the essence of how Malaysians of various races and religions can live and work together in harmony.
What most non-Muslims who are faithful subjects of the Malay rulers like to see is that Muslims do not impose on non-Muslims their own values. This is the reason why Awtar sounded out about number forecast operator Magnum and dress code.
What most non-Muslims are unhappy with is the way how they are barred from entering government premises even when dressed decently.
In fact, there should not even be a distinction made between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. What is prohibited in Islam for a Muslim should not be imposed on non-Muslims as God made us differently.
As the saying goes, “One man’s meal is another man’s poison.” While most non-Muslims respect Muslims and would not offer pork to them, they should also understand that Hindus and Buddhists, for example, view beef as a taboo. A sensitive thing to do is to serve beef on a separate table out of respect for the Buddhists and Hindus.
The social fabrics in Malaysia has unfortunately been challenged by politicians who have turned this country upside down with their efforts to win votes based on racial and religious lines.
And in the process, a lot of police time is wasted on entertaining the numerous police reports being lodged against their political enemies.
Being “caught” in between, if they record a statement from Awtar, they know it may be a waste of their precious time but if they do not follow up on the police report lodged by the Perikatan Nasional (PN), they too can be accused of inaction by the Opposition.
If it is not uncommon for the police to classify certain police reports as “No Further Actions” (NFA), there is no reason why Awtar should even be called in to give his statement. The police should take their cue from the YDPA. – Jan 12, 2024
