YEARS ago, when I was a member of the National Unity Advisory Panel, I told the minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili that the panel was ineffective. It was too large, almost everyone had their own narrow communal vested interests, and hardly anything was resolved. I left after five years, but the one lesson I learned was to appreciate the role of the monarchy.
Who do you turn to when the civil service, the politicians and the system fails you? The last bastion are the monarchs as the ballot box has more often than not failed to give us leaders that we need.
In one of the meetings of the panel, the representative from the Hindu Sangam related the case of a Hindu adherent who died in Langkawi. The family wanted him cremated in Padang Serai. Unfortunately, neither the private ferries nor government agencies with boats were willing to transfer the body to Kuala Kedah where the family could then arrange land transport.
After days of the body lying in the mortuary and the family at the end of their wits, they sought an audience with the Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah.
The Sultan, upset with the situation faced by his subjects, instructed the State Secretary to use a government boat to ferry the body. It was resolved immediately.
There have been many incidents over the years where the Royals have played a crucial role in preventing problems created by politicians from getting out of hand - such as the proposed nationally televised debate in the 1980s between Pas and Umno which had created tensions in the Malay community.
The King stepped in and ordered that the debate be cancelled, immediately lowering the temperature.
Of course, the royalty is not perfect. They have their flaws. And there have been occasions when the Prime Minister has had to play a behind-the-scenes mediatory role. But these were few and far between because generally, the monarchs have stuck to their role as constitutional monarchs and the country has run fairly smoothly all these years.
Today’s MOCK proclamation of the Yang di Pertuan Besar (Yam Tuan) of Negri Sembilan in chaotic fashion, in a non-designated household of a chieftain and in the lounge of a hotel, is befuddling and undignified.
It’s ironic the lounge where the “new” Yam Tuan was proclaimed happened to be in Malacca. Because over the years, we have seen a number of times when so-called descendants of the Malacca Sultanate have had similar mock proclamations and even given out the much sought after “Datuk-ships” to those who aspire the “grandiosity” and “glamour” of being a Datuk.
Today, a politician called Tan Sri Rais Yatim was in the thick of things, acting as spokesperson for the chieftains and the so-called new YamTuan.
Rais was chief minister of Negeri Sembilan from 1978-1982 and then an Umno federal minister until 1987. After being part of a failed attempt to oust then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he was sacked from the Cabinet. Rais’s most famous quote about leaving Umno then was “I have burned my bridges.”
Twelve years later, after failing to make any headway in his new party, Semangat 46, Rais rejoined Umno. Somehow, the burnt bridge had been mysteriously rebuilt.
Then, deputy prime minister the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi intervened with Dr Mahathir and Rais was reinstated as a minister. Rais is a smart person, so it was not without merit.
When Abdullah became prime minister in 2003, Rais continued to be a favoured minister, but when Abdullah lost the two-thirds majority in the 2008 polls, Rais was among the first to turn against his friend.
He supported Datuk Seri Najib Razak as prime minister, but when Najib led Umno to a defeat in the 2018 elections, Rais joined a new party, Bersatu, led by Dr Mahathir. When Dr Mahathir was ousted in 2020, Rais was loyal to the man who dethroned Dr Mahathir - Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. And recently, when Muhyiddin suffered defections, Rais sided with Muhyiddin’s rival Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin.
WOW.
And he is advising the Undangs of Negri Sembilan and the “new” YamTuan?
So far, as a result of this unprecedented power play, Negeri Sembilan is in chaos. It’s bad for the state, bad for the institution of the monarchy, bad for the country and shows that the prime minister has been ineffective in brokering an amicable resolution.
Like it or not, the problem, it seems, can only be resolved through a messy and damaging court battle in which there will be no winners.
Umno, which has taken advantage of the situation, Rais and his colleagues who are ex-Bersatu, ex-Umno, ex-whatever, should know what they are doing.
Politics can and does destroy communities and nations. History is replete with examples.
Kalimullah Hassan is former editor-in-chief of New Straits Times. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.