Debating with idiots

So you see, abolishing something because it costs the taxpayers a lot of money can never be a valid argument because that same argument can be extended to many other things that cost even more than the Monarchy.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

For years I have been monitoring the anti-Monarchy rhetoric in the comments section of Malaysia Today. The common comment is that the Rulers are a waste of taxpayers’ money and the Monarchy should therefore be abolished since it serves no purpose and the Rulers earn ‘gaji buta’. Gaji buta is Malay for earning a salary without doing any work.

This appears to be the main grievance they have against the Monarchy -- the cost to the taxpayers in retaining the Monarchy. If that is the argument then should not many other institutions be abolished as well? Guess how many of the more than one million civil servants (which include the army, police, navy, air force, etc.) actually do any work? Most just sit down and do nothing. Hey, we have never had a war in more than 50 years so why the need for the armed forces?

Walk into any police station anywhere in the country and tell me how many police personnel you see are actually working. Most are sitting and idling their time away. Yet we are paying for this idling police force from the tax they collect from us. The only time the police do any work is when they are filling their own pockets or when they act against the opposition. Other than that we have an idle police force that probably costs us more money than the cost of the Monarchy if you were to add the amount of ‘black money’ involved.

And trust me, the ‘black money’ in the police force is huge. It runs into billions. Read the series of 12 episodes I wrote about the police force and the IGP that started with ‘All roads lead to Putrajaya’.

So, what do we do? Do we abolish the police force because we have now discovered it is costing the taxpayers even more money than the Monarchy?

Oh, no, we can’t abolish the police force, you will say. We need a police force. The Monarchy can go but the police force has to stay. We need it to combat crime.

Oh yeah, combat what crime? Crime in Malaysia is getting worse as we go along. Even as you read this, someone somewhere in Malaysia is being robbed or beaten up. What combat crime? We are better off without a police force and all of us carry guns like in the Olde Wild, Wild West. In fact, most times, the police are the ones behind major crimes. The police are the bosses of organised crime -- loan-sharking, prostitution, human trafficking, drugs, gambling, etc.

So, if you really want to argue this point, let’s do that: by abolishing the police force we would be saving a lot of money plus we will also be ending organised crime. We then set up vigilante squads and shoot dead all those crime bosses like they did in Iran in 1979 (ah, the good old days of the revolution -- how I miss those days).

So you see, abolishing something because it costs the taxpayers a lot of money can never be a valid argument because that same argument can be extended to many other things that cost even more than the Monarchy.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not defending the Monarchy. Maybe it is not such a bad idea to abolish the Monarchy and turn Malaysia into a Republic. After all, as they say, the grass is always greener on the other side. I am prepared to give it a shot and if it does not work we can always consider bringing back the Monarchy later. This is what most readers in Malaysia Today want as well so why not we go along with it just to find out how smart our readers are in proposing this?

30 years ago in 1979 Iran did the same thing. They kicked out the Monarchy and turned the country into a Republic. See how much money they saved? Under the Shah a lot of money was wasted. Now, Iran has saved so much money.

Okay, maybe the human rights situation in Iran has not improved much. Okay, maybe it has even got worse. But the important thing is they have saved a lot of money for the taxpayers by kicking out the Monarchy.

England did the same thing a long time ago when they chopped off the head of King Charles I. Then they turned the country into a Republic. When it did not work and they discovered that the Republicans are worse than the Royalists, they chopped off the head of Oliver Cromwell and brought back the dead king’s son from France and installed him as the new king, Charles II.

Yeap, England’s experiment as a Republic failed and they decided to restore the Monarchy. Iran is still a Republic and would probably remain so just like France and those other countries that kicked out the Monarchy in favour of a Republic.

The worst countries in the world are Constitutional Monarchies -- Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, Grenada, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Samoa, Sweden, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom. (Bhutan, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland are Absolute Monarchies).

The best countries in the world are Republics -- Indonesia, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Nepal, Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, Ghana, Iraq, Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Serbia, Somalia……hold on……I don’t think this argument is quite working out the way I intended. Hmm…maybe I need to rework this argument a bit.

Anyway, never mind. The argument here is that the Monarchy costs us a lot of money and serves no purpose and everything under that same category needs to be removed (which sort of makes that almost everything in Malaysia). Nonetheless, before we use the argument ‘remove it because it serves no purpose and costs us a lot of money’, make sure you read the Federal Constitution of Malaysia or else someone might say we are debating with idiots.

Article number: 35 (1) Parliament shall by law provide a Civil List of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong which shall include provision of an annuity to be paid to the Raja Permaisuri Agong, and shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund and shall not be diminished during the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's continuance in office.

Article number: 38 (4) No law directly affecting the privileges, position, honours or dignities of the Rulers shall be passed without the consent of the Conference of Rulers.

So you see, it is the law that Parliament carries the cost of the Monarchy. And, by law, only the Conference of Rulers can change this. So there is not a damn thing you and I can do about it. And since we are the ones screaming for Umno and Barisan Nasional to respect the Constitution and to do things according to the law, are we prepared to demonstrate hypocrisy by ignoring the law and the Constitution by asking that the Monarchy be abolished in favour of a Republic of Malaysia?

Yes, I know, now some of you are going to accuse me of defending the Monarchy because I happen to also be from the Royal Household. But then these types of people are those who scream about following the Constitution when it favours them and then will violate it when it suits them. I really don’t have time for these types of people who are actually as hypocritical as the people they condemn.

People, we should not talk about abolishing the Monarchy. That might tantamount to getting out of the frying pan and jumping into the fire. If we have problems with any of the Rulers then remove that particular Ruler and replace him with someone better. It has been done before a few times in the past. Bad Rulers have been removed and replaced before. And we have an instrument to do that -- the Royal Council (not to be confused with the Conference of Rulers).

Of course, if you really want Malaysia turned into a Republic, then we can always do that as well. I have no problems with that. But we will have to suspend the Constitution. Since the Constitution does not allow it then we must get rid of the Constitution. And this can be done easily enough by installing a military dictatorship in Malaysia. No Constitution, no Parliament, no Monarchy -- only a general as our First President of Malaysia.