For he’s a jolly good fellow

If a half dozen Pakatan Rakyat State Assemblypersons from Selangor cross over to Barisan Nasional, and what happened to Perak also happens to Selangor, would he still be a jolly good fellow?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This is the full statement by His Highness the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, over the controversy involving Bukit Lanjan State Assemblywoman, YB Elizabeth Wong.

I am pleased to inform that Yang Amat Berhormat Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Khalid Bin Ibrahim, the Dato’ Menteri Besar Selangor has sought an audience with His Royal Highness, The Sultan of Selangor, on Wednesday, 25th February 2009 and duly informed His Royal Highness on the political development and the issue which involved Yang Berhormat Elizabeth Wong Keat Ping, the Selangor State Assemblyman for Bukit Lanjan who is also the State Selangor Exco Member.

His Royal Highness, The Sultan of Selangor, has commanded me to inform that His Royal Highness could not offer any guidance or advice to the Yang Berhormat Dato’ Menteri Besar of Selangor in the matter related to the issue of Yang Berhormat Elizabeth Wong Keat Ping as it was still under police investigation and it involved her political position. It is His Royal Highness’ stance as the Sultan of Selangor to be above politics.

His Royal Highness believes that whatever decision that is going to be made by the Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Menteri Besar of Selangor will made with accurateness, fair and with wisdom by taking into consideration the interest of the Rakyat in particular and the State of Selangor generally. His Royal Highness is upset and worried as of late the intrusion of someone’s privacy and private rights was being used to destroy one’s dignity and reputation. It is a sad thing as one’s life and private rights were being made public and subject to public scrutiny by publicising in the mass media.

To Yang Berhormat Elizabeth Wong, His Royal Highness felt sad and sympathised with her as to the unfortunate event she had suffered and hoped that Yang Berhormat Elizabeth Wong will remain calm and be patient in continuing with her life henceforth.

Dato’ Haji Mohamad Munir bin Bani
Dato’ Lela Bakti Private Secretary to His Royal Highness

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For he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow
Which nobody can deny

And so say all of us
And so say all of us

For he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good felloooooow
And so say all of us

Yes, that is probably what many, if not all of you, will be singing today. And you will be singing that because His Highness made what you perceive to be a ‘fair’ and ‘balanced’ decision. But you only perceive it to be fair and balanced because it favours the opposition. If His Highness had ruled that Eli is an immoral person, not fit to remain as a Selangor Wakil Rakyat, and that she should resign, then you would whack the Sultan of Selangor, as you did the Sultan of Perak when he ‘took Umno’s side’ and ruled against the opposition.

Is this what Malaysia Today is all about? Is it about being pro-opposition and being anti-establishment for the sake of being so? Even when the government does good things it is still wrong while the fart of the opposition leaders smell sweet just because we support the opposition.

No, this is not what Malaysia Today is all about. It is about supporting right when it is right and opposing wrong when it is wrong, never mind who the personalities may be. We do not overlook wrong and oppose right because of the person involved. If you still don’t get this then the more than four years of trying to ‘educate’ you through Malaysia Today has totally gone to waste.

I do not believe that Eli should resign. And I will not think so even if she happens to be a MCA or Gerakan Wakil Rakyat. It has nothing to do with the fact that she is from PKR or Pakatan Rakyat. This must be the spirit of how we perceive things. Eli’s fart still smells foul as anyone’s fart would smell. This can never change although she is an opposition Wakil Rakyat.

Malaysia Today’s readers appear to be very biased indeed. You oppose people because of their political affiliations, not because of their ideals. And if their ideals are opposed to yours you will oppose them as well, never mind if they share your political affiliations. You will only support people who share your sentiments.

PAS is ‘bad’ because of their ideals. They aspire for an Islamic State and since some of you do not agree with this you feel that Pakatan Rakyat is better off without PAS. Many also do not support HINDRAF because they fight on a Hindu platform. Even Indians of Muslim or Christian persuasions do not have nice things to say about HINDRAF.

Can’t we agree to disagree? If Khairy Jamaluddin fights for freedom of the press, an end to the persecution of Bloggers, the abolishment of the Internal Security Act, Police Act, Sedition Act, Printing Press and Publication Act, Official Secrets Act, University and University Colleges Act, Official Secrets Act, and whatnot, would you support Khairy, notwithstanding the fact he may be the Umno Youth Leader?

Of course you would not! Khairy is Umno and he must be opposed because he is Umno, never mind what he stands for. And you will support Anwar Ibrahim, warts and all, because he is PKR and Pakatan Rakyat. This is what Malaysia Today is all about, at least to most of you.

But this should not be how it is. We must be more matured in our thinking. We must know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. This means we take what is good and reject what is bad. And it must never be about the personalities.

I always use the analogy of the half glass of water. Most of you perceive the half glass of water as half empty. But a half glass of water is also half full. Half full is positive. Half empty is negative. And since most of you have negative thoughts you see things as half empty rather than half full.

PAS may not be a full glass of water. But it is certainly more than half full and far from half empty. Why can’t we see PAS for the many good things that it is instead of the few bad things that you don’t like? I wrote about this in my article awhile back about the one bad brick amongst the 99 good bricks, if some of you can remember.

So, the Sultan of Selangor has said something we like. So, he is a jolly good fellow. Tomorrow, he may say something we don’t like. He then becomes a bad fellow. And the same goes as far as the Sultan of Perak is concerned. When he swore in the Pakatan Rakyat state government soon after the 8 March 2008 general election, he was a great guy. Now he is a bad guy and should be dethroned. This is how we think.

Sultans are human beings just like you and me. They too have opinions and feelings. Sometimes their opinions do not matter as they are bound by both the Federal and State Constitutions to perform certain duties. So, what they believe is not as crucial as what they are bound, by law, to do. That is the price they pay as Monarchs. If they do what they like and not what the Constitution says they must do, then they will become Absolute Monarchs instead of Constitutional Monarchs. Then we will not need elections or Parliament. The Sultans can instead run this country like how it used to be in the days before Merdeka.

We need less emotional and more clarity of thinking. Okay, I am one mother of an emotional person. That is my weak point, undeniably. But I need to be emotional about what I do. I call it passion, though, not emotion. And my wife can testify to how passionate I can be. That is why she does not want me back in Kamunting. She said she would miss my passion, which she finds in no other man -- at least this is what she tells me. Whether it is just to ambil hati, I don’t know.

So, allow me to be the passionate one here. The rest of you need to put the brakes on the whole thing by being more clear in thought. Look at things from all perspectives and not only from your own perspective. Things do not always work out the way we would like it to. Sometimes things work against us and we just have to accept it. And never shoot the messenger just because you don’t like the message. The messenger can’t be faulted for the message, just like you don’t give the postman a French kiss whenever he delivers a cheque in the mail. He is just the postman.

Okay, the Sultan of Selangor is now a jolly good fellow. If a half dozen Pakatan Rakyat State Assemblypersons from Selangor cross over to Barisan Nasional, and what happened to Perak also happens to Selangor, would he still be a jolly good fellow? Knowing you guys and gals you will smear my cousin to kingdom come. And you will not blame Pakatan Rakyat, PKR, PAS, DAP or Anwar Ibrahim for losing Selangor. You will blame His Highness the Sultan.

I never blame the fox for eating the chickens. God made foxes with the natural instinct to eat chickens. I will blame the chicken owner for allowing his chickens to get eaten by the fox. Foxes can’t help themselves. They eat chickens. This is what they do. Or would you like to instead blame God for making foxes? Yes, that’s an idea. Let’s blame God while we sing: for he’s a jolly good fellow.