“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”

In his royal address at the annual opening of Parliament today, the Yang Pertuan Agong called on Malaysians “from all walks of life, irrespective of political affiliation, to work together for the development of our beloved country”.

The King stressed that “all parties, including political groups should demonstrate wisdom and maturity and not act in any way detrimental to the country’s stability and economic development”.

This royal call should be the national imperative as the one and only preoccupation of Malaysians is how to be more united, resolute and competitive so that Malaysia can tide over the world’s worst global economic crisis in 80 years, with many predicting a looming recession for the country.

But the King’s advice has fallen on deaf ears.

For the past fortnight, the illegal and unconstitutional grab for power in Perak orchestrated by the Prime Minister-in-waiting, Najib Razak, displaced the economic crisis as the No. 1 national concern.

And today, even the Perak political crisis has been edged off the national centre-stage – not by the Royal Address but by the scandal of the victimisation of Selangor PKR executive councillor and Bukit Lanjan State Assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong.

Shakespeare’s words, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, cannot be more apt to describe Malaysia.- Lim Kit Siang