The Istana influence in politics

The Istana influence in politics and elections should not be downplayed or underestimated. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah understood this well when he said that the Rulers are the symbol of kedaulatan Melayu. Hitting out at the Rulers would be as ‘criminal’ as someone stepping on the Malaysian flag. What harm is there in stepping on the Malaysian flag? Has anything been lost?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Malaysia’s 1990 general election was the worst election performance for the ruling party since 1969. Barisan Nasional won only 53.4% of the votes and 70.55% of the seats. The opposition, which won 46.6% of the votes, performed almost as good as it did in 2008 when it garnered 46.76% of the popular votes. The biggest blow to the ruling party, however, was that it got massacred in the state of Kelantan, which fell to the opposition and has remained opposition ever since.

DAP, which for the first time was in a loose coalition with Semangat 46 -- called Gagasan Rakyat -- won 20 Parliament seats. PBS, another Semangat 46 ‘partner’ in Sabah, won 14 seats while the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah or APU coalition with PAS won 15 Parliament seats plus the Kelantan State Assembly.

Now, what is so special about the 1990 general election?

1990 was the first general election after the (second) Constitutional Crisis of the 1980s (there were two incidences in the 1980s but Umno lost the first one and won the second one). And in that Constitutional Crisis Annuar Musa, the Umno Chief for Kelantan, called the Kelantan Sultan stupid in a speech he delivered in Kelantan while Anwar Ibrahim called His Highness a smuggler (regarding the Lamborghini incident).

This infuriated the Sultan who openly declared war on Umno and which resulted in Umno getting whacked big-time. Even Umno members voted opposition in huge numbers.

Since then both Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno have learned their lesson. The Monarchy may be only a Constitutional Monarchy and without executive powers, and some may even view the Monarchy as outdated and no longer relevant, but the Malays still regard the Monarchy as a ‘sacred cow’ that should not be dragged though the mud -- just like how they feel about Islam, the Malay language and kedaulatan Melayu.

No doubt ‘modern’ Malaysians cannot grasp this ‘weird’ sentiment and they just do not understand why those ‘old’ values can still have a bearing on how Malays vote. This is, of course, a very ‘rural’ thing -- hence urban Malaysians would not understand this. But if you have lived in a kampong, like I did for 20 years from 1974-1994, then you will appreciate how the Malay mind works and what makes them tick.

I mean, you may not see the significance of Malay ‘values’ just like how Malays would not understand the significance of the colour red over white when you hand out ang pows during Chinese New Year. Every ethnicity has strange ‘values’ that the others do not understand.

The Istana influence in politics and elections should not be downplayed or underestimated. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah understood this well when he said that the Rulers are the symbol of kedaulatan Melayu. Hitting out at the Rulers would be as ‘criminal’ as someone stepping on the Malaysian flag. What harm is there in stepping on the Malaysian flag? Has anything been lost?

It is not the physical loss that people are concerned about but the significance or symbolism of that act. Stepping on the Malaysian flag means pissing on Malaysia. Hence ‘stepping’ on the Rulers (Raja-Raja Melayu) also means pissing on the Malays.

Strange, don’t you think so? I suppose no stranger than believing that white envelopes bring bad luck while red envelopes will make you rich and prosperous -- or that giving someone money in a white envelope during Chinese New Year equates to pissing on the Chinese. And isn’t the crucifix also about symbolism? If not then why can’t Muslims wear a crucifix? What ‘physical’ harm does it do?

I cautioned my friends in the DAP (YB Ronnie Liu can conform this) that the Selangor State Government has to step very cautiously when dealing with the Rulers. You can’t always say yes, no doubt, I told Ronnie. Sometimes you may need to say no. But you must know the ‘correct’ way of saying no so that 'no' is not taken as a rebuke or a snub.

And that is the most difficult thing whenever protocol is involved. And proper protocol ‘education’ is not something you are born with. It is something you acquire along the way. Even the underworld has certain protocol, which you need to observe. Just walking requires protocol as well because walking side-by-side, walking in front, and walking behind, mean different things and will send different messages (read: Rosmah Mansor).

But observing proper protocol requires putting aside egos. Observing proper protocol is an admission that you are subservient to convention. Walking upright into a room where an elder or senior is seated or walking slightly ‘bent’ means two different things. Gesturing or pointing with your finger and gesturing or pointing with your thumb also means two different things.

Those of you who complain that you were extorted or beaten up by triad members back in your schooldays in the 1960s probably failed to understand the importance of protocol -- the correct and incorrect hand gestures, when to and when not to have eye-to-eye contact, etc.

Yes, even the underworld practices protocol, as does the Istana. And if you need to deal with the Istana you had better learn the proper manners or else limit your dealings as far as possible. Of course, when you are in government this is not always a choice open to you.

I know…I know…many of you are now going to say that you don’t care a damn and that this is so feudalistic and outdated and whatnot. That is well and fine maybe from where you sit. But when the majority of the Malays are still feudalistic and when many of the seats are Malay-majority seats it matters. And let us not discover the hard way like Umno did in 1990 that what they thought does not matter, in fact, does matter and then we pay a heavy price for our arrogance and ignorance.

Oh, and one more thing, Anwar Ibrahim, alongside Dr Mahathir, of course, is viewed as an enemy of the Monarchy. Hence it is even more important for Anwar to not rub the Istana the wrong way. Between Najib Tun Razak -- an ‘orang Istana’ -- and Anwar, the Rulers would rather see Najib as Prime Minister. So be warned.

  THE ANTI-MONARCHISTS OF THE 1980S CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS