• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

Don’t question sovereignty of rulers, says Perak sultan (Updated 3.48pm)

[get_post_meta single=1 key="byline"] | June 11, 2009 6 Comments

Updated 3.48pm, 11 June 2009

IPOH, 11 June 2009: The sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, said today any move which questions the interests of Malay Malaysians and bumiputera in terms of scholarships and places of study not only violates the fundamental provisions in the federal and state constitutions, but also questions the sovereignty of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay rulers.


Sultan Azlan Shah
He said Clause 2 of Article 153 of the Federal Constitution provided the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with specific powers to safeguard the interests of Malay Malaysians as well as the bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak in terms of scholarships and places of study.

He also said Article 27 (b) (2) of the Perak State Constitution provided a similar responsibility to the sultan of Perak.

“These matters enshrined in the Federal Constitution and the state constitution are agreements achieved collectively in the spirit of give and take, and the spirit of understanding and respect among the leaders representing the interests of the various races at the time of negotiating the nation’s independence.

“The agreements were achieved among the leaders of the various races, the British government and also the Malay rulers,” he said when opening a Discourse on Knowledge at the Perak Islamic Administration Institute, here.

Also present was the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah.

Sultan Azlan Shah said the leaders of the country had the responsibility to respect the fundamentals that form the pillar of sovereignty of an independent nation, as well as the fundamentals that form the root of harmonious racial relations, which which were agreed upon when the nation was formulating the Merdeka constitution.

He said a deviation from the original spirit would surely raise anxiety and drag the nation into a situation of uncertainty.

“At the same time, the fundamentals of the agreement should not at all be abused at the implementation stage so as to make any race feel that it has been oppressed.

“In accordance with the role of the throne as the source of justice, it is also the responsibility of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the rulers in every state to ensure that the legitimate interests of the other races are also safeguarded,” he said.

The sultan said practices that deviated from the principles of justice should not be allowed to take place because every legitimate citizen should be accorded appropriate justice.

In his speech, Sultan Azlan Shah said people are able to think rationally if knowledge lies at the basis of consideration, and if matters are interpreted objectively based on facts.

“Knowledge becomes valuable if [it] can be practised in daily life. The real test of the mastery of knowledge is at the stage of application,” he said.

The sultan said a knowledgeable person would display qualities of good behaviour and morality.

“Fifty years ago, when the country was still short of intellectuals and professionals, good behaviour and morality were a part of the culture of society in the country; they were components emphasised in the process of education and delivery of knowledge, and were important elements to bring about stability,” he said.

He added that the country today has a much bigger number of intellectuals and professionals, but there are indications of a drop in the qualities of good behaviour and morality, the fifth principle of the Rukun Negara .

It seems that priority is no longer given to good behaviour and morality, although knowledge institutions have sprouted in abundance, the sultan said.

“This seems to indicate that there is a gap between the growth of knowledge institutions and the appreciation of knowledge in practice in daily life, or there is a possibility of an imbalance between the delivery approach and the dissemination of knowledge which overemphasises the respective disciplines of study, so much so that the components of good behaviour and morality are
neglected,” he said.

The sultan said knowledge mastered without a strong basis of good behaviour and morality could cause the downfall or destruction of the civilisation and social values of the local community.

“Hopefully, the components of good behaviour and morality are given importance and interlaced with wisdom by every individual and institution involved in knowledge activities,” he said.  — Bernama

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related Stories

Filed Under: News Tagged With: bumiputera, malay malaysians, Merdeka Constitution, sovereignty, Sultan Azlan Shah

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. tkwah says

    June 11, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    Man can be so learned and wise but God is the ultimate judge of all.

  2. Reza says

    June 12, 2009 at 8:25 am

    I wouldn’t have a problem not questioning the sovereignity of rulers if they actually ruled wisely and made sound decisions, like dissolving the Perak assembly.

  3. tkwah says

    June 12, 2009 at 6:51 pm

    Throughout history, men [and women] of little power may not question men [and women] of much power openly. However, when they do so silently en masse, God hears them and cause men [and women] of much power to lose their power and position. God is just. God also judges the unjust.

  4. wong says

    June 12, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    Don’t think anybody is questioning the monarchy, merely curious about their impartiality since they are after all “His Royal Highness”and a source of justice to the rakyat. Therefore, as rulers, the onus is on them to ensure the principles of justice, and that the legitimate interests of the rakyat are safeguarded and deviations not allowed to happen. Every rakyat should be accorded appropriate justice since deviations cause anxiety and drag the nation into a situation of uncertainty.

  5. Main says

    June 13, 2009 at 9:25 am

    Well, most of us tend to forget what should be done correctly at the right moment, and start blaming [others] for what was never done [that should have been done]. Whose fault is it, anyway?

  6. james au says

    June 14, 2009 at 10:58 pm

    “To err is to human”. Human beings who erred and repent will find salvation. Nobody is above God. The victory of good over evil will follow it’s natural course.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Twitter

My Tweets

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2022 The Nut Graph

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.