One of the exhortations to Malay Malaysian voters as the general election looms is to vote the party that will ensure Malay and Muslim unity. When politicians, academics and royalty start to promote Malay and Muslim unity, are they peddling an ideal for the nation or a dangerous myth for the masses?
Raja Nazrin Shah
Merdeka and the Malay rulers
Map of Malaya (Source: britishempire.co.uk) LOOKING forward, at the conclusion of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka’s recent Prof Syed Hussein Alatas Memorial Seminar, to Merdeka Day, the Raja Muda of Perak recalled another anniversary. On the threshold of independence on 5 Aug 1957, the Malay rulers issued a declaration, their last political testament before the […]
Raja Nazrin: Only the qualified should govern
KUALA LUMPUR, 13 Aug 2009: Raja Dr Nazrin Shah today said that Islamic countries must entrust the country’s governance only to those who are “really qualified and capable”. The Raja Muda of Perak said the continuity of Islamic countries also depended on governments that could ensure fair distribution of wealth, a legal system based on […]
Expectations running high in Perak
(Nizar pic courtesy of theSun) IPOH, 12 May 2009: Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has handed over a letter seeking an audience with the sultan to request for dissolution of the state assembly. The Edge reported that the letter was handed over to Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah, at 8.30am […]
Raja Nazrin Shah can decide on dissolution
PETALING JAYA, 11 May 2009: The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah, is empowered by the Perak constitution to decide on a request by the menteri besar to dissolve the state assembly. Tommy Thomas Constitutional lawyer Tommy Thomas said that Article 15 under Part II of the state constitution stipulated that the regent could […]
BN-PR at odds over assembly sitting
IPOH, 7 May 2009: The stand-off continues. The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) considers the Perak assembly sitting today as never having taken place, while the Barisan Nasional (BN) claims it did everything by the book. The PR said it would discuss possible legal action against the actions by BN assemblypersons today which resulted in speaker V […]
Ganesan takes the speaker’s chair (Updated 7pm)
Updated 7pm on 7 May 2009Corrected at 4.05pm, 7 May 2009 Sivakumar being dragged out of the House (Pic courtesy of Sinar Harian) IPOH, 7 May 2009: A historic state assembly sitting in Perak today fell into pandemonium in an ongoing tussle for power between the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and the Barisan Nasional (BN). Security […]
Raja Nazrin worried about writing trend (Updated)
Updated 3pm, 21 April 2009 KUALA LUMPUR, 21 April 2009: The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, today expressed concern over the trend whereby authors in the country are more interested in writing political books that run down certain individuals. He said this popular trend of producing destructive political books for short-term political […]
Nazrin on Malay survival
BANGI, 10 March 2009: The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, has called on the Malays to safeguard their culture and tradition as these are crucial to their survival as a race. He said that the Malays already had a unique identity, one “which is tied by customs, knotted by language and coated […]
Reinterpreting “raja”
IN the wee hours of 9 March 2008, I waited until 3am before leaving my office, just to confirm that Perak had really got rid of its old regime. I also wanted to make sure that Malaysians would wake up embracing a new Malaysia where, joining Kelantan, four states would have gone through the political […]
