P3 of Ruling the Rulers : Mahathir Vs the Malay Rulers

By Huzir Sulaiman

BY October 1983, Malaysians were becoming aware that a constitutional crisis was in full swing. The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1983 had been passed by both houses of Parliament, but the King, under pressure from his fellow rulers, was refusing to give his Royal Assent to it.

The bill would remove the need for the King to assent to legislation, and would similarly do away with the need for Sultans to assent to State laws. It would also take away the King's power to declare an Emergency and give it to the Prime Minister.

The Rulers publicly rejected these amendments after a meeting in Selangor on Nov 20, 1983. When the public became aware that a storm was brewing, Dr Mahathir’s administration initiated a propaganda war to put pressure on the Rulers.

There took place a “series of illegal public rallies held by Umno in Alor Star, Bagan Datoh, Seremban, Batu Pahat, Malacca, for the Prime Minister with reports of officially inflated crowd figures?.” as Lim Kit Siang would later describe them in the Dewan Rakyat.

These rallies, staged in order to generate sympathy for the Government’s cause, were illegal in the sense that police permits were neither sought nor granted.

Whether or not the crowd figures were inflated by the Umno-aligned media – it is true that they generally reported these events in positive terms – it is clear that the 1983 rallies were exciting evenings, with republican sentiments on everyone’s minds, if not exactly on their lips. One of the most arresting images in Rais Yatim’s Faces in the Corridor of Power is a photograph of two youths at one such rally. They are wearing T-shirts bearing Dr Mahathir’s picture and the words “DAULAT RAKYAT”.

Although the Prime Minister denied wanting to abolish the monarchy, at these rallies “the historical moment of unfolding Malay nationalism was relived as a continuing battle of Malay popular sovereignty against royal hegemony,” as Khoo Boo Teik writes in Paradoxes of Mahathirism.

At a rally in Alor Star on Nov 26, Dr Mahathir declared that “It was the rakyat who had protested against the Malayan Union after the Second World War; it was the rakyat who wanted a democratic system that would enable them to choose their own leaders. It was always the people who had fought for their destiny.”

At the largest rally, in Batu Pahat, Dr Mahathir told the crowds, in a thinly veiled dig at hereditary rulers, “We weren’t born Ministers ? We’re up here because we were chosen by all of you.”

The propaganda war continued, with tales of royal extravagance and impropriety emerging. The Government leaked the fact that they were compiling dossiers on the Sultans. RTM announced they were preparing a year-long TV series on the Rulers and the Constitution.

Yet pro-royal rallies took place too – especially in Kelantan and Terengganu, where Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was rumoured to be responsible for them – and they drew large crowds, although they went unreported by the media.

Upping the ante, the Umno Youth executive council called for the Government to gazette the Constitution (Amendment) Bill without waiting for the King's assent, effectively daring the Rulers to challenge it in court. Dr Mahathir did not immediately adopt this strategy, but held this “nuclear option” in reserve while behind-the-scenes negotiations continued with the Rulers.

Public opinion was divided over the issue. Rural Malays tended to support the Rulers; urban Malays, while not uncritical of Mahathir’s strategies and motives, were more ready to accept egalitarian ideas.

As for the Chinese community, R.S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy note in Malaysian Politics Under Mahathir that “One might have expected that, since the rulers and the Agung were symbols of ‘Malayness’ the Chinese would feel little loyalty to them. Paradoxically, they were quite pro-royalty, because they did not really trust Malay politicians. Indeed, they viewed the Agung and the rulers as protectors of their vital interests.”

There seemed to be no way out of the impasse except by compromise – which is what happened. The Rulers agreed to the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 1983 on the condition that many of its provisions were modified or repealed immediately with the introduction of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1984.

The new bill, passed in January 1984, meant that the King could now only delay a piece of non-money legislation for a month. It then had to be sent back to Parliament with his objections. If the King still opposed it in the form in which Parliament then passed it, he could only delay it for another month before it was gazetted as law.

The King could therefore only delay legislation for up to two months before it became the law of the land.

But this principle was no longer extended to the State level: Sultans still needed to assent to State bills before they became law, which was an important symbolic victory. Most importantly for those who feared Dr Mahathir’s supposed plan to concentrate power in his own hands, the bill removed the proposed ability of the Prime Minister to declare an Emergency by himself, and restored it to the King.

Nonetheless, Dr Mahathir saw himself as having won, declaring at a victory rally in Malacca that the feudal system had ended. He had brought his theatrical, confrontational, unapologetically antagonistic style to a high-stakes arena and had, by some accounts at least, triumphed over the Malay Rulers.

He quickly moved to consolidate his gains. Stories had been circulating that the head of the army, Jen Tan Sri Mohd Zain Hashim, was opposed to Mahathir’s approach and believed the armed force’s loyalty lay with the Rulers. Mohd Zain took early retirement. This was followed by a reorganisation of the army and some 500 other early retirements and dismissals.

When the independent-minded Sultan of Johor took over as Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 1984, some feared (and some hoped) that royal activism would reassert itself.

As Roger Kershaw writes in Monarchy In South-East Asia: Faces of Tradition in Transition, “From the beginning, the Agong had made no secret of his contempt for Mahathir on the grounds of his mixed blood, calling him, to his face, ‘Mamak’ (a derogatory nickname for those of Indian Muslim ancestry). [?] But Dr Mahathir had proved more than a match for this difficult sovereign. Having got the measure of the King’s essential vanity and exhibitionism, he prudently pandered to it, even to the extent of placing a more convenient Royal Malaysian Airforce helicopter at his permanent disposal?.”

Through this and other measures, Dr Mahathir maintained good relations with the new King, enlisting him in his 1987 move against the judiciary, the effects of which are still felt today.

The Prime Minister’s campaign continued. He silenced the Rulers over the issue of the 1987 ISA detentions; staged a hostile debate on the monarchy in the 1990 Umno general assembly after the loss of Kelantan to PAS; removed the Rulers’ immunity to prosecution following the constitutional crisis of 1992-93; stripped away their flights, outriders, and special hospital wards; and in 1994, with little opposition, finally removed the need to obtain the Rulers’ assent for State laws.

Looking back, we can see how the bars of the yellow silk cage began to go up in 1983, closing in year after year.

Should we find it surprising, then, that after 25 years the tigers within should want to break free? Can we not understand that the Rulers might want to regain what has been lost?

And here is the hardest question of all: without giving up our democratic ideals, in a cynical and disloyal age, can we find a way to let our Rulers rule?

Relief

The results for last semester is finally out. I got the gpa that is around the target that i set albeit it could be better if Paul Ang had given me a B+ instead of a B. Sir, why u so cruel 1? On the bright side however, I am one of the lucky ones that manage to check their results because as soon as word got out that results are out, students all flood in to the intranet to check for their results. As a result, UTAR's shitty and sucky server crashed. No one can check their results now. ICT buck up lah. UTAR, dont so kiam siap, upgrade la for heaven's sake.

Another good news is, UTAR management knew of our demands to choose our electives. They seemed to be afraid of us now after all the things that we did. They straight away sort things out and say that we can take Religious and Cultural Practices subject. Woohoo. They even contemplated giving us more elective choices. They really are worried of my batch it seems. Wahaha. Who ask you not to do things properly. If you prepare before hand, you won't have this problem. Right?

So take note. Don't repeat any of this in the future. If we see any thing that we don't like, we'll complain again. We're not docile students that only know how to say "yes sir" or "yes madam". We know our rights and we fight for it. We don't lie down for u to step on us. The student representative body is USELESS. We practically don't need them to fight for us. We fight for ourselves. The student representative election is just a popularity contest. It's not about who can do a good job of being student representative. It sad but somehow it's true. If you're popular, you get elected. If you're not, then goodbye. Stupid mentality. This is especially true in chinese educated people. I know it's an ad-hominem attack but who cares. I still wan to commit this fallacy cause it holds true for the majority. :p

Next issue is the RM 100 fee to exempt us from taking Bahasa Malaysia paper. We're not goin to pay the RM 100. Forget it! How can you charge us RM 100 to exempt ourselves? Ridiculous. To make matters worst? Isn't a credit in SPM BM a pre-requisite to enter UTAR? It's common sense that all of us have to pass our BM in SPM or else we don't get our SPM certs. How ridiculous for you to ask us to take that subject. Come on. Be real.

Agonizing wait

It's the first day of year 2 semester 2 today which also means that results for last semester's examinations are due in a few days time. I've been anticipating the results since the day i came back from Perak.

i'm eagerly awaiting to find out how did i do in the exams and to know whether i need to repeat Moral(which i don't think i will, blek).

We got our timetable already and i discovered one most shocking thing that a university can do. Elective subjects are not chosen by the students but the electives are chosen for them without their knowledge. How fantastic is that? You tell me. I'm so pissed with this and i'm already contemplating steps that i need to take.

How can a university pandai pandai assume which subjects the students want to take? In my case, they decided that i should take Language Teaching. I don't want to do that. Instead i want to do Cultural and Religious Practices in Malaysia.

I don't care if Mr Renu is a damn good lecturer. My decision on choosing subjects are not based on lecturer. It is the subject itself that i consider. So, don't you go deciding which subject i should take.

I don't care if the seniors all chose to take Language Teaching. That is their problem. The university should not make assumptions that all students in this batch will want to take Language Teaching because all students from past batches took Language Teaching.

You better find a solution for me quick. Or else this is gonna go to higher people and you'll have a headache in store for you.

End of hols

New semester is about to start. 2 more days b4 holidays end. Sadz. Can't relax anymore. haih~

2 weddings is about to happen in my extended family. one's my dad's cousin and another my god brother. Duno i can attend or not..sigh~~

I saw Grease few days ago. I actually liked it alot. I was surprised to be honest. Coz all these while i thought 70s movies are boring. haha. John Travolta and Olivia Newton John were sensational. She's so pretty back then..the music and songs were fantastic too..those were the days. I dont think these kind of shows will ever appear in our movie screens again. the disco era is gone..i wish i had a time machine to travel to the 70s era. i wan to feel what is it like to be living in the 70s.

and not to be forgotten, i manage to sort out all those irritating noises that were coming from my cars rear. changed both the swing arms. and the squeaking noises are gone for good..hooray!! spent so much money on my car already. need to spend again the next time to fix the front of the car the next time i come back to melaka.

Eight Belles euthanized after injury

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Boy, did Eight Belles hang with the boys.
All that heart and her gallant fight, however, ended in the worst of all possible ways: a breakdown, an ambulance on the track. And, with no other choice, she was euthanized by injection.

The day began with hope and pomp. Bolstered by the sentimental support from 157,770 fans and endorsed by presidential contender Hillary Clinton and cheered by daughter Chelsea, the filly finished second in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

She crossed the wire 4 3/4 lengths behind favorite Big Brown. Then, with the second-largest crowd in Derby history still whooping it up, Eight Belles collapsed with two broken front ankles.

The magnitude of what happened was slow to reach the fans at Churchill Downs. Not only was a horse down, but it was the filly. And horse racing - with the memory of Barbaro still fresh and a severe injury to a horse coming only a day earlier on Kentucky Oaks Day - had to confront grief one more time.

"There was no way to save her. She couldn't stand," trainer Larry Jones said. "She ran an incredible race. She ran the race of her life."

Jones' voice broke and tears glistened in his eyes as he considered his barn without Eight Belles' head poking out of her stall.

"Losing animals like this isn't fun. It's not supposed to happen," he said. "We're heartbroke. We're going to miss her, no doubt."

The field of 19 colts and the dark gray filly were galloping out around the first turn when Eight Belles suddenly went down on both front legs and jockey Gabriel Saez slid off.

"When we passed the wire I stood up," said a distraught Saez, a first-time Derby rider. "She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That's when she went down."

An equine ambulance reached her near the second turn.

Eight Belles appeared to be galloping out normally around the first turn and was headed into the start of the backstretch when she dropped without warning. The crowd was busy high-fiving and celebrating and the distance from the grandstand prevented many from realizing what had happened.

"Everyone breathed a big sigh of relief that everyone came around the track cleanly and then all of a sudden it happened," said Dr. Larry Bramlage, on-call veterinarian.

Quickly, word spread about the horse that was down in the second turn. Fans focused binoculars on the scene, using Saez's red helmet to identify the horse.

"That's one of the saddest things I've ever seen," said fan Kathleen Brower of Louisville. "We went from the high for the winner and something like this happens. It just takes the wind out of the sails."

No more so than for Jones and owner Rick Porter.

Eight Belles could have easily been the wagering favorite in Friday's Kentucky Oaks, an all-girl showcase. But Jones and Porter decided to run her against the boys despite the fact that she had never done so before. She had, after all, solid credentials with a four-race winning streak.

Jones won the Oaks with Proud Spell and set himself up to pull off the double.

At first, Jones didn't realize anything was wrong until he began walking back to the stable area and saw Saez aboard another horse.

Reached by cell phone, a somber Porter said simply, "It's not a good time."

Afterward, Jones disputed any suggestion that Eight Belles had no business taking on the boys.

"It wasn't that, it wasn't the distance, it wasn't a big bumping match for her, she never got touched," he said. "She passed all those questions ... with flying colors. The race was over, all we had to do was pull up, come back and be happy. It just didn't happen."

If Eight Belles had labored to the finish line and been falling farther behind Big Brown in the closing strides, then Jones said he would have "really second-guessed ourselves severely and kicked ourselves in the pants."

But she hit the wire strongly and galloped around the turn without a hitch, leaving the trainer in the white cowboy hat feeling proud. Jones also trained last year's runner-up, Hard Spun.

"We were ecstatic," he said.

For a time, anyway.

Part of Eight Belles' appeal was her status as the first filly since 1999 to run in the Derby; the last to win was Winning Colors in 1988.

Hillary Clinton didn't attend the race, but she ordered her daughter to bet the filly. Eight Belles, who went off at 13-1, repaid the fans' faith by returning $10.60 and $6.40.

Winning jockey Kent Desormeaux and Big Brown galloped by Eight Belles in her waning moments.

"This horse showed you his heart and Eight Belles showed you her life for our enjoyment today," he said. "I'm deeply sympathetic to that team for their loss."

Bramlage said the fracture in Eight Belles' left front ankle opened the skin, allowing contamination to set in. At least one of her sesamoid bones was broken, too.

"She didn't have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and hauled off in the ambulance, so she was immediately euthanized," he said. "In my years in racing, I have never seen this happen at the end of the race or during the race."

Bramlage was hard-pressed to make sense of yet another breakdown that reminded fans of Barbaro's horrific injury two years ago in the Preakness.

"The difficult thing to explain with her is it's so far after the wire, and she was easing down like you'd like to see a horse slow down by that point," he said. "I don't have an explanation for it."

Beauty don't come better than this

You must be thinking Mishca Barton. Right? Unfortunately, you're wrong. This is the exclusive model for Ralph Lauren commercials and the face of two L'Oréal fragrances. She is Valentina Zelyaeva from Russia. Here is an interview with her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIGJJRA_m50 . You'll see this face when you see RL's commercials. Here's one, the new Romance perfume by Ralph Lauren. This one is on RL's Collection.

Valentina also appeared in runway shows for Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gucci and Valentino, among many others.

Valentina has been featured in print advertisements for Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, and Calvin Klein. She has signed a seven year deal with Ralph Lauren, appearing in several high-profile campaigns for the designer. She has appeared on the covers of Elle, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.




The next model is Irina Kulikova also from Russia.

Irina has a unique story about her chance discovery. Irina K(as she's known in the industry) was discovered by IMG Models Senior VP Ivan Bart and Liv Tyler. Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently Bart and Tyler were dining together in Moscow and noticed Irina K. who was also at the restaurant. Next thing you know, Irina walked the runways for Gucci, Jil Sander, Pringle, YSL, Chloe, and Miu Miu, to name a few. If that isn't enough promise for a young model's first season, she walked exclusively for Calvin Klein as well as walking the coveted spot as #1 girl for Prada.

The opening spot at Prada is one of the most desirable spots for any model. Traditionally this honor goes only to an exclusive Prada face, but this year it was given to Irina K. even though she wasn’t contracted to the house. Apparently she impressed the powers that be, and she is currently starring in Prada’s fall campaign. In addition to Prada, Irina K. also opened Oliver Theyskens’s first show for Nina Ricci, closed both YSL and Louis Vuitton, and walked for Chanel, Chloe, Marni and more.

Dr M joins the blogging community

Tun Dr. Mahathir has joined the blogosphere. In just one or two days, it has recorded more than 7k hits. Fantastic.

http://www.chedet.com/