You mess with the Sultan at your own peril


Dear Pete,

After reading my piece in your website about Rosmah’s presence in the closed door meeting between Najib and his aides in the Ministry of Finance prior to the presentation of 2012 Budget in Parliament, a veteran Johor UMNO friend of my Dad sent me an e-mail about the case of the Sultan of Johor being offended by Lim Guan Eng’s speech. The gist of his very long e-mail summarised as follows:

According to this friend, the Johor Royal Family has always stayed above politics and hates to be dragged into it, and the present Sultan has made this point crystal clear. It is the Johor UMNO that is always looking for opportunities to get the Royal Family involved to lend credence to their ulterior motives.

UMNO has not learned their lesson after what happened during the Constitution crisis during the Mahathir–Iskandar era. Starting from the north, Kedah, Mahathir’s home-state, UMNO organised rallies to gain support for Mahathir’s proposals to amend the Constitution shaving off the powers of the Rulers, specifically that of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for Dr M feared that the incoming Agong (which was to be Sultan Iskandar of Johor) would not give assent to bills passed by the Mahathir-controlled Parliament.

When the rally came down south to Johor, who was to speak up for UMNO but Johorean Musa Hitam, the DPM then. Musa was obliged to speak and he did. His Highness Sultan Iskandar was fuming mad, and he ordered that all photos of Mahathir and Musa be taken down from all State Government offices. At a function in Saujana (the Johor MB’s residence), the Sultan purposely arrived late to make Mahathir wait, a lesson Dr M never forgets.

Then came the opportunity for the Sultan to teach ‘this kurang ajar’ anak Johor, Musa, a lesson. During a Friday prayer session at the Mosque in Kg Baru, KL, TV3 filmed this incident when Sultan Iskandar told Musa to apologise before Allah and the congregation.

“The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Caesar answer’d it,” said Shakespeare. If Guan Eng had in fact uttered those words, Guan Eng has paid for it by publicly apologising to His Highness Sultan Johor, even though the Tuanku did not insist on it but was demanded by DPM Muhyiddin.

DPM Muhyiddin knew what happened to Musa Hitam at the mosque in Kg Baru, KL, and he is very careful now to not step on the Sultan’s toe. This sly fox is just waiting for Najib to make a mistake, for he also knows that Najib has been snubbing the Sultan — probably because of some mega-projects in Johor which Rosmah wants for her cronies, but the Sultan disagrees. The Sultan is fully aware of Rosmah’s unsatisfiable and boundless greed (maybe in her desire to overtake Daim Zainuddin in wealth). Muhyiddin is praying and playing to the Sultan that His Highness might explode and expose Rosmah’s scheme of things to pave the way for Muhyiddin to move into whatever projects Rosmah is after, and also move into Najib’s seat in Putrjaya. Don’t forget, Johor State is the bastion of UMNO, which can tell Najib to go and fly a kite. 

It is common knowledge to Singaporeans that whenever they are in Johor Bahru they are targets for highway robbers, kidnappers, extortionists, etc., because of their vehicle registration plates. Big-time Ah Longs and 4D gambling syndicates operate in Johor Bahru. Before Singapore legalised horse racing punting within Singapore, all the bookies operated from JB. There are more money changers in JB than any Malaysian town, KL included, to cater for the gamblers rather than the shoppers. Obviously, the Home Minister, who is also a Johorean, has not been directing his policemen to get rid of these menaces from the Royal Town, and the Sultan being the Head of Islam in Johor, is not amused at all. We have heard rumours that Hisham is now aligned to the DPM and is forsaking his own cousin; politics at play.

To all who dares to engage the displeasure of His Royal Highness Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, let it be known that the same fate that befell Tun Musa Hitam awaits the idiotic challenger! As for Rosmah, her pedigree, background and education are thousands of miles behind those of the Consort to the Sultan of Johor, Raja Zarith Sofia except perhaps in money and branded handbags.   

J. ONG

 



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