From: zam@athena.mit.edu (Nor Aazizam Mohd Aasif)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean
Subject: Re: The privileges of the Sultans
Date: 10 Apr 92 21:12:17 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In article <1992Apr10.133802.54380@cc.usu.edu> fajack@cc.usu.edu writes:
>In article <ku9ccbINN8gs@news.bbn.com>, saustin@bbn.com (Ling Khong) writes:
>> While we are talking about the privileges of being a Sultan,
>> does anyone remember the controversy over one of
>> our previous Agongs)? Well, it seems that when this ex-
>> Agong was still a Crown Prince in the sixties, he shot someone dead. The
>> judge who convicted him was the Raja Azlan Shah (then a Judge but
>> now our present Agong). However, that Crown Prince then
>> received a royal pardon from his father, the then Sultan.
>> Subsequently, his father stripped him of being the Crown Prince
>> and put his younger brother in his place. However, just prior
>> to his death, the old Sultan reinstated the his eldest son
>> (that notorious ex-Crown Prince) and so this son finally
>> became our Agong. When he was Agong, some of the other Heads
>> of foreign governments refused to meet with him when they visited.
>> Anyway, there was also this story going round the Royal Selangor 
>> Golf Club that when he was Agong, he clubbed one of his caddies 
>> to death but the whole affair was hushed up.

>	While I was studying in Canada during that time, I came across
>an article about banning him from visiting Canada and United Kingdom.
>I was surprised to know Malaysians heard about this story.  I thought
>such story will be censored by the government.
>	Someone (guess who !) has been using British monarchy to justify
>the existence of our Sultans.  However, the are A LOT differences between
>our system and theirs.

	Of course, there is a difference between the Monarchy in
England and Malaysia.  England does not accept that many Chinese as
her citizens; therefore, dimishing any kinds of problems that will be
created from a multi-racial society.  Malaysia, in her kindness to the
new immigrants, accepted a lot of Chinese, changing the whole scope of
the Malaysian power-play.  Do you see a lot of immigrants objecting to
having the Queen in England?  No, because they know they are lucky to
be in England and know their fate.  But hey, gratitude is not
something that you see in Malaysia...

>	First of all, as pointed out by someone in the net, they have only
>one and we have nine.

	So what?  We should have had 11 Rulers, but the state of
Malacca and Penang did not have a ruler once they had become
predominately Chinese.  

> 	Secondly, British monarchy has to conduct themselves properly.  
> Can you  imagine Prince Charles being a murderer and get away with
it ?

	The British government got away with murder all the time.  
You don't see the IRA in Malaysia because the Malaysian government
does not adhere to totalitarian rules...

>	The people of UK has a voice regarding the monarchy, whereas
>we don't unless you want to be detained under ISA.

	We have a lot of ingratitude people in Malaysia.  That is why
ISA should always be in effect in our country.
	
>	Finally, the monarchy in UK brings in a lot of money through 
>tourism.  You will be surprised to see all those people during the
>changing of the guard in Buckingham Palace.

	Of course.  Brown-nosers...  At least our country no longer
has to pay respect to that old-Lady.  

>	I hope the educated citizens of Malaysia should not blindly
>support their Sultans regardless of what they did.  I am in support
>of UMNO to curb the priviledges of Sultans.  

	The Sultans in Malaysia do not have that much power to begin
with.  It is pointless to curb their power when they hardly have
any...

===------ 
NorAazizam MohdAAsif	 
The white man made many promises to us but they never kept but one; they
promised to take our land and they took it.
                                                        Red Cloud