Merdeka 曖昧

It’s His Majesty King’s Birthday today. A day when most Malaysian regard as just another public holiday (less so now that Saturday is already an off-day for many, holiday or not). To promote a healthy discourse on public affairs, I would like to discuss the pros and cons of absolute monarchy vis-a-vis constitutional monarchy, and what day would it be more appropriate than today?

In Australia, there was a “Republic Referendum” in 1999, in which the public was asked whether the Governor General (Queen’s representative in Downunder) should be replaced by a Parliament-appointed President. It was rejected with the ‘no’ side receiving 54.4% of the vote.

That scares the house of Windsor tremendously. At any given time, the percentage of opposers of Monarchy in UK is about 25%, plus or minus, thus seeing 45.6% of Australians requesting a republic is indeed frightening.

Constitutional Monarchy, as we know, checks the power of the government. As in Malaysia, the appointment of Prime Minister is one of King’s discretional power, eventhough conventionally he would choose the head of parliamentary majority. But there’s no law barring the King from choosing, say, YB Ms. Fong Po Kuan or YB Datuk Seri Semi-Value (Perak Boleh!), as long as the appointee is elected into the House of Commons.

On other matters, the King merely acts on the advice of PM. However, that does not mean he cannot advise the PM on certain issues when time arises. HM The King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has played this role successfully several times, most recently when Thais revolted against ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and his ultra-facist Thai Rak Thai Party.

In Thailand, PM goes to anyone the members of parliamentary majority deem fit, and unlike Malaysia, it is not chosen by the Monarchy. HM King Bhumibol actually indirectly pointed out that our system is flawed when the anti-Thaksin coalition petitioned to the King to appoint a replacement for Thaksin, when he commented ,

“Asking for a Royally appointed prime minister is undemocratic. It is, pardon me, a mess. It is irrational.”

Constitutional Monarchy is a functioning democracy, where the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches check and balance one another, while the impartial Monarchy and public institutions such as army, civil service and free press also play their role.

Compared to Cabinet system Republics (I’m not talking about Presidential system countries such as US of A here), where PM is the head of government but a political figurehead President acts as the ceremonial head of state, such as Singapore and Iraq, where the President is not impartial, certainly I think our system is better, provided our King doesn’t take sides, and, cares about his subjects as the way the King of Chakri Dynasty does.

However, still, there are people who don’t appreciate our Constitutional Monarchy, a full-fledged democracy, and argues that an Absolute Monarchy is equally good if not better. Such madness is advocated by, who else, if not Minishort’s hunny bunny, Rajan Seri MENJadi-jadi?

In a conversation with me soon after the Nepali King revived the Parliament, and Parliament unanymously decided to strip the King of his powers, MENJadi-jadi actually said,

“Had he played hs cards right, he could retain absolute power yet the people still love him.”

He has never hidden his fondness on Absolute Monarchy, and thinks it’s an equally good alternative to democracy. I am not sure if he’s out of his mind and should be sent to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Tanjong Rambutan (Perak Boleh, again!), but I am very sure this entry would be redundant without some arguments against it.

MENJadi-Jadi’s main argument was, eventhough being an Absolute Monarchy, the King can still be caring and loving, and rule fairly. And I don’t deny that at all. What I want to know is, what if he does not? What if he is corrupt, what if he’s cruel and inefficient? There’s no remedy for the people to save themselves from the cruelty of a undesirable Absolute Monarchy.

In a democracy, we are entitled to general elections, where we can decide whether to opt for Regime Change or maintain status quo. Or we can keep the government in power but send in more Opposition MPs for a greater check and balance. We have (or supposed to have) a free press where all flaws and mistakes of the government is exposed. Do we have the same protections in an Absolute Monarchy?

MENJadi-Jadi cites Negara Brunei Darussalam as a fine example, where the King rules fairly well and there’s no discontent among the people. Therefore, I asked, why is Brunei still under Emergency since the Armed Rebellion 4 decades ago, and why are its Parliament (only re-opened in 2004) still fully appointed by the Sultan, he does not have an answer, as usual. Can a fully appointed Parliament check the Executive branch as effectively as an elected Parliament? They know which side their breads are buttered, don’t they?

Then I asked, who is going to be responsible for the US$ 10 billions of dollars or more Prince Jefri siphoned away in the capacity of Minister of Finance and Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) boss to fund his lavish lifestyle? Who is going to be accountable for this loss, as well as all other government decisions? Again, all MENJadi-Jadi could say was, Prince Jefri has exiled to London… Yes, Jefri is jetting between his prestigeous homes in London, Paris and New York. So what about the money and where’s accountability, and whether Bruneians have a remedy to change status quo?

For the uninitiated, Prince Jefri owned 2,000 cars and 17 aircraft, the New York Palace Hotel and the Bel Air hotel in Beverly Hills, not to mention a 50 metre yacht called Tits, with lifeboats Nipple I and Nipple II. A small faction of his assets was auctioned to repay the sum, including 8,500 slabs of Italian marble (which was meant to build his new palace), one of his two fire engines, two hundred lamp posts, a US$ 12 million Airbus A340 aircraft simulator, a Formula 1 racing simulator, hundreds of gold plated toilet brush holders, a stainless steel two-door pizza oven, thousands of items of crockery and utensils, many made by the British luxury goods firm Asprey, a Jacuzzi in “white, with gold plated fittings”. The auctioned raised about US$ 7 million, or 0.007% of BIA’s loss caused by Prince Jefri.

Owh ya, to his credit, he did mention that Bruneians can take up arms and rebel against a bad Absolute Monarchy. But that’s exactly why I prefer a democracy isn’t it? Because we are entitled to decide our destiny in a non-violent way.

Until somebody can convinve me that the people are entitled to all the democratic means and protections under an Absolute Monarchy (which won’t be an Absolute Monarchy anymore anyway since democracy is adopted), I don’t see any reason why shouldn’t I shun my door on this primitive regime.

It’s really hillarious, that there are still supporters of Absolute Monarchy in modern world. Anyway, HM The King’s Birthday is a day for reflection and unity. Let’s close ranks, stop criticizing each other and unite as one Malaysian. God Bless Our Queen King! Hidup Malaysia!