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Thursday, August 9, 2007

Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Perak, hope for Malaysia

As mentioned, this blog is meant to promote Malaysia, and I am very happy to publish this post as the speeches by Raja Dr Nazrin Shah gave us loyal Malaysian some hope for the future of the nation. Unlike others who are privilaged, he declined using state funds for his recent wedding. The Perak State Secretary Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Hashim (I presumed taking the stand from Raja Dr Nazrin Shah), said that people should not use government allocations for the purpose of buying gifts for the wedding.

"The departments are however allowed to donate and hold thanksgiving feasts at welfare homes by organising the event themselves or to channel their contributions through the palace," he said in a statement.

Raja Dr Nazrin Shah is the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Perak and also the son of the current Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu and the Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Bainun Binti Mohd. Ali. I have great respect for Raja Dr Nazrin Shah. I is my fervent prayer that one day he may become the Prime Minister of Malaysia rather than the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (roughly equivalent to King). Raja Petra has an interesing article on that. It is the weird incidence of the successions of the Prime Ministers of Malaysia following in the order of RAHMAN, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia. If you want to read about it, surf over to Who comes after A?.

Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah, the father of Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, was the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from April 26, 1989 to April 25, 1994. A lawyer by profession, he was a judge, and previously served as the Lord President of the Federal Court. I also have great respect for him too.

Sources: Wikipedia

I and I am sure many other loyal but concerned Malaysian got their hopes raised from the speeches Raja Dr Nazrin Shah made rather than the many unbecoming speeches of some Members of Parliaments who makes seditious and sensitive speeches, and then label the responses of loyal and concerned citizens as seditious or sensitive, lies or stupid. Not only that, one such sensitive speech that Malaysia has always been an Islamic state and never a secular state drew great concern from non-muslims citizens who naturally try to rebut his uncalled for speech. A Minister then gave a directive that the mainstream media should not publicise any (valid)discussions by the public and that only the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister can make statements on the issue. I was glad to read a statement by our honorable Prime Minister that Malaysia is neither an Islamic state nor a secular state. However, he has not acted on many of the statements he made and I hope this will not be one of them.

Regarding the call for Malaysians to not make sensitive statements, there was the case of the current head of the UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) youth, Hishamuddin Hussein, who waved a kris (Malay dagger) at last year’s national UMNO convention and offered to bathe it in Chinese blood to the loud cheers from the delegates, but was not hauled up for making sensitive statements. Why should the obligations of some Malaysians have to be adhered to and made accountable for, but others are not?

For more information on related post, refer to (click BACK button to get back to this post)
Flag of Malaysia and Flag of the United States of America (note particularly the updates at the bottom of this post).

There are many events which got many loyal but concerned non-Muslim Malaysians and also some Muslim Malaysians greatly disturbed. One was the case of Revathi who was born a Muslim, but brought up as a Hindu and married a Hindu. She got detained by the Islamic authorities for a long period of time and was forceably separated from her husband and children. She was only released just before a court hearing to try to free her, thus making that court hearing irrelevant and the concerned parties unable to bring up issues they want to raise. Refer to (click BACK button to get back to this page):
Candlelight vigil for Revathi (and for Malaysia)

Candlelight vigil for Revathi (and for Malaysia) Part 2

Unity Threatened by Continuing Infringements of Religious Freedom booklet

Celebrating 50 Years of Nationhood

However, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah has given us some hope. At the Keynote address by him at the first annual Student Leaders Summit 2007 - "Celebrating 50 Years of Nationhood" on Aug 5, 2007, at Nikko Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. He said, among other statements:

"The first is the Rule of Law and the inviolability of the constitution. The constitution is the supreme law of the country which guarantees fundamental liberties to every citizen. A cleverly crafted document, it clearly provides for adequate checks and balances against excesses through the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches -- with each protected from encroachment by the other."

""We must be the protectors of those who are vulnerable to abuse. We have to stand up and be counted. We have to protect the things that make our nations great..."

"Opportunities in the global world reward those with ability, regardless of colour or creed."

"As I have said elsewhere, to ensure sustained success at nation-building, Malaysians of all races, religions, and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun." But

"Upholding the Rule of Law is paramount."

"Only those who are capable, responsible and scrupulously honest should be allowed to serve in positions of leadership. Those who are inefficient, incompetent and, most importantly, corrupt should be held in absolute contempt. There must also be concrete anti-corruption measures and management practices based on efficiency, transparency and accountability. It is also very important that we have leaders who are earnest in maintaining unity, never resorting to religious or ethnic posturing to further their political careers at the expense of peace and security. Should they fail in this respect, they must be held accountable and answerable before the law."

"Third, you must take personal ownership over the wellbeing of the country. Do not succumb to indifference and apathy. Hold on to your ideals. Do not give way to cynicism and opportunism. Believe that you can make a difference. Channel your energies in a constructive manner to bring about positive changes around you." (This is what I am trying to do by publishing posts like these, but my family hoped it will not get me into trouble like Nathaniel Tan, Raja Petra, Jeff Ooi, Rockybru. However, I don't think this blog will draw the amount of traffic they attract, so probalby, I am safe, as I don't think I pose much of a threat. I also refuse to publish seditious posts or posts insulting the Agong and Islam, nor allow comments of such nature. I hope to promote unity in diversity, not disunity, chaos and trouble).

Young Malaysians’ Roundtable Discussion on National Unity and Development in Malaysia: Prospects and Challenges for Nation Building

This Roundtable Discussion was organised by the Bar Council and Transparency International KL Chapter. Statements made by him at this Rountable Discussion include:

"Political, social and economic incentives must reward good behaviour and penalise bad." I wish this is happening especially when the current Honorable Prime Minister vowed to fight corruption among various other election promises in the last election. But what we are seeing is bloggers like Raja Petra who made corruption allegations backed by documents according to him (some of them appear as screenshots in his blog Malaysia Today), but are being harassed (and apparently now extended to members of his family who have nothing to do with his blog) while those who are accused are either not investigated or not thoroughly investigated.

Then there is the case of Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop’s evasive but technically-correct replies to the Public Accounts Committee over the ECM Libra-Avenue Capital merger. Nor Mohamed kept repeating the technically-correct answer that the Securities Commission had approved the merger. What the public wants to know is who in the first place within Government gave the initial approval or the first green light to sell Avenue Capital? Nor Mohamed, according to Raja Petra of Malaysia Today, is being very evasive about this simple question.

(may be continued)

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