People Reminded Of Seven Messages From Malay Rulers For Peace, Prosperity
(Bernama) — The Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah Thursday reminded the people, especially the Malays, of the seven messages from the Malay rulers just before independence that promised them prosperity, peace and harmony if they were united and upheld these principles.
According to the Raja Muda, the messages willed (in classic Malay) by the Malay rulers when they signed the agreement on the formulation of the Federation of Malaya Constitution on Aug 5, 1957 were:
* We name and call this land, the land that we step on and its sky we uphold, the Federaton of Malaya (now known as Malaysia),
* We declare and preserve for you and your generations to come, besides the mountains, lakes and forest reserves, Malay reserved land up to 50 per cent and the rest you can compete with the other communities,
* To protect you and your property and those of your next generations, we establish the Royal Malay Regiment to combat threats from within and outside the country,
* We guarantee a sovereign government and institution of Malay rulers to rule this nation,
* We declare that Islam is the official religion of the federation,
* We stipulate that the national language is Bahasa Melayu, and
* We entrust the Malay rulers with the responsibility of protecting the special rights of the Malays and the rights of the other races. (Added to this were the special position of the bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak).
Raja Nazrin Shah was speaking at the launching of three books authored by the late Prof Datuk Dr Syed Hussein Alatas, titled "Mitos Peribumi Malas", "Intelektual Masyarakat Membangun", and "Rasuah: Sifat, Sebab dan Fungsi", in conjunction with an international seminar on "The Legacy of the Thoughts of Syed Hussein Alatas" which began on Tuesday at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka here.
Raja Nazrin Shah said the messages came from the rulers of four federated Malay states and five non-federated states for the Malays who were the original people of this country and the subjects of the rulers.
"This was to preserve the history, sovereignty and the political power of the Malays and the principles were accepted by the people through their legitimate representatives. Accordingly, the Federal Constitution has certain provisions," he said in reference to Articles 3 (1)(2)(3) and (5), 11, 12, 38 (5), 152, 153 and 181 (1).
He said all these provisions needed the consent of the Malay rulers for any amendment.
"As we are celebrating our nation's 52nd independence anniversary on this Aug 31, it is only apt that the facts on the road to independence be known and not remain hidden in the archives."
On Syed Hussein Alatas who died from a heart attack on Jan 23, 2007, Raja Nazrin Shah said the former always raised the issue of corruption and elaborated on it in his book, "Rasuah: Sifat, Sebab dan Fungsi".
"Although corruption is a scourge and abhorred by society, the irony is that more and more people are involved in it by acquiring power or through the most devious means to escape the law.
"Many people talk about corruption. In fact, the more strident voices on fighting corruption have sometimes come from those who are corrupted.
"So, there goes the earnest efforts to combat corruption, drowned by pretentious rhetorics. In the end, the throne or leadership will collapse, the country gone awry and the people suffer," said the Perak Raja Muda.
Raja Nazrin Shah said corruption reduced a person's dignity to that of a slave — a slave to money and wealth or positions achieved through corrupt means.
"Like opium, corruption can kill the soul and mind. So, one should not be trapped in it by freeing oneself from negative desires and greed," he said.
