A battle royal shapes up

All this will not surprise Malaysians who over the years have had front row seats to the excesses of the country’s royalty.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Let the mudslinging begin. Hours after a member of the Negri Sembilan royalty alleged that he was assaulted at gun-point by the Raja Muda of Johor in a five-star hotel, Team Johor hit back.

Supporters of the Johor royalty alleged that the Negri royalty are making this claim because their demand for a RM50 million settlement was not entertained.

Initially, the Johor royalty were hoping that the media would play down Tunku Nadzimuddin Tunku Mudzaffar’s claims that he had his friends were badly beaten up by Tunku Ismail Idris Abdul Majid on October 25 last year.

After all, they were quite successful in keeping the news out of the media in Malaysia when the incident happened.

Hoping to achieve similar success with the media, friends and supporters of the Johor royal household swung into action just after Tunku Nadzimuddin and his mother, Tunku Dara Naquiah Tuanku Ja’afar held a press conference to blow off the lid on the incident.

Again, they argued that this was a private matter between two royals.

But this time the mainstream media could not ignore the story, not with most news portals carrying reports, not with the interest shown in this episode by wire agencies.

In the days and weeks ahead, more salacious and tantalising information is going to be released by both sides as they attempt to influence the court of public opinion.

We may hear about blank CCTV tapes. We may hear about hesitant police response to a skirmish in a nightclub at KL’s Heritage Row. We may hear how out-of-court negotiations broke down.

We will get a peek into the lifestyles of the rich and pampered.

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