The similarities between Imperial Russia and Malaysia
When the leadership is living in the past and is not in touch with reality that is what happens. And when the leadership is not in tune with the sentiments of the rakyat that makes it worse. Then, just like in Russia 100 years ago, when the opposition to the government has a powerful propaganda machinery and is able to sway the rakyat with promises of a better future once the government changes, that is the final nail in the coffin of the ruling elite.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
When you study the fall of the Roman Empire, the fall of Charles I and the English Civil War, the fall of Louis XVI and the French Revolution, the fall of the Czar and the Russian Revolution, etc., you cannot avoid seeing the similarities to what is happening in Malaysia today. Maybe Malaysia is not as dramatic and will not be entered into the history book alongside those greater events. Nevertheless, it is still a case of history being repeated.
There is never one reason for anything that happens. It is always a combination of reasons. But there must be a trigger to start the ball rolling to culminate in the final curtain. And most times those in the corridors of power do not see it coming and are living in their own world of blissful ignorance.
Czar Alexander II was living in the past and was not in touch with reality or in tune with the sentiments of the rakyat
When the ruling elite is not in touch with the sentiments of the people that is the beginning of the end. Take Czar Nicholas II of Russia as one example. Russia, 100 years ago, was the biggest (in land area as well) and richest empire in the world. But the royal family lived in a world of their own in the confines of their huge palaces (yes, many palaces). They did not know or care about what was happening outside the palace.
The people were suffering while the royal family wined, dined and danced the night away at the endless balls being held to celebrate the greatness of the Russian Empire and its Royal Family.
The Czar was shielded from the truth and was told what is pleasant to hear and not what he should hear. His advisers decided the policies and persuaded the Czar to agree to policies and strategies that would result in the decline of the Empire and the Royal Family.
Bloody Sunday in St Petersburg in 1905 guaranteed the downfall of the Czar and his ruling elite
In 1905, when the people marched to the Winter Palace to hand over a petition to ask for more representation in the government and for a form of democracy to be established where an Assembly comprising of the rakyat can be set up, the Czar abandoned St Petersburg and he told the army to not let the people through. More than 100 marchers were massacred in what is now known as “Bloody Sunday”.
That was the trigger that resulted in the Czar’s ouster 12 years later.
The Czar was not focused on running the country and he made many bad decisions because he was distracted by his son’s illness, the only heir to the throne (the other four children were all girls). He was more worried about his son than about the rakyat.
He declared war on Japan thinking that the Japanese are a backward race but the Japanese wiped out two-thirds of the Russian navy and sent their ships to the bottom of the Sea of Japan. It was the greatest defeat and shame Russia ever experienced in history. And the sad thing is he was advised not to go to war with Japan but he did not listen. He thought Russia was still the powerful Russia of his ancestors of 300 years earlier.
In the Battle of Tsushima, Japan wiped out Russia’s navy
When the leadership is living in the past and is not in touch with reality that is what happens. And when the leadership is not in tune with the sentiments of the rakyat that makes it worse. Then, just like in Russia 100 years ago, when the opposition to the government has a powerful propaganda machinery and is able to sway the rakyat with promises of a better future once the government changes, that is the final nail in the coffin of the ruling elite.
