Datukships Not Worth a Dime Today

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Malaysiakini reported:

The Johor palace has revoked two awards conferred upon MCA-turned-PKR man Chua Jui Meng, both carrying the honorific 'Datuk'.

Chua - who now sits on the PKR supreme council - said Johor Royal Council secretary Abdul Rahim Ramli had called him twice asking for him to return all his medals today.

Attempts to obtain an official response from the palace has been futile.

Chua (left) had been conferred the awards by the late Johor Sultan Mahmud Iskandar.

They were the 'Dato Paduka Makhota Johor' and the 'Seri Paduka Mahkota Johor".

Chua said Abdul Rahim refused to tell him the reason for the revocation stating that the palace was not obliged to reveal its reasons.

Chua was formerly an MCA vice-president. He left the party after an unsuccessful attempt at the president's post in the 2008 party election. He joined PKR in 2009.

COMMENTARY

Not good for the monarchy

by

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Excerpts:

Chua Jui Meng’s two datukships (were) being withdrawn by the Johor Palace.

The other Chua however, Chua Soi Lek, the MCA President, did not suffer the same fate. He did not even suffer this fate when he first got caught on video in a compromising position and admitted that the man in the video is him instead of just saying, “It sounds like me, looks like me, but he’s too ugly to be me.”

I am yet to find out what Chua Jui Meng’s crime is to warrant his datukships getting withdrawn. It must have been a very serious crime though, and we shall soon find out I suppose.

In the past, datuks who were sent to jail for fraud, embezzlement, corruption, murder, and many more such serious crimes never had their datukships withdrawn.

Going by these ‘standards’, Chua Jui Meng’s crime must be more serious than fraud, embezzlement, corruption, murder, and whatnot. It can’t be just because he resigned from MCA and joined PKR unless that is considered more serious than fraud, embezzlement, corruption, murder, etc.

I hope and pray that what Chua Jui Meng committed is a most foul crime indeed -- more serious than fraud, embezzlement, corruption, murder, or whatever. If not, that will not bode well for the palace.

As it is, it is so difficult to defend the institution of the monarchy. It is a hard enough job to convince many Malaysians that Malaysia should retain the monarchy and not be turned into a republic after what happened in Perak and the role the palace was perceived to have played in the ouster of the Pakatan Rakyat state government.


I always argue that we should not abolish the monarchy just because of the misconduct of some of the Rulers. In that same spirit we can’t abolish the police force just because many police personnel commit crimes and are more a problem than the criminals they are supposed to protect us against.

But it is becoming harder and harder for me to use this argument in the defence of the monarchy.

Let me again say what I have already said many times in the past. The future of the monarchy lies in the hands of the Rulers themselves. The conduct of the Rulers over this generation will determine whether the next generation calls for the end of the monarchy. I will not be around by then so it really would not concern me the least. So whether this generation of Rulers want to see their sons succeed the throne is entirely up to them. If not there may no longer be any throne to hand over.