13th General Election of Malaysia ; The Result

The 13th General Election has come to past. After securing 133 seats of 222 contested seats in the election, the Barisan Nasional (National Front) succeeded in forming a federal government with simple majority. The National Front even though by and large won the election, they still suffers a minor set back compare to that of 2008 election. In the State election however, they manage to take back the State of Kedah and securing victory in the State of Perak. Even though there are still controversy of their victory in the State of Terengganu. 

The Chairman of Barisan Nasional, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak officially sworn in as the Prime Minister of Malaysia yesterday before His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah. The ceremony was held yesterday on 4.07 pm attended by Her Majesty the Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tuanku Hajah Haminah. Also present in the ceremony were former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Hj Ahmad Badawi, Tun Hjh Rahah Noah and leaders of Barisan Nasional and its component parties. 

The ceremony started with the Prime Minister sworn in and signing the instrument of appointment as the Prime Minister witnessed by the Chief Justices of Malaysia, Tun Arifin Zakaria and the General-Secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa. The appointment made by the King is according to the Federal Constitution Chapter 2 (a) Article 43. 

The 13th General Election of Malaysia

Today is the historic day for all of Malaysia, the 13th General Election is finally held. All political parties in Malaysia has started their bit to gain the support of the voters and not to mention to renew their mandate as the ruling parties. In 2013, the political landscape in Malaysia has changed dramatically. Malaysia parliamentary democracy allowed a multi-parties system, nevertheless most of parties in Malaysia has align themselves into two major coalition the Barisan Nasional and the Pakatan Rakyat. This is due to the fact that no political parties can survives alone in Malaysia political landscape. A multi-racial country and yet consist of two major geographical land of Malaya and Borneo, need the parties to find an ally to assist them. And in addition, those who does not want to ally themselves with BN and PR, has emerges themselves as the Third Power. (Even though they mostly does not gives any major threat to BN and PR).

As a Johorean, I am a core supporter of BN. Nevertheless, I am open to any changes that PR had to offer. PR has proves themselves capable of leading a State Government even though some problems did exist in the Government. I'm sure all Government faces the same problems including BN. I wish all the best for the Chairman of BN, Dato Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak in this General Election. May he is given a new mandate by the voters after proving himself as a Prime Minister for already 4 years. For BN, their motto is always Dulu, Kini, Selamanya (Past, Present, Always).

And to the PR, I wish all the best to the De Facto Leader of PR, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim to lead the PR to regain their mandate. Known as 'Warrior of Deception' as a debater, his speeches is indeed fatal to any who dare to opposed him. For PR, their motto is always Jom Ubah (Let's Change).

Wishing all the best to all political parties in Malaysia in this year election. Win or lose is not important. What most important is we as a voters gives our bit to choose a worthy candidate to lead the Government. And, it is up to our beloved King to choose the one that have the most support in the Parliament as the Prime Minister. 

Royal Round-up ; In the middle of April 2013 (I)

Finally, I get to update the blog once more. It is already in the middle of April. There are many news regarding the royal for this month, so probably it will takes me quite a while for me to covered the royal news. First, we will start with the most important news from the Land of Greatness, or officially known as Johor Darul Takzim. His Royal Highness the Tunku Mahkota (Crown Prince) of Johor previously has announced his resignation as the President of Johor State Football Association and will only acted as Patron. Nevertheless, many are against his action. And among them include His Royal Highness the Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang. 

In his official statement in Istana Abu Bakar, the Sultan Ahmad Shah are against the action of the Johor's Crown Prince. The Crown Prince and his father the Sultan of Johor even met an audience with the Sultan of Pahang regarding the issue and spent around an hour discussing it. And after the meeting, the Crown Prince has reconsider to take back his decision and stayed as the President of Johor State Football Association.

In the internet and social websites, the decision of the Crown Prince to stay as President received many approval from the people. Especially after the people has witnessed the fruition of the royal effort to develop the Football Club of Johor and improved it to return the team back to its former glory. Supporters of the Johor Football Team, the Johor Darul Takzim also had once again flocking at the team's home stadium, the Larkin Stadium. Just like in the past, the visitors had once against revive the once lost fearsome 'War cry of Larkin'. Royal is as Royal do. Kudos to the Crown Prince. 

picture from

Royal and Rulers Round-up ; The first week of April

The month of April had just beginning and I can't get myself to update the blog as frequent as before. Thus, rather than update it daily, I will try to update it when I can get myself to online to the internet. The internet coverage in Sarawak rural area is not as good as in the urban area. So, lets us see what is our beloved rulers do in the first week of April. In North Malaya, the Penangites witnessed their Yang Dipertua Negeri (Head of State) sworn-in for another 2-year term. His Excellency Tun Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abas were reappointed as the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Pulau Pinang effectively on 1st May 2013 until 1st May 2015. Accompanied the Head of State is his wife (or should I say the First Lady of Pulau Pinang?), The Honourable Toh Puan Hajah Majimor binti Sharif. Also present in the ceremony is the Chief Minister of Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng and wife, Betty Chew.

In the Federal Capital, the long awaited news finally arrived when the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak had meet an audience with His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the Supreme Ruler) of Malaysia, Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah to advise the Supreme Ruler for the dissolution of the 12th Parliament of Malaysia. The mandate of the current government will ended on 28th April 2013. The Prime Minister had done his best waiting until his 4th anniversary as the Prime Minister of Malaysia on 3rd April 2013 to advise the Supreme Ruler to dissolve the Parliament. He also advised to the States Government of Malaysia to seek an audience with their respective Head of States to dissolved their respective State Assembly. Up until the date of dissolution of Parliament, the Negeri Sembilan had automatically dissolved when the mandate had ended on 28th March 2013. The State of Sarawak will not joins the General Election as their already have their State Election in 2011.  

In the Southern Malaya, another news brought up when the Tunku Mahkota (Crown Prince) of Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris ibni Sultan Ibrahim resigned his position as the President of Johor State Football Association. His action in his official statement received a royal consent from his father, His Royal Highness Sultan Ibrahim of Johor. The Crown Prince also stated that in his capacity as the Crown Prince, it is really hard for him to manage the State Football Association which are bind with FAM rules and law. Thus, he will be acted as a Patron to the Association fitted his position as the Crown Prince. Previously, the Crown Prince had been penalized as been suspended as President for 6 months following his statement criticized the FAM.

picture from Bernama and Maharum Bugis Syah

Korean Ambassador meet an audience with the Raja of Perlis

His Royal Highness the Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail consent to receive an audience from the Korean Ambassador to Malaysia, Lee Yong-Joon at Istana Arau on Thursday night. Accompanied the Raja of Perlis were his consort, Her Royal Highness the Raja Perempuan of Perlis, Tuanku Fauziah ibni Tengku Abd Rashid. Also present were the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) and the Raja Puan Muda (Crown Princess) of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail and Tuanku Lailatul Shahreen Akashah binti Khalil Akashah. 

Ambassador Lee was accompanied by senior officers from South Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, including Economic Counselor, Park Jung Sung and First Secretary, Lee Chul, who arrived in Perlis yesterday after visiting the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2013. The Korean delegates also include Deputy Chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (Kocham), Baek Seung Ryeul and General Manager of Onsemiro Restaurant Malaysia, Kim Yu Ni.

picture from Maharum Bugis Shah

A visit to Grape Plantation

His Excellency the Yang Dipertua Negeri (Head of State) of Sarawak, Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin bin Abang Barieng visited the Grape Plantation at MARDI Agroteknologi Park, Langkawi yesterday. The grape plantation were managed by Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute. Also accompanied the Head of State were his wife, The Honourable Toh Puan Hajah Norkiah. 

Also can be seen accompanied the Head of State in his visit were the Director of MARDI, Datuk Dr Abd Shukor Abd Rahman. 

Picture from Bernama

The Supreme Ruler visited the LIMA Exhibition

His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The Supreme Ruler) of Malaysia, Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah graced the LIMA Exhibition which was held in conjunction of the 12th Langkawi International Maritime Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) at Mahsuri International Exhibition Center (MIEC), Langkawi yesterday. The Supreme Ruler were accompanied by his consort, Her Majesty the Raja Permaisuri Agong (the Supreme Queen) of Malaysia, Tuanku Hajah Haminah. Their Majesty arrival at 10.45am were greeted by Malaysia Defense Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

Their Majesties were accompanied by Chief of the Armed Forces, General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin and the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense, Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Ahmad. 

Their Majesties also visited and watching air shows performed by teams from the participating countries, including The Smokey Bandits from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), the Krisakti 1Malaysia Aerobatic Team and The Russian Knights of Russia. 

picture from Bernama

Royalty ; the Dilemma of Sulu Sultanate

The recent ongoing event of Filipino armed intruders in Sabah probably is just beginning of the claimant of Sabah episode by the descendant of Sulu Sultanate. In 1963, Malaysia was founded by the 4 entity of previously the colony of British, Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah which previously was a territory of Sulu Sultanate was leased (or ceded, according to the agreement) to the North Borneo Chartered Company and after World War II, its been transferred to British as a Crown Colony. The Sulu Sultanate up until this day still dispute the inclusion of Sabah into the federation and try to claimed it back as their territory even though the Sultanate of Sulu is visually, non-existence.

There are two questions that I would like to highlight in this Royalty discussion topic.

1. The Sulu Royalty since 1836 had always tried to claimed back Sabah rather than focusing their struggle to gain independence from the United States. Why?
2. In comparison to others non-reigning Sultanates in the region, each and every one of their royalty united under the name of one pretender. But to Sulu Royalty, there are numbers of pretenders. Why?

How can the Sultanate sinks into her current state today? Here is the explanation.

The designated Sultan

The last Sultan of Sulu, His Highness Sultan Jamalul Kiram II is the Sultan of Sulu who had signed an agreement known as the Carpenter Agreement which transferred all of his sovereignty to the United States. Nevertheless, the Sultan died heir-less. Thus the throne was succeeded by his brother, the Sultan Mawallil Wasit.

The Sultan Mawallil Wasit only reigning only for six months before he died due to poisoning. The death of Sultan Mawallil Wasit in 1936 has triggered a series of succession crisis in Sulu. A niece to Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, Dayang-Dayang Hajah Piandao has acted as "Sandah" or Regent during this time. Nevertheless, the Dayang-Dayang Hajah Piandao has done the outrageous act which proclaimed her husband, Datu Ombra Amilbangsa as the Sultan of Sulu, Sultan Amirul Umara II even though his husband is not the rightful heir to the throne. 

Not only that she proclaimed her husband as the Sultan of Sulu (Clearly due to her own personal gain), She also the one who filed a claimant to the High Court of North Borneo regarding the Sabah payment according to 1876 Agreement (Claiming Sabah is more important to her rather than fighting for independence from United States I supposed). The other members of the royal family who against the act proclaimed another member of the Royal family named Datu Tambuyung, who is the great-grandson of Sultan Shakirullah (1821-1823) as the Sultan of Sulu using the reigning named of Sultan Jainal Abirin. This is the starting point of the Sulu Royalty to have more than one Sultan at one time. (Not to mention those who are not Royalty also try their luck to become the Sultan of Sulu.)

It is under this time that the Philippine Government under the memorandum of 20th September 1937 does not acknowledge any heirs from Sultan Jamalul Kiram II as the Sultan of Sulu.

The Claimant of lost territory

It is unpredictable to say of what will happens to the Sulu claimant of Sabah in the future. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that it took a wise, brilliant and dependable Sultan to do the job of reclaiming the lost territory. We doesn't have to look far into other continents because this so called the claimant of territory lost due to cession agreement example is here in our own backyard. Not to mention we have the example of Those who dropped the claimed, Those who succeeded in the claimed, and those who failed.  

Those who dropped the claimed

The case of Sulu and Sabah has a very closed resemblance with the case of Sultanate of Kedah and the State of Pulau Pinang, both are States of Malaysia. The Penang Island and Province Wellesley are both ceded to the British during the agreement of Francis Light and Sultan Abdullah of Kedah in order to protect the Sultanate from the Siamese invasion. Up until this days, the State of Penang still paid an annual cession payment of RM10,000 to the Sultanate of Kedah. Even though there are attempt by historian to claimed Pulau Pinang back to the Sultanate, the two States are living quite harmoniously and co-existence with one another. 

Those who succeeded the claimed  

Remember, it took a brilliant and dependable Sultan to succeed in the claimant of lose territory. And Sultan Alang Iskandar Shah of Perak is an example of a brilliant Sultan in his days (Something that Dayang-dayang Hajah Piandao lack). The territory of Dindings were once previously ceded to British and at some point becoming a Straits Settlement. Nevertheless, Sultan Alang Iskandar Shah manage to reclaimed back his lost territory and currently the Dinding is a district in the Sultanate of Perak. Many Malaysian, even Perakian has already forget that the Dindings were previously a Straits Settlements.

Those who failed.

After witnessing the House of Bendahara been ousted from Singapore, it is inevitable for Temenggung Abu Bakar to witnessed that  he also would lost the territory of Singapore to British (which once a territory of the Sultanate of Johor). In the agreement, British would paid S15,000 annually to Temenggung Abu Bakar as cession payment of Singapore. Nevertheless, he is also a brilliant leader to not accepting the payment but made one slight twist in the agreement. Rather than received the payment, he would like a permanent grant of land settlement in Singapore. Which the British agreed and the Sultan of Johor, even though lost the island of Singapore, manage to deflect a total lost where his personal property in Singapore still belong to him. And up until this day, the Flag of Johor still waving proudly in the heart of Singapore, and the Masjid Temenggung on the piece of land still been managed up to this day, by the Government of Johor.

Conclusion 
 

So, as the conclusion, it is already too late for the descendant of Sulu Royalty to claimed back the Sabah territory as the Sabahan up until this day rejecting the idea of handed over the State back to Sulu. It is also weird to think about it, because how a small island of Sulu has the guts to claimed a vast land of Sabah. (All the above land concession mention above only cover a piece of land of the respective Sultanate's vast territory). It is best to give suggestion for the Sulu Sultanate to learn how to co-exist with the State of Sabah peacefully just like how the Sultanate of Kedah and State of Pulau Pinang can live with one another and not came up with barbaric solution of announcing war to others. 

PS :: picture will come as soon as possible.

A visit from the Queen

Her Majesty the Raja Permaisuri Agong (the Supreme Queen) of Malaysia, Tuanku Hajah Haminah consent to visit the families of the late Inspector Zulkifli bin Mamat and Coperal Sabaruddin bin Daud who died in the battle of Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, Sabah on 1st March 2013. The Tuanku Hajah Haminah departed to the Malaysian Royal Air Force base in Subang to visit and gave her personal contribution to the families. Both of the families were at the Subang Air Base to claimed the late body of Zulkifli and Sabaruddin to be laid to rest at their respective homeland. In the picture, the Queen is seen touching the cheek of the late Inspector Zulkifli's son watched by his wife, Nor Aziah who sits on a wheelchair. She is currently pregnant with their third child. 

picture from Maharum Bugis Syah 

2013 Lahad Datu Standoff ; Radin's Blog Official Statement

On 1 March 2013, three days after Malaysia's extended deadline for the intruders to leave Lahad Datu, a firefight between the Malaysian Security Forces and Filipino armed intruders broke off in the silent village of Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, Sabah. The Filipino intruders, claiming themselves as the Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo was sent by Jamalul Kiram III, one of the pretenders to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu. They arrived from Simunul Island, Tawi-Tawi of Southern Philippines on 11 February 2013. Their objective is to resolved their unresolved territorial claim to eastern Sabah. They arrived in the number of 235 people and some of them were armed. 

14 people were killed in the skirmish where 2 of them are Malaysian Police Commandos. The Police also has ordering the armed intruders to surrender by sending a leaflets through from airdropped both in Malay and Suluk reading : "Warning, Lay down your arm. Surrender. Surrender. Surrender." The armed intruders had been cordoned off by the police on Feb 12 after their arrival and put their claim in Sabah. Due to the skirmish, the town of Lahad Datu is almost deserted with many of the business premises closed down and the dwindling of the number of vehicles. 

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abd Razak has stated that, he had given Malaysian Security Forces to take "any action" against the group. He also added that there will be no compromise for the sultanate's forces and that "either they surrender or face the consequences". 

Jamalul Kiram III, the false pretender

Who is exactly Jamalul Kiram III and what is his relation with the Sulu Sultanate? He is one of many pretenders to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu. It is unclear the reason why he wants to claim the Sabah territory even though his claim is a false one, as he is among those of fake pretenders trying his luck to become a Sultan of Sulu. His bloodline is actually descended through his father Sultan Punjungan Kiram by his wife, Sharif Usna Dalus Strattan. His father is not a royalty by blood but only a stepson to Sultan Mawallil Wasit, brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II who died childless. Sultan Punjungan Kiram were actually a son of Sultan Mawallil Wasit's wife named, Mora Napsa Laga by her previous husband, an Imam named Amil Hamja before she been coerced to marry Sultan Mawallil Wasit. 

So, Jamalul Kiram III is actually does not even have the rights to the throne of Sulu as he is only a descendant of the stepson of the royal. Thus, from his behavior we can actually stated that he is unfit to rule and not qualified even by moral to be installed as the Sultan of Sulu.

Radin's Blog Official Statement

Due to recent conflict arose in Lahad Datu and the problems they have caused to Sabah, the State Beneath the Wind, it is obvious he doesn't even has the basic of a true monarch. A Sultan need to be compassion and try his best to protect his subjects well-being and not declaring war to others just for his own personal gain. Radin's Blog from this day onward reject, deny and will not acknowledge any claims from Jamalul Kiram III and his descendants to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu.