Trends in Southeast Asia
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ISSN 0219-3213 2018 no. 22 Trends in Southeast Asia THE PERAK SULTANATE: TRANSITIONING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY BARBARA WATSON ANDAYA TRS22/18s ISBN 978-981-4843-34-8 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg 9 7 8 9 8 1 4 8 4 3 3 4 8 Trends in Southeast Asia 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 1 11/12/18 8:43 AM The ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (formerly Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) is an autonomous organization established in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security, and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are grouped under Regional Economic Studies (RES), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). The Institute is also home to the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC), the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre (NSC) and the Singapore APEC Study Centre. ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued more than 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world. 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 2 11/12/18 8:43 AM 2018 no. 22 Trends in Southeast Asia THE PERAK SULTANATE: TRANSITIONING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY BARBARA WATSON ANDAYA 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 3 11/12/18 8:43 AM Published by: ISEAS Publishing 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 [email protected] http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg © 2018 ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission. The author is wholly responsible for the views expressed in this book which do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Andaya, Barbara Watson. The Perak Sultanate : Transitioning into the 21st Century. (Trends in Southeast Asia Series, 0219-3213 ; TRS22/18) 1. Perak—Kings and rulers. 2. Monarchy—Malaysia—Perak. 3. Perak—Politics and government. 4. Malaysia—Politics and government. I. Title. II. Series: Trends in Southeast Asia ; TRS22/18. DS501 I59T no. 22(2018) December 2018 ISBN 978-981-4843-34-8 (soft cover) ISBN 978-981-4843-35-5 (ebook, PDF) Typeset by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 4 11/12/18 8:43 AM FOREWORD The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics. The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policymakers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region. THE EDITORS Series Chairman: Choi Shing Kwok Series Editor: Ooi Kee Beng Editorial Committee: Su-Ann Oh Daljit Singh Francis E. Hutchinson Benjamin Loh 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 5 11/12/18 8:43 AM 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 6 11/12/18 8:43 AM The Perak Sultanate: Transitioning into the 21st Century By Barbara Watson Andaya EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Although Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s earlier government (1981–2003) limited the powers and privileges of Malaysia’s nine hereditary rulers, the political influence that they could exercise was still evident in the “Perak Crisis” of 2009, which also generated public debate about royal rights. • In recent years, public wariness in Malaysia about politicians has helped the rulers present themselves as alternative sources of authority. “Monarchical activism” has been especially evident in the state of Perak, dating from 1984 when Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah, who was until then Malaysia’s Lord President, was installed as the thirty-fourth ruler. In 2014, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah. • Sultan Nazrin Shah has presented himself as a modern, educated and approachable ruler who consistently endorses the rule of law and is aware that public support for the monarch is highly dependent on meeting expectations in regard to ethical conduct and good governance. • This paper argues that although Sultan Azlan Shah and Sultan Nazrin Shah have embraced the idea of a “new” Malaysian monarchy that actively responds to changing political and social contexts, two issues with especial relevance to the situation today can be tracked through the history of Perak’s royal line since its inception in the sixteenth century. The first, arguably now of lesser importance, concerns royal succession. The second issue, still highly important, involves the ruler’s relationships with non-royal officials and with elected representatives and the public at large. 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 7 11/12/18 8:43 AM 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 8 11/12/18 8:43 AM The Perak Sultanate: Transitioning into the 21st Century By Barbara Watson Andaya1 INTRODUCTION It is difficult for students of contemporary Malaysia to write dispassionately about the institution of monarchy in a country where the Malay rulers have been protected from criticism, where they have been so embedded in Malay culture, and where they are perceived as guardians of Malay rights and of the Islamic faith. Yet in a world in which royalty is increasingly seen as anachronistic, Malaysia’s nine sultans occupy a special place. Not only do they constitute almost a quarter of the world’s monarchies, they continue to exercise considerable influence in Malaysia’s political life.2 More particularly, over the last two decades a growing public disenchantment with the dishonesty and self- interest of politicians has led many Malaysians to look to the sultans as an alternative source of leadership. To a considerable degree this has been encouraged by the rulers themselves, alienated by the limitations on royal privileges imposed during the earlier regime of the current Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and by the depth of corruption in 1 Barbara Watson Andaya is Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and former Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. She would like to thank Francis Hutchinson, Ong Kar Jin, Simon Smith, Andrew Harding, Serina Abdul Rahman and Ooi Kee Beng for their generous and helpful comments, while stressing that any errors or oversights are her own responsibility. 2 Andrew Harding, The Constitution of Malaysia: A Contextual Analysis (Oxford and Portland, OR: Hart Publishing, 2012), pp. 113–32. 1 18-J04948 01 Trends_2018-22.indd 1 11/12/18 8:43 AM the government of Najib Razak as revealed by the 1MDB scandal. In October 2015, after the domestic inquiry was halted by Najib’s dismissal of the attorney general, the Conference of Rulers issued a joint statement calling for a revival of the investigation and “stern action” against those incriminated. Two years later, the government’s unabashed politicization of Islam prompted another royal warning about the deepening of racial and religious divides.3 On the other hand, it has sometimes been difficult for individual rulers to take the moral high ground; in Pahang, Najib’s home state, 1MDB disclosures indicate that the sultan received large sums of money taken directly from development funds.4 The elections of May 2018 (GE14) brought a new coalition government to power under the banner of Pakatan Harapan, currently led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the erstwhile nemesis of the sultans. It is not yet clear whether Pakatan Harapan leaders will be able to set aside a baggage of resentment towards royal privilege and form a solid working relationship with the sultans at both state and national levels. Mahathir’s supporters claim that he is a changed man, while the sultans, energized by what one observer has called “monarchical activism” are in a far stronger position than they were in the 1980s and 1990s.5 This activism has been especially evident in the state of Perak, dating from 1984 when Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah, formerly Lord President (the highest judicial authority), was installed as the thirty-fourth ruler. In 2014 he was succeeded by his eldest son, the present ruler, Sultan Nazrin 3 Amanda Hodge, “Malay Sultans Take a Swing at Najib’s Harnessing of Political Islam”, The Australian, 11 October 2017 <https://www.theaustralian. com.au/news/world/malay-sultans-take-swing-at-najibs-harnessing-of-political- islam/news-story/5d4865455e5fb679d31ea8a648838aa5> (accessed 6 September 2018). 4 Clare Rewcastle Brown, The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story