Malaysiakini（http://www.malaysiakini.com）
Prince ponders why 'only Malays' insult rulers, 17 June 2012
by Leven Woon
Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said in a Twitter posting yesterday he felt sad and regretful that a slew of criticisms made against the royalty were committed by Malays.
“I feel saddened and regretful. Why are the Malays the only ones are trying to overthrow the royalty?”
This came days after his father, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar expressed unhappiness over former Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin's recent criticism on the ruler's RM520,000 purchase of the WWW1 car number plate.
In the posting yesterday, he also asked why other races did not waste time making critical statements on the rulers and were more focused on succeeding in life.
The 28-year-old prince also implied that Malays would be sidelined should Malaysia do away with royalty.
"I would like to see what will happen to the Malays if our beloved country becomes like Singapore. If there is hardship, don't be busy looking for a king then," he said.
He ended the five-line posting by urging people to stop daydreaming and learn to appreciate what they had.
PAS confident
In a related development, PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayub opined that the Nizar row will not affect Johor PAS from winning the state in the upcoming general election.
He told Sinar Harian in a report today that the political maturity of Johoreans would lead them to a proper assessment of the incident.
The PAS heavyweight who intends to contest in his home state of Johor also said that it was BN which has the longer record of going against, or insulting the royalty.
He said the opposition pact in Johor is not about amending the federal constitution or state laws, hence the royalty will continue to be respected.
Meanwhile, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang also told the Malay daily that PAS will deal with Nizar on the issue and did not need not intervention from other quarters.
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