Saturday, March 7, 2009

Respecting the Sultans

Some people in this country seem to think that they do not have to respect the sultans. They say that respect is something that one has to earn. They are right. But a sultan is not a person in the true sense of the word. He is an institution. An institution can do no wrong. Only a person does wrong thing. In the same way, parliament is an institution. We have to respect it even when the law makers talk rubbish and throw chairs at each other when they do not agree over certain thing.

I know of sultans who do not behave. They have gambling debt and somebody had to bail him out. They ran huge debt which they did not honor. I know of one who was convicted of man slaughter. As persons, one may chose to disrespect them but as institution, we have not much choice but to respect them. They represent institution that holds Malaysia together

No comments: