In yet another dramatic twist to the never-ending feud between the country’s two biggest political parties, PAS youth chief and Alor Setar MP Afnan Hamimi has taken a swipe at DAP over what he has alluded to as disrespecting the royalty.
Incidentally, he was referring to the big hoo-ha over Selangor state lawmaker Ng Suee Lim's acceptance of “datukship” title conferred on him by His Majesty Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah earlier this month; apparently this had left the party in a sticky situation prompting its secretary-general Anthony Loke to say that its central executive committee (CEC) will deliberate and decide on the matter in its next meeting.
Meanwhile, in an apparent attempt to defend himself Ng Suee Lim has said that he had duly informed the party’s leadership earlier before accepting the state honours from the Selangor Sultan; however, Ng, who is also the state exco for local government and tourism, refused to delve further into the matter; nevertheless he did state that the matter would be left to the party’s leadership while acknowledging that the issue has posed a problem for the party.
For the record, in 2018, DAP had formalised a policy for its party leaders to decline honorific titles while still in active politics; this was after four members received state honours carrying the title of "Datuk”.
In fact, historically the party has never been in favour of the awarding of titles which is part of the royal tradition in this country; this was best exemplified by it former stalwarts such as Dr Chen Man Hin and Karpal Singh who had always steadfastly opposed the conferment of honorific titles on individuals; however it has to be noted that their era was mostly during the time when DAP was in the opposition; and times may have changed though.
Last month the news portal Focus Malaysia had highlighted the dilemma faced by DAP on the issue of “datukship” conferred on its members and how its stand on the matter had courted suspicion especially among the Malays, resulting in it being slapped with the highly corrosive “anti-Malay” label for decades.
Things appeared to change though after its iconic ex-leader Lim Kit Siang became its first ever recipient of the “Tan Sri” title conferred by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in June 2023.
Actually, back in 2010, Teng Chang Khim, the former Speaker of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly was also conferred a Datukship; however it was only after he had served nearly three years in office.
That landmark incident seemed to have marked a definitive recognition for the party from the royal institution; furthermore, its acceptance of the conferment also showed that DAP respected the country’s constitutional monarchy and that the party was accepted by the royalty.
Incidentally, the news report also highlighted how at one time the party used to delight in battering its arch-rival MCA with the “anti-songkok”narrative; but does that still hold true today?
Oddly, the role seems to have been reversed now that it’s part of the state and federal government with even its secretary-general Anthony Loke seen wearing the songkok in official functions. Maybe it's time to move on with the times after all.
Come to think of it, being a party known for its pragmatism, perhaps, its current leadership could adopt a more open-minded stance on this issue; this is so that its detractors won’t use it as fodder to accuse them of not respecting local norms and customs especially where it involves the royalty.
Indeed, already PAS youth leader Afnan Hamimi had started to mock the party and asked whether the current DAP leadership were protesting against the state ruler; he also went on to castigate the party demanding that they were supposed to respect and thank the Sultan instead of “discussing” the datukship matter!
But isn't the acceptance of honorific titles by its members purely DAP’s internal matter? Which of course may prompt some to ask: why then is PAS getting all worked up over it?
After all, has the Islamist party always behaved like angels when dealing with the royalty in the past? Maybe, its youth leader has a short memory and might have forgotten how Kedah Menteri Besar and its election director Sanusi Md Nor had irked the Selangor Sultan hardly six months ago?
Main Information Source: Facebook and Focus Malaysia
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