A lot of readers seem to not understand why the Yang Di Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan has to entertain the wishes of the 4 Undangs who seek to remove him, when the 4 Undangs are not even levying any specific charges against the Yamtuan Besar, so I will just make this simple for you.
The Yang Di Pertuan Besar is like the Agong, while the 4 Undangs are like the 9 Kings of the states that sit in the Majlis Raja Raja.
Just like the Agong is selected by the Majlis Raja Raja to serve as the ruler of the federation, the Yamtuan Besar is selected by the Undangs to be the ruler of Negeri Sembilan.
That the 4 Undangs now seek to have the Yamtuan Besar removed from office is thus akin to the 8 kings in the Majlis Raja Raja wanting to remove the Agong. (8, because the ninth king will be the one serving as the Agong.)
If the 8 kings wish for the Agong to be removed and replaced, can you ask why the Agong has to entertain the desires of the 8 kings? If not, then you can't ask why the Yamtuan Besar has to entertain the wishes of the 4 Undangs either.
By the way, the concept of selecting an Agong for the country was literally taken from the concept of selecting the Yamtuan Besar for Negeri Sembilan. There are some differences - the 4 Undangs do not select a Yamtuan Besar from amongst themselves, while the 9 kings do select an Agong from amongst themselves, and there is no term limit for the Yamtuan Besar selected by the Undangs, who usually serves for life, while the Agong selected by the 9 kings only serves for 5 years, but otherwise it is the same system.
As for the reason why the 4 Undangs desire that the Yamtuan Besar be replaced and removed, well, actually the 4 Undangs don't have to provide a detailed public explanation.
The 4 Undangs have vaguely stated that the reason that they wish to remove and replace the Yamtuan Besar has to do with the Yamtuan Besar breaching their customs and traditions, but giving the "customs and tradition" reason will not give the public much clarification as to what was the actual issue that caused a major rift between the Undangs and the Yamtuan Besar.
However, just because the "customs and tradition" reason does not give us much clarification, it doesn't mean it is not a valid reason.
It might actually be a valid reason, because "customs and tradition" is the reason why such institutions as Monarchy exist not only in our country, but probably in all nations in the world.
Everything in this world exists because it fulfills the conditions for its existence.
The role of a CEO, for example, exists because the CEO can make profit for a company and ensure that the company is not doing anything against the law where it is operating - if a CEO fails to fulfill these conditions, the CEO will likely be replaced and removed.
The role of the Prime Minister exists because they have received the mandate of the people to lead the country, and as long as the Prime Minister has the mandate of the people, he or she can continue to lead the country.
As for the institution of the Monarchy, the condition that they have to fulfill to exist has to do with the customs, traditions and perhaps even the religion of their subjects.
Now what does it mean that the King is supposed to uphold the customs and traditions of his subjects?
Well, what it basically means is that it is the King's role to ensure that their subjects can continue to be as they are accustomed to being and as how they have always, or traditionally, been.
So when the 4 Undangs of Negeri Sembilan are saying that they wish to replace and remove the Yamtuan Besar because the Yamtuan Besar is going against their customs and traditions, what I believe it means is that the 4 Undangs do not feel that they can be as they are accustomed to being or function as how they have always or traditionally functioned under the reign of the current Yamtuan Besar.
In institutions that depend on custom and tradition, it is very difficult to change things. It is very difficult to change things because, by definition, an institution that runs on customs and tradition depends on things not changing in order to exist.
So far, the 4 Undangs have not publicly provided a detailed or officially substantiated explanation for why they attempted to remove the Yamtuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan. Most reports only mention vague references to alleged “misconduct” or breaches of adat and constitutional expectations, but no concrete charges or evidence have been publicly disclosed.
Because there have not been any concrete reasons or explanations given, I will go on a limb and speculate that the reason for the conflict between the 4 Undangs and the Yamtuan Besar today might stem from the Yamtuan Besar making changes that are construed to be too big or too fast, by the 4 Undangs, which has then caused the Undangs to not feel that they can continue to be as they are accustomed to being or function how they have always or traditionally functioned, which then moved them to seek the removal and replacement of the Yamtuan Besar under the reasoning that the Yamtuan Besar has breached the customs and traditions of the institution.
As to what this "breach of adat" could possibly mean, well, if you ask me, it could mean anything, and just because one might not be able to explain it rationally or clearly, it doesn't mean it is not a valid reason.
Let me just use you as an example.
Say by custom and tradition, your son or daughter is used to calling you father. What if tomorrow they suddenly decided to call you by your name instead? This is likely going to cause a problem in your relationship with your children, although you can't logically explain why. After all, what is so wrong with them calling you by your name? It is your name. When other people call you by your name, you don't mind. There are even some people at your workplace who are the same age as your children calling you by your name, and you don't mind that either. So how do you explain why you are so upset that your children are calling you by your name?
The only thing that you can probably say is that it is in breach of the customs and traditions of your family, and the rest of us will just have to read between the lines and understand that a big and too-fast a change has occurred in your relationship with your children, which is then causing you to become estranged from them.
As it is with your children and you, so it probably is with the Undangs and their Yamtuan Besar.
TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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