The 'Sultan' and his minions
Despite the severity of ascension of the now well-known Datu Akjan to the throne of the highly disputed Sulu Sultan which have attracted criticism of many loyal Malaysians who see,view and feel that this land is their only place of abode, there are many who view his ascension as a petty or trivial matter.
Indeed, there are those in favour of his action and duly acknowledge his as a sacrifice and an act of loyalty to Malaysia, just like what Datu Akjan attributed his action few days after the so called coronation. Once again true and loyal Malaysians fail to see his action as a sacrifice apart from a clear treachery and an open insult to the nation and a direct affront to Yang DiPertuan Agong. Any rational thinking Malaysians will see his action as only serving his individual purpose of self grandising. Does he in his righteous and rightful thinking believe that Malaysians particularly in Sabah will fall for his ulterior reason? <
Being a Malaysian, he is barred legally from accepting such position since Malaysians cannot possess dual citizenship. By accepting the offer (or whatever he and his supporters call it) means he is accepting to become a Filipino and hence he has to surrender his Malaysian citizenship or is he a Malaysian in the first place? Loyalty to his country is the first and foremost one must possess without exception. Accepting the throne is obviously akin to clear disregard and insult to this nation.
His agreement to ascend to the throne should be a clear answer to what the Home Affairs Minister's query on the law that Akjan has transgressed. Being a citizen of this country one cannot accept such position which clearly requires him to drop his citizenship and permanently establishes himself in the Philippines. It is impossible to remain here in Sabah while he is the Sultan of another country?
Daily Express later published a photo of the Ruler of Negeri Sembilan with another Sulu Sultan which then raises a pertinent issue- who is the rightful Sultan? Him or the one who is invited to the Palace of Negeri Sembilan? Watching a documentary by Al Jazeera back in 2008 makes me wonder how many Sulu Sultans are there? Those featured in the documentary bore the name Kiram as part of their names but evidently Akjan does not.
Perhaps another issue here is the deafening silence of the BN backbone;UMNO. Unlike other local BN components, they remain silent on the issue except for its former Youth Head. Being the leaders,they should be at the forefront championing such issue which will determine the future of this nation and Sabah in particular. Perhaps because they share the same blood and faith but I for one despite being a Muslim (unlike the so called Secretary of Yayasan Islam Sabah) feels strongly against Akjan's blatant disrespect of this nation. In Islam, defending one's country is compulsory hence I fail to see the logic behind UMNO's appalling inaction on such major issue.
Being a Malaysian born and hopefully one day dies in Sabah, the issue involving the sovereignty of this land is truly a major thing not any ordinary or petty matters which many of our so called leaders prefer to indulge themselves in. Perhaps, they have forgotten the fact that they do not have any other place or others to turn to when this beautiful land of ours falls to outsiders. We need to keep reminding ourselves to the fate of the Palestinians today which originated from their lackadaisical attitude and inaction back in 1948 when the British deliberately carved Israel out from the Palestine.
