Comments on: Sultan insulted

By: Morpheuse Esq.

Morpheuse Esq. — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 02:52:00 +0000

just the Johore sultanates? some of the other Sultanates who are frequently seen on the pages of Tatler are more often than not cut from the same cloth as well. reminds me of the time an Istana was being built and rumored to have a casino inside… because the Sultan (not from Johore) was an avid gambler.

i agree on the Tony Stark comment of course, its just that with so many hanger-ons and descendants, a few bad apple will probably thrust the royalties into the limelight… (btw, Syed is also a honorific and used as such in Malaysia to denote lineage from the Prophet Muhammad SAW. so maybe its another dynastic / entitled family feud? who knows these things… Dallas is back on air too!)

also – bring on the MAGIC POWARZ!

By: T-Boy

T-Boy — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 01:41:00 +0000

Well, to be fair, the Johore Sultanate isn’t terribly known for the mental stability of its rulers. While the current line of Sultans were descended from regents, the reason why there was a regency is pretty horrible/awesome: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makam_Sultan_Mahmud_Mangkat_Dijulang

Mind you, I went to school with one of Megat Seri Rama’s descendants. Nice girl. You wouldn’t have realized the fact that her ancestors were descended from a warrior driven to regicide due to the fact that said ruler was a pregnancy-hating maniac.

In any case, even the line of regents were considered beyond the pale — the other sultans (there are like nine sultanates in Peninsular Malaysia; most of them, as a comment upthread says, are figureheads, although they tend to be figureheads with MAGIC POWARZ) used to complain that the Regents of Johor tended to be brandy-drinking billiards-playing wastrels, and they were bringing down the image of Sultans being the leaders of their religion and culture.

That may have been true, but I mostly see it as sour grapes and jealousy, because the Johor Sultanate did maintain their (relative) independence from British rule, mostly by doing what the King of Siam was doing — modernizing the state apparatus, introducing modern education, creating a civil service, and generally giving two fingers in the direction of the British Empire for as long as they could manage it.

Generally, I see the Johor Sultans as the Malay Sultanate version of Tony Stark — pretty cool if he has a long-term project, and manages some pretty awesome / horrible things, but if he has got nothing to do he’ll just end up drinking and beating up the hired help.

By: len

len — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 21:22:00 +0000

In Malaysian slang uncle and auntie (pakcik and makcik) can be used to address older strangers- similar to Madam or Sir.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Uncleseekers is both a brilliant name for a blog, and an utterly ridiculous one all at the same time.

I just imagine a bunch of people desperately seeking their long lost uncles, not feeling complete withouth more extended family.

By: outercow

outercow — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 09:06:00 +0000

Well, wtf was the secret information? How the hell could someone write a story about what happened to someone after they publicly released “secret information” and not include the supposedly now public secret information in the article? How… how does a thinking writer do that?

By: Morpheuse Esq.

Morpheuse Esq. — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 08:41:00 +0000

not surprised. the guy have a history of being unstable (before this he claimed he was the lover of the former Queen of Malaysia and publishing sensational stuff about their relationship) as well as being a huge dick when interviewed…

also known as calling banshee as bitches…in SyFy Destination Truth Season 2 Eps 7 (or 13th episode)

By: kiptw

kiptw — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 03:47:00 +0000

I came here to see who said it before I could, but yeah.

By: Lee Wei Yen

Lee Wei Yen — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 02:59:00 +0000

To be fair, Malaysia’s sultans are (supposed to be) the equivalent of Britain’s dukes — figureheads.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:24:00 +0000

The Sultan of Brunei (who’s also incidentally the Prime Minister and President) is one of the richest people in the world. He’s in the news rather regularly.

By: Finnagain

Finnagain — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 20:01:00 +0000

Thanks, came here to say this.

By: Smoobly Renfrew

Smoobly Renfrew — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:34:00 +0000

The full quote is “Sultan insulted in Malay melée.” Thank you, Firesign Theatre.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Government officials should not, under any circumstances, be able to use state secrets as a pretext for putting themselves above the law and flouting the fundamental right to information

Based on past behaviors, this should be applied to the US gov along with the Malaysian royales.

By: kartwaffles

kartwaffles — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:23:00 +0000

There are countries that have _sultans_ in the year 2012? Dang.

By: Teirhan

Teirhan — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:20:00 +0000

all right, I’m calling it, JUL6 is “international ruling figures with thin skin” day.