Age Wisdom The Prince And The Syed

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A Kadir Jasin
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
PREAMBLE: Views expressed herein are entirely mine. I am writing in my personal capacity as a blogger. It has nothing to do with whatever position I may hold.
The prince and his youthful subject: the sometimes rough rideDEBATER Zalman A, had the following to say concerning the exchange between the Crown Prince of Johor and the Johor-born Youth and Sports Minister, Syed Saddid Syed Abdul Rahman:
“Around a year ago I would have said that the southern istana had earned the admiration and loyalty of the people of that state.

“They seem to want to throw it all away.

“There was that unfortunate statement about “old leaders”, and now a new atrocity:

(https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/445482)

“The fact is, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was NOT referring to events during Tun's first tenure as PM, but to the PRESENT DAY. He was merely relating a personal observation.

“In any case, many Ministers in Tun's cabinet (past and present) have said the same.

“So the issue of "mother's belly" is irrelevant.

“Datuk, on a completely unrelated subject I found this saying: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and to remove all doubt.

“Not sure why I suddenly remembered this.

“Of course it’s not connected to my first few paragraphs.

“Daulat Tuanku!”
The above comment was published in my most recent post entitled “Perdana Menteri di PBB: Mesej Beliau Sejagat dan Selari”.
Princely Rebuke
Zalman A was referring to a widely circulated criticism of Syed Saddiq by the Tengku Mahkota for describing the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Maharhir Mohamad, a perfectionist.
According to media report, the prince had suggested in a Twitter posting that Syed Saddiq “was too young to understand the Prime Minister.”
“Perfectionist? It’s either you’re delusional or obsessed,” the Tengku Mahkota Johor (TMJ) said.

This came a day after Syed Saddiq wrote a tribute to Dr Mahathir, praising the veteran leader as meticulous and “master of his own work”.

“He writes his own speeches, he writes his own blogposts, he even does a lot of the research work on his own,” Saddiq wrote on his Facebook, dismissing claims that Mahathir’s recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly was scripted.

As a footnote to history, let me tell the younger people that before he became a medical doctor and later a politician, Dr Mahathir was a writer. As early as 1946, the Singapore-based Straits Times had started publishing his writing.


The prince belligerence towards the Prime Minister is unsurprising. Just days before the May 9 General Election he had called on the people to open their eyes and not be deceived by a 93-year-old individual who wants to be prime minister.
He asked the people to use their wisdom, saying he knew things that they did not.
"This is the time to restore order to a system damaged by a 93-year-old individual who now wants to be the prime minister,” the New Straits Times reported.
When the 93-year old won the election and Johor fell to the Pakatan Harapan, the message was loud and clear – the Johor people did not heed his call
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Age & Wisdom
Pardon me for saying that age is not the absolute measure wisdom or foolishness. Being an ordinary Syed in Johor, I think Syed Saddiq is very mature for his age.
Maybe he isn't as mature as I was at that age (haha) because at 25 I was already married. On the flip side, however, at 25 I was a struggling reporter and he is a cabinet minister.
You can be older but if you were born with silver spoons, received “public school” education and lead a princely lifestyle, you have the luxury of delaying your maturity. You can choose to be a carefree youngster for a much longer time.
But ordinary young people like Syed Saddiq do not have such a luxury. In any case, the Tengku Mahkota at 34 isn’t exactly “old” compared to Syed Saddiq who is 25. They are only nine years apart.To give this whole age thing a perspective, let me put it this way. Tunku Ismail Idris Abdul Majid Abu Bakar Iskandar ibni Sultan Ibrahim Ismail wasn’t yet born when we amended the Constitution pertaining to the power of the King in 1983 and he was only 9 years old when we amended the statute book again in 1993.
The first amendment was to give the Federal and State Legislatures the absolute power to make and enforce laws and the second amendment was to restrict the immunity of the King and the Malay Rulers to the performance of their official duties only.
Incidentally both amendments traced their origins to Johor.
The Stadium Chief
Then there’s the rather “unpopular” choice of the high-profile airline pioneer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandez, as the chairman of the Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia by the Youth and Sports Ministry.
The Air Asia co-founder (with Datuk Kamarudin Meranun) became the unlikely poster boy of Barisan Nasional’s desperate election campaign when he painted one of the company’s Airbus A330 jetliners in the BN’s colours and flew then caretaker Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mappadulung Daeng Mattimung Karaeng Sanrobone Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, home from a campaign trip in Sabah.
Tony Fernandez (right): Praising Najib in living coloursI am sure a man as important and as creative as Fernandez would not accept the chairmanship of an obscure government corporation just for the sake of it.
Thus if he hasn't yet think of some grand ideas to cap this somewhat controversial appointment, he better do it quickly.
For a start, he could use his wealth and his marketing prowess to bring some of the world’s best football teams for exhibition matches and, like my form-five daughter said, while at that he could also bring the likes of Harry Styles to perform at the National Stadium.
I am sure he does not want to mark his chairmanship of the Stadium Corporation of Malaysia with the same lacklustre outcomes as his venture into the English football and Formula 1.
My dear Tan Sri you have to do better than that.
Thank You.

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