“When we've got these people who have practically limitless powers within a society, if they get a pass without so much as a slap on the wrist, what example does that set for the next group of officials that come into power? To push the lines a little bit further, a little bit further, a little bit further, and we'll realise that we're no longer citizens - we're subjects.” - Edward Snowden

"I don't understand why my phone is bugged. I don't understand why my movements are monitored by the Special Branch.”

I have heard these words before. There is always that line a Malaysian crosses. That line that nobody used to talk about but these days the state assures us is there and there will be consequences if we cross it.

I have heard this question before from teachers, journalists, activists, politicians, LGBT advocates, lawyers, police personnel, newspaper vendors, coffee shop owners, bloggers, doctors, pastors, imams, priests, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, in other words, average Malaysians who found themselves under the spotlight of the state.

The people, who ask this question, know the answer. You only ask this question if you have done something. Something that crosses that line. Something, which you think, is your right, that is the right of every citizen but which invokes the ire of the state. They ask this question because they believe they have done nothing legally or morally wrong, that they were acting in good conscience, but deep down inside they know there would be consequences.

But I have never heard this from a member of the Malaysian royalty. When Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim wonders, “why they need a file about me or my father in Bukit Aman”, it makes me wonder if the Umno state has crossed a line.

Of one of the Bersih rallies I wrote: “Anyone who was there will tell you that the vast majority of protesters were law-abiding and peaceful participants in this process, but what they were up against was a police force poisoned by years of Umno interference.

“It would not surprise me if they were agent provocateurs who were amongst the peaceful protesters. The so-called SOP (standard operating procedure) of retrieving recording devices from well, everyone, is evidence that the practitioners of the dark arts were out in full force.”

The reason I mention this is that the Umno state has been defensive of those people who attempt to disrupt its powers. The state shows complete disinterest to apathetic Malaysians. In fact, apathy and ignorance are traits encouraged be it through religion, state indoctrination programmes or the words of our elected representatives.

Those days the idea that you were being monitored, was enough to cause a sense of dread. Those were the days when instant communication brought upon by technological advances, were limited to phone calls. Nobody knew what was happening. The state could work in secret and nobody was the wiser. There was a sense of control exhibited by the state. In other words, the state was not a joke but a very real menacing adversary.

These days being monitored by the state security, apparatus is not a big deal. When we have the head honchos of various departments making threats against netizens, refusing to carry out court orders, placing priority of policing Malaysians online and causally calling in people for questioning for insignificant (in any functional democracy) acts of free speech, the feeling of menace is replaced with tedium.

Provocations against the Umno order

I know enough of the Malaysian practitioners of the dark arts to know that they monitor persons of interests to the Umno state, and this includes members of the royal families. What intrigues me is the open acknowledgement of this reality by the Johor crown prince. The idea that the relationship between Umno and the royal families has reached a state where, a member of the royalty can publically ask, why he is being monitored by the security apparatus of the Umno state.

Now of course the Umno state may deny this but let us just assume they are monitoring the crown prince and his father. What would be the reason for this? I am sure the crown prince was not just throwing out a rhetorical question. I am sure the crown prince knows why he is being watched, if he is being watched that is.

When Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, says “Now, however, the Malay political parties are the ones who have imposed these limitations on the powers of the Agong in considering any legislation presented to them and even worse, forcing the Agong to accept and act according to any advice given by the cabinet”, and ends with “All of this for their political and personal gains. Johor has a mission. The mission is to restore the 'order'."

Or when the crown prince says this, “In fact, we only joined the Federation of Malaya upon both parties agreeing to several basic terms. And if any one of those terms are breached, we have every right to secede from this country."

Add to this the numerous other provocative statements coming from the king and prince of Johor, all this amounts to provocations against the Umno order. Or rather, the Najib order. Is it any wonder that considering the history of the Special Branch and its monitoring of dissident voices, there could very well be a file on the both of them?

In my interview with former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, someone who know a thing or two about taking on the Malaysian royalty, he said, “I think the rulers are concerned about their own fate in the future. They see a trend which is not healthy for them. They are not supporting me; they are supporting the removal of Najib because he is doing things that are undermining the position of the rulers.

“For example, you cannot declare an emergency without the consent of the Agong. He is now introducing a law which does away with the consent of the Agong. He himself will play that role. So this is one step of removing the role of the Agong. There maybe be others.

“So what they are doing is not because of me or supporting me, it is because they know that the future is bad. I won’t be around for very long but their future, their children’s future, new sultans will be under the thumb of Najib and also under the thumb of future prime ministers. So they worry about that.”

In the end, prince or pauper, we are all subject to and of the Umno state.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.