The history books are all clamouring that the Malay is loyal to his king, and will never ever commit 'menderhaka' or be traitorous to his sultan. Any well meaning Malay person worthy of his kris would claim the same thing. Hang Tuah, the all-time great Malay warrior, had to kill his very close friend Hang Jebat just to demonstrate his loyalty to the sultan.

But time has changed the Malay. The Malay of today is more than just traitorous to his sultan and king. He also robs his country dry and blow to bits the dignity and prestige of the gentle Malay race and culture. Fact being stranger than fiction, all these are committed in the name of 'agama bangsa dan negara' - religion, race and country.

I am not talking in riddles. Last June, the Sultan of Perak Raja Azlan Shah had to come out of His Majesty's constitutional silence by talking about the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary. The sultan pointed out that 'the judiciary have always been regarded as the true guardian of justice'. He said that 'the law would not be effective in dispensing justice unless its implementation mechanisms were based on procedures that were fair and transparent and administered by judges who were qualified, independent and of high integrity'.

The sultan did not mention any specific cases, but he certainly did refer to the prevailing legal environment in the country. The sultan takes serious umbrage (the royal term is 'murka') and is most terribly upset over the Malaysian legal system. The public perception is that judges are appointed based not on their merits but on political affiliation; that cases they handled are judged not on merit but on politically correct glasses.

Sultan Raja Azlan Shah was once upon a time Lord President, so he certainly knows what he is talking about. In other words, he is irate and the Ketuanan Melayu government has been the cause of it all. The Ketuanan Melayu mind has in other words committed 'menderhaka' 21st century style.

In early December, the Sultan of Selangor later supported the Sultan-Lord President's concern and ire. Sometime during his birthday speech, the Sultan of Selangor stated that 'legislators must uphold the laws made in my name and not be the first ones to break them'. He stressed the importance of legislators in the state assembly and local councils respecting and defending the law.

The Sultan of Selangor is a rightly troubled royal ruler. Similar to Sultan Azlan Shah, he has to come out of his constitutional silence to register his 'murka'. The immediate reason is this: one of his state legislative council members (Zakatria Deros) was caught building a huge multi- million ringgit residence - quickly dubbed as the 'Istana Zakaria' - on a piece of land bought for a song, and built without official permission. He also has a satay stall built alongside, again operating without official permission and licencing. As a lawmaker, Zakaria is a law breaker several times over. If this is not menderhaka 21st century style, I don't know what is.

Zakaria's record is not the exception. It is merely one out of many more. So much so that to be 'menderhaka' is pretty much the way of life of the Ketunan Melayu era. I shall mention just a few of them and only in general terms for their details have been pretty well-documented in any case by the irate public: breakdown of social institutions like law and education system, the fragmentation of the ethnic groups, the rise of corruption, the excessive wastage of financial resources, the arrogance of Umno the main component party members at their recent general assembly. The entire moral fabric of the Malay society seems to be in a state of atrophy.

It must have galled the sultans to see their otherwise gentle and mild Malay citizenry breaking every rule of human governance, any semblance of morality and decency. It must have affected their 'kedaulatan' or majesty, prestige and aura, which the Malay is duty-bound to uphold. The public, too, is faced with an erosion of his constitutional rights to make way for the Islamisation of the nation. There ought to be a democratically defined healthy gap between the lawmakers, the executives and the judiciary but this has become virtually one where the lawmakers are the executives and the judiciary.

Even the young mufti of Perlis puts in his turban's worth of caution to the decadence prevalent in Malay society: he cautioned his fellow ulamas not to dogmatically insist that ulamas are the sole and final arbiters of religious truth. It is a pity the sultans can not go beyond this gentle reprimand as the constitutional system prevents them from going any further. So the coast being clear, the Ketuanan Melayu proponents would therefore be going well ahead with the maintenance of the status quo. It is of benefit to them.

In the event, I have one wish for the New Year 2007 and beyond: that somehow the Malay person can retrieve this word 'menderhaka' from his collective memory, and be aware that today it is happening as his virtual way of life. As a loyal citizen to his sultan and as protector of Malay 'mertabat' (honour and dignity) he is honour bound not to continue to commit it.