Vocal politician Ariff Sabri has warned that an absolute monarchy would smother democratic impulses, or in his own words, "Let me be blunter, we don’t want to be subjects of tyrants."

The DAP lawmaker noted that the Malays, like himself, have a cultural affinity with the monarchy.

"We can't and it is impossible to abandon our culture. In the Malay culture, the Malay rulers are an intrinsic part. Cut it off, we are cutting part of us off too," he said.

But on the same note, Ariff said the Malays must free themselves from the mental bondage of being attracted to old feudalism.

"We want the institution to exist, but we love this country and want nothing to do with the humiliation, oppression and repression which an absolute monarchy promises and represents.

"We are certainly not going back to the Malacca Sultanate.

"Throughout history, we have seen that fawning before royalty produced 'idolatry as gross and stupid as that of the ancient heathens'," he added in his latest blog posting .

The Raub MP was commenting on the controversy that surrounded the Johor Housing and Real Property Bill, which he described as a "blow to the ideals of the free man."

Ariff noted that at the moment, because of political convenience and expedience, Umno and the Malays appear to support the return of an absolute monarchy in a stylised form (the bill).

"They think, they can bank on the monarchy to protect the Malays.

"If they think so, then it is an indictment on Umno for failing to protect Malays so that it now needs another device to do the job," he added.

Ariff warned that history confirms that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power.