Read my original articles, says Kadir Jasin after Anwar's criticism

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 7 Jun 2018 9:12AM · 12 Comments

BERSATU supreme council member A. Kadir Jasin today said he never used his closeness with the new government to “attack” Malay rulers with “disputable facts”.

The former New Straits Times Press group editor-in-chief’s comments come after he was told off by Pakatan Harapan de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim for criticising the Malay rulers.

He said those who slammed him should read his original articles on the subject.

“I do not intend to start polemics with Anwar because it is not necessary. Anyone who wants to understand what I had written can read the two original articles,” he said in a blog post.

“I leave it to readers to judge me… by reading and understanding my arguments on the matter.

“Read what I had written, not what was extracted and processed by others.

“My first article, in Bahasa Malaysia, titled Masukkan Institusi Raja Dalam Reformasi, was out in Sinar Harian on May 27, while my second article, Constitution: The King and the Pauper, has been on my blog since June 4.”

It was reported that Anwar, during a press conference last night, said it was unfair to make disparaging remarks against the Malay rulers without giving them an opportunity to respond, and that criticism should be made respectfully.

Kadir said he has never taken advantage of his position to attack the Malay rulers, and he has always stated that his articles are his personal view and have nothing to do with his position.

On using “disputable facts”, he said his critics are free to dispute and present the correct facts.

“If I am wrong, then I will make the correction and apologise,” said Kadir, who is in charge of media and communications in the Council of Eminent Persons.

In a recent blog post, he said for 16 months until April this year, RM256.9 million had been allocated for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the purposes of accommodation, maintenance of residence and palace, personal items, aircraft and transportation, training and escort equipment, clothing and ceremonial items, gifts and souvenirs, overseas visits and salaries of palace staff.

The veteran journalist, however, did not state the source of his information regarding federal spending on royals.

According to the Treasury, the government allocates only RM13.5 million annually for the Agong.

Kadir also said he never disputed the need for Anwar to seek an audience with the Malay rulers to assure them that the new PH government respects the royal institution.

“I did not dispute it. I only said the rulers don’t need to be given guarantees or comforted. Their positions are guaranteed by the federal constitution.

“I do not deny that PH works hard to get the rulers’ support. Only later did I know that apart from Anwar, other PH leaders, too, had gone to seek an audience with the rulers.” – June 7, 2018.

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Comments

  • What's Anwar's game here? Since leaving prison he has been running around making it seem that he is desperately craving the limelight. All he seems to be doing is convincing people of his vanity and desire to be the centre of attention.

    Posted 5 years ago by Tom jones · Reply

  • Many will share with you on the same page with regards to the role of constitutional monarchs in our count

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Thian Siong · Reply

  • I am interested - is Kadir telling the truth - the amount of money spent is an obscene figure - when many Malaysian are struggling to put a decent meal on the table everyday.

    Posted 5 years ago by Chris Ng · Reply

  • Berani kerana benar, Kadir. And thank you for speaking out and presenting the facts which the rakyat jelata are not aware of. The use of taxpayers' money for whatever purpose has to be fully accounted for unlike under Najib and his gang. And that includes all allocations for the Rulers and their families. Remember we are the only country in the world supporting so many royal families. How do they justify their very handsome gomen handouts? In the past we the rakyat dare not say anything for fear of being charged under the Sedition Act, or worse still Jamal and his thugs will target you. We are not against the royal families but we want them to be fair and just to all, as is expected of them. The countless awards handed out at every birthday of the Rulers make a mockery of merit and service, and lowers the dignity and respect of the Rulers. Takdak class as we Malays would say. We hope PH will bring reform to this undignified and much tainted group who were the untouchables under Najib.

    Posted 5 years ago by Da Hi · Reply

  • Many share the same thoughts with you regarding the role of constitutional monarchs in our country.Constitutional monarchs must stay above political free from political influence n not exploit their role to live lavishly as whatever they benefited cones from the taxes of the rakyat.They must lead the way to respect the Federal Constitution if respect is expected from the rakyat.Also the practice of rewarding titles must be limited to a certain limit for each titles given to those truly deserving citizens not out of political influence from the ruling govt so that people will truly have high respect for those honoured citizens.Additionally family members other than spouse should only be given token privileges of reasonable monentary sum.

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Thian Siong · Reply

  • Many share the same thoughts with you regarding the role of constitutional monarchs in our country.Constitutional monarchs must stay above political free from political influence n not exploit their role to live lavishly as whatever they benefited cones from the taxes of the rakyat.They must lead the way to respect the Federal Constitution if respect is expected from the rakyat.Also the practice of rewarding titles must be limited to a certain limit for each titles given to those truly deserving citizens not out of political influence from the ruling govt so that people will truly have high respect for those honoured citizens.Additionally family members other than spouse should only be given token privileges of reasonable monentary sum.

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Thian Siong · Reply

  • Many share the same thoughts with you regarding the role of constitutional monarchs in our country.Constitutional monarchs must stay above political free from political influence n not exploit their role to live lavishly as whatever they benefited cones from the taxes of the rakyat.They must lead the way to respect the Federal Constitution if respect is expected from the rakyat.Also the practice of rewarding titles must be limited to a certain limit for each titles given to those truly deserving citizens not out of political influence from the ruling govt so that people will truly have high respect for those honoured citizens.Additionally family members other than spouse should only be given token privileges of reasonable monentary sum.

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Thian Siong · Reply

  • Many share the same thoughts with you regarding the role of constitutional monarchs in our country.Constitutional monarchs must stay above political free from political influence n not exploit their role to live lavishly as whatever they benefited cones from the taxes of the rakyat.They must lead the way to respect the Federal Constitution if respect is expected from the rakyat.Also the practice of rewarding titles must be limited to a certain limit for each titles given to those truly deserving citizens not out of political influence from the ruling govt so that people will truly have high respect for those honoured citizens.Additionally family members other than spouse should only be given token privileges of reasonable monentary sum.

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Thian Siong · Reply

  • I appreciate Kadir for bring out such fat payment . If Kadirdid not bring out IT IS THE SAME AS UMNO GOVERNMENT TO CONCEEL THE FACTS ... ANWAR HAVETO UNDERSTAND THE RAYKAT IS NOW KNOWN AS KETUANAN MALAYSIA.

    Posted 5 years ago by Mohanarajan murugeson · Reply

  • Kadir Jasin might be overzealous in his write up but who would not if the nation reqiures patriotic journalist to speak the truth and also a loyal supporters of PPBM ( which is nothing wrong )but after all what our country has undergone I belived that his piece of write portray the passion to save the country rather than any misaligned political mileage. If stated that treasury only allocate RM 13.5 kk anually for the Agong spending and the revealing figure by Kadir of a quarter of billion being spent just within 16 months is deadly monstrosity in wastage and flaunting. Malaysia is still in the early stage of trying to recover from the destructive bad administration of Najib and his cohorts. True enough the Rakyat had surpassed the first hurdles in ridding a nonsensical kelptocratic government BUT the long ardous journey to make Malaysia great again requires a concerted effort from every living soul in the country. If lavish spending are seen or heard or still to be uphold, it is no brainer and imperatively to enforce a needs of a concrete actions to eradicate such bad habits inculcated by Umno administration culture of wastages. Anwar act of being holy and moderate to the extend of being over accomodating to concerns is almost throwing a spanner into the Malaysian Rakyat commendable actions in the Tabung Harapan . Anwar should be very mindful of the fact that he is a PM in waiting and the past weeks since his release are now seen as very judgemental in sincere efforts to be what he has been singing all along since his reformasi days. All of us are with him and look up for a light at the end of the tunnel for a New Malaysia. It is norm that when one is incacerated and after a hard fought victory , the fervour to establish all the "imprisoned visions" will be relished and implemented without any hassle. Looks like the back pedaling process and the the saying of leopard will not loose its spots are very true in manifestation

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

  • I beleive it's the Royals responsibility to the Rakyat to answer these figures even if they are false or over stated by Kadir or even by anyone for that matter. It's the peoples money and if that's the amount spent then whoever had used it has to come forward with an explanation. It's an allocation being an Agong NOT a previlage on peoples expence. Kadir is been honest and let the present PH Government come up with their numbers and if there's a need to cut on the allocations, let's just do that too....afterall everyone is slashing on their budgets and trying to save as much as we can .... even the Rakyat has donated some 31Mil towards the National Fund ..... it's time we relook at Royals allocation, too. Lets just wait for Dr M clarifications.......

    Posted 5 years ago by Crishan Veera · Reply

  • Kita kena jujur, nak tulis macam ini bukan semua orang boleh buat, kena kental atau 'guts' dan keberanian, mungkin anda dan saya tidak ada?

    Posted 5 years ago by Malaysia Forward · Reply