Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "cakap cakap...SULTAN.":
Truth be told the sultans of old did not have it so good! Local big shots control the ground. And they do their own thing. The chief will have a few fighters with him and they would then terrorize the locals with blood-sucking stories, whacked a few people, intimidate them and get what they asked for, which was not much like women and slaves to do their work.
It was only when "foreigners" came into the picture to mine, buy local produce, later grow tropical produce that the local chiefs, and the big chief started to collect "tax' in return for passage. They dont do work but collect "rent" just like they are doing now. Others do the wealth creation, they do the "administration".
The Malay population was sparse and poor, were either farmers or fishermen. Some adventurers/traders/pirates would take advantage of the situation. The sultans were weak, did not any army or built up fighting forces..oh yes we hear of hang Tuah and Pahlawan this and that, but there is no army, no fleet. The local lords control the rivers and tributaries but the seas were controlled by the Bugis, the Europeans and others.
It was only when the British took over the states that the sultans became the instruments for control and legitimacy. The British built up the sultans, created all the myths to serve them. Out of line and they were out of the palace. But they were mostly subservient or were easily bought out by the British for a few dollars. The British dressed them up, made them presentable.
The truth was laid bare for all to see when the Japanese came. Not one sultan or any member of any of the royal families were there to "fight" or lead the fight against the invaders! So much for all the gagah/pahlawan stuff.None had the courage to make a stand. Yes there were tantrums thrown but when push came to shove we know what happened.
And confirmation of this was when the British came back and all the sultans were threatened with the sack for their unspeakable role as connivers and puppets of the Japanese. We know what happened. If the Malay nationalists had played their cards right we would have retired all the sultans in 1946.
While all conniving and collaborating to rid the country of the foreign rulers, the scions of the royal families and the sultans were scheming how to survive. And so it came to pass that the Sultans and their proxies/offsprings worked out a solution to save the British from an ignoble exit. The true sons of the land who fought the japanese and the British werea again betrayed by the sultans. In return for their remaining on the throne the country was again sold down the river!
So there you have it....
Posted by Anonymous to steadyaku47 at Monday, July 16, 2012 1:04:00 PM GMT+09:30
Truth be told the sultans of old did not have it so good! Local big shots control the ground. And they do their own thing. The chief will have a few fighters with him and they would then terrorize the locals with blood-sucking stories, whacked a few people, intimidate them and get what they asked for, which was not much like women and slaves to do their work.
It was only when "foreigners" came into the picture to mine, buy local produce, later grow tropical produce that the local chiefs, and the big chief started to collect "tax' in return for passage. They dont do work but collect "rent" just like they are doing now. Others do the wealth creation, they do the "administration".
The Malay population was sparse and poor, were either farmers or fishermen. Some adventurers/traders/pirates would take advantage of the situation. The sultans were weak, did not any army or built up fighting forces..oh yes we hear of hang Tuah and Pahlawan this and that, but there is no army, no fleet. The local lords control the rivers and tributaries but the seas were controlled by the Bugis, the Europeans and others.
It was only when the British took over the states that the sultans became the instruments for control and legitimacy. The British built up the sultans, created all the myths to serve them. Out of line and they were out of the palace. But they were mostly subservient or were easily bought out by the British for a few dollars. The British dressed them up, made them presentable.
The truth was laid bare for all to see when the Japanese came. Not one sultan or any member of any of the royal families were there to "fight" or lead the fight against the invaders! So much for all the gagah/pahlawan stuff.None had the courage to make a stand. Yes there were tantrums thrown but when push came to shove we know what happened.
And confirmation of this was when the British came back and all the sultans were threatened with the sack for their unspeakable role as connivers and puppets of the Japanese. We know what happened. If the Malay nationalists had played their cards right we would have retired all the sultans in 1946.
While all conniving and collaborating to rid the country of the foreign rulers, the scions of the royal families and the sultans were scheming how to survive. And so it came to pass that the Sultans and their proxies/offsprings worked out a solution to save the British from an ignoble exit. The true sons of the land who fought the japanese and the British werea again betrayed by the sultans. In return for their remaining on the throne the country was again sold down the river!
So there you have it....
Posted by Anonymous to steadyaku47 at Monday, July 16, 2012 1:04:00 PM GMT+09:30
No comments:
Post a Comment