Telah lama saya mengamati penulisan
Putera Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan iaitu YAM Tunku Zain
Al-Abidin Tuanku Muhriz dalam akhbar berbahasa Inggeris. Penulisan
beliau sentiasa mengajak masyarakat agar sentiasa berfikiran terbuka
dan kemudian membuat penilaian sendiri setelah mendengar pendapat
dari pelbagai pihak. Tapi sayang, akhbar berbahasa Melayu
sepengetahuan saya tidak pernah menerbitkan atau menemuramah YAM
Tunku apatah lagi pada 14 Januari 2013 rakyat N.Sembilan akan
menyambut Keputeraan Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan yang ke 65.
Apakah kita hanya melaung-laungkan
slogan Hidup Melayu tetapi lupa asal usul kita?Apakah kita hanya
melaungkan slogan Daulat Tuanku, tetapi lupa apa jasa Tuanku serta
asal usul Tuanku? Apakah untuk N.Sembilan sebenarnya tidak wujud
slogan Hidup Melayu, yang ada ialah slogan Hidup Orang Asli dan Hidup
Orang Minangkabau?
Tertarik dengan petikan YAM Tunku di
bawah ini.
“The Undangs themselves continue to
be elected from the Suku Biduanda — a special clan created out of
the alliance between Minangkabau immigrants and Orang Asli who were
already living in what became Negri Sembilan (political scientists
would call this a form of consociationalism).
Of course, none of this is taught in
the history textbooks today, which is perhaps why some (even Negri
Sembilan) Malays have a very different conception of what it means to
be Malay, and why the spirit of inclusion and democratic ideals are
absent in their worldview.”
Running risk of even less civil society
role
Friday, January 11, 2013 - 16:07
by Tunku ’Abidin Muhriz
I OBSERVED the results of another
election earlier in the week. It was the formal appointment of the
Datuk Andatar, one of the Orang Enam Istana (literally “Six Palace
Officials”) serving the Negri Sembilan palace.
Unique amongst royal institutions in
Malaysia, perhaps the world, ceremonial positions in Negri Sembilan
are democratically elected from specified clans (called “suku”).
Thus, the office of Datuk Andatar is always held by a member of the
Suku Seri Lemak Pahang Lingkungan, while other office holders are
members of other clans. Membership of these clans continues to be
determined through matrilineal descent.
Whenever a vacancy arises, the members
of the clan come together and decide who should represent them in the
position. Once the individual is confirmed, a delegation from the
clan is accepted at the palace for the new officeholder to be
formally introduced to the Yang di-Pertuan Besar in a ceremony
overflowing with tradition.
This system was an ingenious way of
ensuring inclusion from different clans and geographical areas in
what was a fractious political environment before the arrival of the
first Yang di-Pertuan Besar, Raja Melewar from Pagar Ruyong.
He, of course, was invited by the
Undangs to bring unity to a confederation surrounded by Bugis,
Acehnese and Dutch competitors on all sides.
The Undangs themselves continue to be
elected from the Suku Biduanda — a special clan created out of the
alliance between Minangkabau immigrants and Orang Asli who were
already living in what became Negri Sembilan (political scientists
would call this a form of consociationalism).
Of course, none of this is taught in
the history textbooks today, which is perhaps why some (even Negri
Sembilan) Malays have a very different conception of what it means to
be Malay, and why the spirit of inclusion and democratic ideals are
absent in their worldview.
As it turns out, the new Datuk Andatar
is Haji Zulkeply bin Mansor, who had already been serving as Datuk
Setia Bijaya since the reign of the late Tuanku Ja’afar. He is also
the internal expert on the proper wearing of ceremonial dress, often
correcting the lopsided wearing of my tengkolok. My congratulations
to him!
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