Sultan Iskandar Dzulkarnain 'Mega-Projek'
By Dr. Farish A. Noor
The term 'mega-projek' has, thanks to the changing political mood in the country, become a house-hold word these days. In the press (both mainstream and alternative) we read and hear of the numerous mega-projects that now dot the once uncluttered Malaysian landscape: Buildings that are too high, too big and most embarrassing of all, too empty; dams that serve no purpose other than to fill up already over-stretched wallets and bank accounts; bridges that take you nowhere fast and of course more shopping centres and golf courses that we will ever need.
Malaysia it seems has fallen prey to that infernal post-colonial disease called rapid and uneven development, where the post-colonial rulers who have come to power are bent on 'teaching a lesson' to their ex-colonial masters by imitating everything that the 'evil West' has done, but on larger, gaudier, more vulgar terms. If they make microchips, so will we- except ours will be the biggest in the world.
But those who think that such useless, costly and time-consuming mega-projects are a novel development in the country should think again, as history would show that such things have long since been part of our feudal and neo-feudal political culture. Mega-projects did not come about thanks to new construction methods or technologies. Even when the peoples of the archipelago lived in less complicated times they were forced to labour under the vain and wilful ambition of leaders who were too complicated for their own good.
One such ruler came from the state of Perak, which also happens to be where many of our prominent contemporary politicians come from.
In the middle of the eighteenth century there ruled in Perak a certain Sultan Iskandar Dzulkarnain (r. 1752-1765). His exploits are recorded in detail in the classic Malay hikayat, the Misa Melayu. The Misa Melayu describes how Sultan Iskandar had a curious tendency to while away his time thinking of all kinds of amazing projects that would uplift the name and reputation of his kingdom. He built a number of mosques, which helped to improve his reputation and Islamic credentials in the eyes of his people. But he also indulged in all kinds of useless and unusual activities such as boat-racing (without modern outboard motors or jet-skis, of course), fishing expeditions, royal hunts and grand fetes.
One day, Sultan Iskandar had the bright idea of building an enormous tower in the heart of his capital city. The tower, he claimed, would match any of the great monuments of the ancient age as told in the epics of the past. It would be the tallest building in the world and would attract thousands of people to his kingdom. It would break all records and exceed the expectations of everyone. The whole world would speak of the glory and majesty of Perak, where this great tower would be built. They would proclaim: 'Perak boleh!'
But building this monstrous monument was not exactly a routine task for the ministers of the royal court. The royal treasurer, chief minister and minister of defence begged the Sultan to reconsider his royal decree. The tower was simply too high, too big and too expensive for the coffers of the state to bear. And what of the consequences? What use would it be to the state and the people if the economy was driven to the verge of bankruptcy in the end? What good would such a monument do to the people themselves? Whose interests was it meant to serve, they asked.
The Sultan remained adamant and immovable. Oblivious to the protestations of his own ministers and members of the court, he ordered the construction of the tower nonetheless. Unable to accommodate the wishes of the king, the ministers were forced to resign from their posts. As the Misa Melayu records:
'Apabila sudah putus fikirannya (Sultan Iskandar), maka ditentukanlah pembesar-pembesar yang bertanggungjawab untuk membangunkan mahligai itu. (Tetapi) kerana terlalu pelik bentuk dan rupa mahligai yang hendak dibangunkan itu, hingga tiga orang pembesar yang kanan - Bendahara, Temenggung dan Menteri - terpaksalah meletakkan jawatan masing-masing, sebab tidak berupaya hendak menyempurnakan kehendak baginda yang luarbiasa itu'.
With his critics conveniently moved out of the way, the Sultan was free to direct the mega-project himself. Finally the Sultan got his wish and the tower was completed. The Misa Melayu described the tower in the following way:
'Akhirnya terdiri juga mahligai yang ganjil itu menurut bentuk dan rupa yang diangan-angankan oleh baginda (Sultan Iskandar). Mahligai itu sangat ajaib perbuatannya; belum pernah dilihat orang terdahulu daripada itu: kemuncaknya daripada perak bertatahkan emas dan permata budi manikam, tingkapnya daripada ijuk besi kursani (khorasan steel), dindingnya berturap dengan nilam kapur yang diselang-selang dengan cermin dan kaca. Di tingkat yang ketujuh terdapat balai peranginan yang dipenuhi dengan kisi-kisi sekelilingnya. Dan dihujung tiap-tiap kisi itu pula bergantung daun budi berbentuk empat segi. Apabila ditiup angin, berbunyilah daun-daun budi itu seperti bunyi buluh perindu, dan apabila digoyang angin dan disinari cahaya matahari, maka bergemerlapanlah rupanya dipandang jauh...'
The tower was indeed a spectacular object to behold. Its gilded and bejewelled peak could be seen for miles and the whistling and jingling sound of its bells and rafters could be heard all over the city. But although the tower and the complex of buildings annexed to it were meant to be the pride of the people - the 'people's palace' in a sense- it soon became clear whose palace it really was:
'Setelah siap mahligai itu, diadakan majlis doa selamat dan maulud. Dan pada esoknya berpindahlah baginda dengan segala isi istananya ke mahligai yang ajaib itu'.
The tale of Sultan Iskandar and his mega-project serves as a crucial reminder to us living in the present that leaders and rulers are, after all, mere mortals and some of them have unwieldy egos. The fact that the Sultan's demands and royal decrees could not be stopped or sidelined in any way then is an indicator, if any was still needed, of the lack of accountability, transparency and a system of checks and balances in the feudal courts of the past.
This feudal culture of blind deference to authority later came under criticism in the centuries that followed. When Malaysia was fighting for its independence in the 1940s and 50s, one of the slogans that were used then was 'Raja itu Rakyat, dan Rakyat itu Raja' (The Sovereign is of the people, and the people are sovereign). The mood of the time then was such that many believed that the feudal era was about to come to an end for good, and that Malay political culture was be changed forever. The nationalists of UMNO, PKMM and PAS alike felt that a new era was dawning.
In the end, it seems that the rakyat have indeed become the new Rajas, but in the worst sense imaginable. Instead of overturning the feudal culture and practices of the past we have allowed it to return with a vengeance. With the ascendancy of UMNO in national politics, the neo-feudal culture of Malay society has been invigorated and revived in no uncertain terms. Malaysia today is ruled according to a neo-feudal political culture just as hell-bent of the cult of personalities and wasteful mega-projects justified in the name of national interests but undertaken at the whims of a powerful few. More than two and a half centuries later, the ghost of the egoistic Sultan Iskandar haunts us still.
Dr. Farish Ahmad-Noor is a Senior Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technical University (NTU), Singapore where he is Director of Research for the Research Cluster on Transnational Religion in Southeast Asia. He is also guest affiliated Professor at both Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) and Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University, Jogjakarta. He is the author of 'Writings on the War on Terror' (2006), 'From Majapahit to Putrajaya' (2005) and 'Islam Embedded: The Historical Development of PAS' (2004). He is also the co-founder of the Other Malaysia research website (http://www.othermalaysia.org).