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Democracy is in Our Blood

‘Abiding Times’, theSun, 9 January 2009

NEGERI SEMBILAN symbolises one of the world’s most ancient democratic traditions still in existence. The year 1773 is the officially-recognised year of the arrival of Raja Melewar, the first prince of the Minangkabau Pagar Ruyong dynasty to reign in the peninsula, but recently discovered evidence puts the date back to 1730. Although 1773 is still three years before the American Declaration of Independence, the exact year is unimportant because governance in Negeri Sembilan represented a continuation of the Minangkabau narrative which began in the 14th century, when Adityawarman founded the dynasty.

By the 17th century, a unique system of governance had developed whereby power was shared between three rulers—the Raja Alam, Raja Adat and Raja Ibadat. These three rulers—the kings of the temporal, the cultural and the religious spheres—had their own areas of responsibility, and could act as checks and balances to each other. By the time the French philosopher Montesquieu articulated his theory on the separation of powers, the Minangkabau had been practising it for over a century. Alongside this was the process of decentralisation: instead of concentrating power at the centre, Pagar Ruyong resembled a federation, where districts enjoyed autonomy while maintaining shared traditions and deferring to central government on key matters.

“It is possible for the pyramid of democracy, culture and religion to provide the base for prosperity and freedom.”

The upkeep of these traditions required not only a bureaucratic structure to implement them, but also the intellectual capacity to sustain them. These values were transmitted to the Malay Peninsula as the Minangkabau settled in what became known as Negeri Sembilan, and continued to develop even as Pagar Ruyong was ravaged by the Padri War. By the 18th century, migration to the west coast of the peninsula was enough for Johor to cede the territory to the Minangkabau, who then petitioned their chieftains for a ruler from Pagar Ruyong. Thus, Negeri Sembilan’s uniqueness began immediately as the Ruler was invited by the representatives of the people.

Of course, Adat Perpatih comprises more than just socio-political principles. One of its most well-known features is the empowerment of women: land and property are inherited through the female line and it is the husband who moves in with the wife, not the other way round. In 1869, it was the mother of Yam Tuan Antah, Tunku Intan, who was appointed regent until her son came of age. The matrilineal system also contributed to one of the hallmarks of Minangkabau society: the practice among males of merantau, or roaming, in search of new knowledge and opportunities. While some other cultures might regard leaving one’s homeland as treachery or ingratitude, Minangkabau culture actively encourages it.

Clearly, it was not just Negeri Sembilan which contributed to Malaysian political philosophy. Three centuries before Raja Melewar, the Sultanate of Malacca was at its zenith, its pro-trade policies catalysed by the acceptance of Islam, a religion propagated by a merchant. But it was the Sultanate of Kedah which first embraced the religion, and it was in Terengganu that it was perhaps first codified: ‘Batu Bersurat Terengganu’ (Terengganu Inscription Stone), the earliest Malay written evidence that a Ruler was subject to a higher law, is our own Magna Carta. In 1895, Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor promulgated a modern constitution and other states followed suit. In the person of Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the eighth Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan and the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya, the Minangkabau tendency for decentralisation and separation of powers persisted: he had sought help from a Conservative member of the British House of Lords to end the highly-centralised Malayan Union imposed by the Labour government; and after Merdeka, he fully accepted that he had no power to remove his Prime Minister.

Our independence and democratic values have of late been presented as having been imposed by imperialists; interference by foreign powers to keep us under control and to make sure we were compliant during the Cold War. These arguments are presented in order to justify infantile theories of authoritarianism in the guise of religious righteousness or ‘Asian values’. Sadly, these perversions of history have been accepted by too many. The fact is that the various lands of Nusantara had enjoyed a rich tradition of socio-political development rivalling that of Enlightenment Europe. Of course we had our civil wars and periods of poverty and strife, but so did every great democracy in existence today.

Indeed, the experiences of Pagar Ruyong and other Malay kingdoms, now more than ever, should be called upon for Malaysia today. Separation of powers, decentralisation, and the reconciliation of democracy, religion and culture through innovation and individual liberty can be achieved. It is possible for the pyramid of democracy, culture and religion to provide the base for prosperity and freedom. In the tough economic climate that greets us in 2009, this realisation is ever more urgent.