On Tuesday, the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah will unload his duties, and such duties will be taken over by the new King, Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, the following day.

On January 6, 2019, the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Kelantan’s Sultan Muhammad V abdicated the throne, and Al-Sultan Abdullah was elected the new Ruler in the 251st Conference of Rulers meeting on January 24. He was subsequently sworn in during the 252nd Conference of Rulers meeting on January 31, for a tenure of five years.

During his five-year reign, Al-Sultan Abdullah not only had to face socio-economic woes as a consequence of the global pandemic, he was also confronted by the country’s most serious political turmoil since independence.

The power struggle that took place among Tun Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob did not come to an end until after the 15th general election in November 2022, and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim put up his Unity Government on November 24.

During the pandemic with large numbers of deaths and lockdown measures that hurt the country’s economy, power-wrestling for the top political post sent Malaysians in jitters and fears. No one knew when exactly the pandemic would end.

Looking back at those two years of great stress, we have to be grateful for His Majesty Al-Sultan Abdullah’s self-confidence and wisdom in seeking the best solutions for the well-being of the rakyat. He has veritably become a strong calming factor for the nation.

From the many things His Majesty arbitrated during his reign, we could see that the country’s constitutional monarchy system is more than just a symbolic institution, but the protector of our democratic practices, the pillar of national peace and harmony, as well as the core of national unity.

At the same time, he also acted as the ultimate balancer with his definitive arbitration power when the country was plummeted in a political impasse.

For quite some time His Majesty was constantly worried about the pandemic and was indeed working very hard to preserve the stability of the country’s “political balance” during his rule.

As His Majesty has said, he would reign the Malaysia we all loved in a completely transparent and fair manner in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

This should serve as a wake-up call for our politicians to run the country transparently and fairly, with the Federal Constitution as the highest guiding principle.

Indeed, the administrators should treat all Malaysians irrespective of race, language and religion, as equal subjects of this country.

Although His Majesty is not a politician, the altitude of his political philosophy and the way he handles political issues supersede all politicians in this country.

Although His Majesty is not a politician, the altitude of his political philosophy and the way he handles political issues supersede all politicians in this country.

When Tun M — with his seven-decade experiences in politics — and some other parties were still cooking up 3R (religion, race, royalty) and vernacular education issues, His Majesty already knew that such issues were no longer worthy of any discussion. He even more than once warned them not to cross the red line!

Journalists and members of the public who have had personal contacts with His Majesty should have wonderful memories of their interactions with him, as he has always tried to create an amicable atmosphere and not to give anyone any pressure.

In his farewell speech, His Majesty advised the politicians not to keep changing government any more.

During his reign, he has gone through four different administrations and four prime ministers in total. Even until very recently there were still rumours of a possible change of government!

He said, change cannot guarantee that everything will go smoothly. If you really want to change the government, wait for at least three or four years, not do it every single year!

He also urged the politicians not to go overboard and manipulate politics to advance their own agendas. They should instead discard their narrow mindset and focus on taking the country forward, while upholding social harmony and inter-community solidarity.

His Majesty insisted that political stability is of utmost importance to the country’s economic development and in wooing foreign investments.

This is because every change of government is accompanied with changes in government policies and administrative management. Investors are watching very closely political developments in this country before they decide how much they are going to invest here.

His Majesty said we need to compete with other countries in the region, or we will fall behind. He reminded Malaysians that changing government will not guarantee anything. In fact, the country cannot afford to take another turbulence. All we need is job opportunities, and we can do that by getting investors to put their money here!

He also said if it takes foreign investors six months to a year to have their investment proposals approved, they will naturally go elsewhere. We will lose job opportunities, and the government will lose the much needed tax revenue. So, all the fighting must stop right now!

His Majesty is also of the view that the government should implement policies that are favourable to the country’s future, even though they may not be popular.

As a matter of fact, reform takes time to show its effects. What the government must do now is to draw up a long-term development master plan.

As for the performance of the Unity Government, His Majesty admits that the government has only been formed a little more than a year and it is now too early to evaluate its performance.

“It is same for any government. There are bound to be weaknesses in a one-year-old government. It needs time to fix the problems left by past administrations.”