The Bold & Bastian : Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin
RPK at Dang Wangi
Many Gen-Zs today likely don't know who RPK — Raja Petra Kamarudin — is. Ask the older generation and they will have plentiful stories to tell, regardless of whether they agreed with him or not. In his heyday, RPK was possibly one of the most daring and unfiltered cannonball journalists that ever did it. And he didn't care about who he offended.
Raja Petra Kamarudin was born in Surrey, England on 27 September 1950 and attended the Alice Smith School. He attended the Malay College Kuala Kangsar when he was 13, before graduating from Victoria Institution. At just 20, Raja Petra's father passed away, and he became the "man of the house," taking care of his three younger siblings and feeding his mother by working as a rice distributor and near the end of his career, he opened a motorcycle dealership. This is where Raja Petra introduced Yamaha and other Japanese motorcycles into Malaysia.
You might be thinking to yourself, "Kamarudin, where have I heard that name before?" It is because RPK had royals in his blood. Indeed, he was a member of the Selangor royal family, the nephew of the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah — the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and 7th Sultan of Selangor.
Family Photo
It save to say that he has pretty interesting life. He started Malaysia Today in August 2004, rather coincidentally (although maybe not?) just before Anwar Ibrahim was released from prison on 2 September 2004. As a strong advocate for the cause and a noted political activist, RPK thought that the Government controlled all the mainstream media in Malaysia and therefore did not provide fair coverage of opposition political view (or some might say the left wing view). As outspoken about the lack of political transparency and freedom of speech, RPK wanted to create a new media company that is bold and different from that time news platform, and hopefully provide an opportunity to expose some unjust practices in line with the Reformasi Movement to bring about political reform, transparency, and freedom of speech across Malaysia.
Now you get to know him, let's visit some of pretty outrages claim that were held against him,
Mainly I'm talking about his ISA detention.
RPK Detention at Sungai Buluh.
On 12 September 2008, Raja Petra, the editor of Malaysia Today, was arrested under the cruel Internal Security Act (ISA) on the pretext of threatening national security. But let's be clear, this was not about national security. This was about political insecurity: a frightened establishment wanting to avoid accountability.
The Articles that Shook the Palace
Let’s focus on what "evidence" the establishment relied on to justify Raja Petra's detention. These were not hate filled diatribes or invocations to violence. These were raw, uncomfortable truths about corruption, murder, and hypocrisy.
- "Let’s Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell" (25 April 2008) Raja Petra stated the possibility of high level involvement in the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a citizen of Mongolia, and he wasted no time naming names, including the past Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.
- Statutory Declaration (18 June 2008) In his declaration, Raja Petra stated he was "reliably informed" that Rosmah had been at the crime scene. This wasn’t mere chit-chat with some shady source—it was a serious allusion with all of the solemnity of a statutory declaration.
- "I Promise to be a Good, Non-Hypocritical Muslim" Here, Raja Petra was criticizing religious hypocrisy in Malaysia. More importantly, Raja Petra was accused of insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. It wasn’t an act of blasphemy by any means; it was merely exposing institutionalized piety to the light of day.
- "Not All Arabs are Descendants of the Prophet" This commentary, which also appeared through Malaysia Today, was perceived by the authorities as an exercise in ridiculing Islam. Once again, it was a literary critique mistaken for a religious offence.
All of these articles can still be found online. Please take the time to read some of them and see the blatant lies that were enforced against him, without deposition or trial.
No Holds Barred
ISA: a Tool for Tyrants
The ISA permitted detention without trial. A legal artifact of colonial rule, it was used indiscriminately to suppress journalists, opposition figures, and activists. Raja Petra wasn’t the first victim, and he wouldn’t have been the last - but for the public outcry.
But the farce could not last. On 7 November 2008, the Shah Alam High Court ruled his detention unlawful. Justice found its voice, for once.
What the Government Feared the Most
The real danger wasn't Raja Petra's ink it was his readers. Millions of people read Malaysia Today because he openly wrote what many others would never dare to write. He revealed the soft underbelly of Malaysia's political class and reminded us that journalism, at its finest, is activism.
If to speak truth to power is illegal, then we are all guilty.
The persecution of Raja Petra Kamarudin is a cautionary tale for every Malaysian who still hopes that democracy is more than a mere word. We must not forget: silence is complicity. And as long as we stay silent in the face of injustice, the fear machine will continue to churn onwards.
A Post from Malaysia.royalfamily Instargram
Upon Raja Petra passing away in Manchester on 9 September 2024, many believe that Malaysia Today did not hold the same volume as when RPK was alive. Others highlight a shift in RPK’s political views around 2011–2012 he increasingly began to write against the opposition (specifically Pakatan Rakyat) and appeared to be more sympathetic toward UMNO.
When RPK began Malaysia Today, he was thought to be one of the harshest critiques of the government, mainly UMNO and Barisan Nasional. However, with the evolution of the media landscape in Malaysia with the addition of additional media outlets like Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider (before it was closed), Free Malaysia Today, and MalaysiaNow, along with the proliferation of social media— the special place that RPK had was changing significantly.
So yes he was loud. Yes he was bold. And yes he rattled cages. That’s what real journalism does.
And for that, Raja Petra deserves our gratitude—not our indifference.
Al-Fatihah for Raja Petra bin Raja Kamarudin
Source
- https://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/09/12/raja-petra-arrested-under-isa/
- https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2008/11/malaysian-court-frees-blogger-20081107/
- https://www.refworld.org/docid/48ec5d981c.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shaariibuugiin_Altantuyaa
- https://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/09/13/raja-petra-teresa-kok-sin-chew-reporter-arrested-under-isa/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Petra_Kamarudin
Written by Limau Ais (Amal Akmal)
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