James the first and the Perak new Chief Minister

British History is repeating itself in the Silver State of Perak.

Below is a paragraph I read about the reign of James the First way back in the early 1600’s. It’s amazing how many paralells one could draw between dear ol’ King Jimmy and our Menteri Besar Yang amat tidak dihormati (dan tidak sah) Dato Seri Zombie.

James I - England 1603-1625

James' twenty-nine years of Scottish kingship did little to prepare him for the English monarchy: England and Scotland, rivals for superiority on the island since the first emigration of the Anglo-Saxon races, virtually hated each other. This inherent mistrust, combined with Catholic-Protestant and Episcopal-Puritan tensions, severely limited James' prospects of a truly successful reign. His personality also caused problems: he was witty and well-read, fiercely believed in the divine right of kingship and his own importance, but found great difficulty in gaining acceptance from an English society that found his rough-hewn manners and natural paranoia quite unbecoming. James saw little use for Parliament. His extravagant spending habits and nonchalant ignoring of the nobility's grievances kept king and Parliament constantly at odds. He came to the throne at the zenith of monarchical power, but never truly grasped the depth and scope of that power.
James was not wholly unsuccessful as king, but his Scottish background failed to translate well into a changing English society. He is described, albeit humorously, in 1066 and All That, as such: "James I slobbered at the mouth and had favourites; he was thus a bad king"; Sir Anthony Weldon made a more somber observation: "He was very crafty and cunning in petty things, as the circumventing any great man, the change of a Favourite, &c. inasmuch as a very wise man was wont to say, he believed him the very wisest fool in Christendom."

YAB Dato Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir- Perak, Malaysia 2009

Zambry' s ‘not so durable’ a term of BN leadership did little to prepare him for the Perak Premiership: the people of Perak and Barisan Nasional supporters, rivals for superiority on the state since the 308 political tsunami, virtually hated each other. This inherent mistrust, combined with the peoples’ desperation for a people-centric, transparent leadership that the previous BN governments has starved them of, severely limited Zambry's prospects of a truly successful reign. His personality also caused problems: he was witty and well-read, fiercely believed in the divine right of kingship and his own importance, but found great difficulty in gaining acceptance from an Perakian society that found his rough-hewn manners and natural paranoia quite unbecoming. Zambry saw little use for Parliament. His extravagant spending habits (Yuk Choy orchestra’s allocation) and nonchalant ignoring of the people’s grievances (the people’s rallies and opinion polls demanding a re-election) kept king and State legislature constantly at odds. He came to power through the unconstitutional assistance of the monarchical power, but never truly grasped the depth and scope of that power.
Zambry was not wholly unsuccessful as Menteri besar (I mean…you know, he got sworn in… that’s an achievement, albeit illegal and unconstitutional), but his UMNO background failed to translate well into a changing Perakian society. Here we can see parallels between Zambry and James I, the bad Scottish King of England, albeit humorously, in 1066 and All That, as such: "James I slobbered at the mouth and had favourites; he was thus a bad king"; Sir Anthony Weldon made a more somber observation but still relevant with Zambry: "He was very crafty and cunning in petty things, as the circumventing any great man, the change of a Favourite, &c. inasmuch as a very wise man was wont to say, he believed him the very wisest fool in Christendom."

It would seem that the likely post reign summary of James I and Zambry is going to be pretty similar… and no less, till this day, James I is widely considered as the worst monarch of Britain ever .

Oh, I forgot to add…. James I died of a very serious attack of dysentery.