The official diktat issued by the Kelantan State government prohibiting the display of portraits of the Head of State of Malaysia forces us to question whether Kelantan remains a constituent State in Malaysia or if this diktat is the first step in a bid for independent status?

Since it appears to have been issued under the authority of the Kelantan State government it cannot be dismissed as the insanity of one or more State officials acting under the puffed up impression that they are nationally significant. It is, at best, an official insult to the Agong and the people of Malaysia (from a state government that has habitually been forced to come cap in hand to the federal treasury for cash support, thanks to mismanagment of its own finances) and it must be put right by the dismissal of all those who issued the decision. Nothing less will suffice if Malaysia is to maintain its cohesion and its dignity in the face of rabble rousing nonentities.