KLANG 11 Dec: The Chief Minister, Mohamed Amzin Ali, said that the Selangor government administration under Pakatan Rakyat sympathaises with Barisan Nasional as the opposition in the state based on the traditional principles of democracy by the Buginese people, which cares for the people’s interests.

He said that the Bugis tradition of planting the seed of democracy, or in the Buginese term ‘amaradekangeng’, is his inspiration to celebrate the opposition in the Selangor government administration.

“Inspired by the ‘amaradekangeng’ philosophy, my administration also sympathises with the opposition because they are part of democracy.

“What I mean is to merely advance democracy and for the opposition to also serve in protecting the interests of your (the Sultan) people,” said Mohamed Azmin Ali.

He said this during the speech in conjunction with the 69th birthday celebration of the Sultan of Selangor at the Alam Shah Palace.

He said that the intellectual tradition of the Buginese people also has major influence on the Malay intellectual tradition.

“As shown by Tuhfat al‐ Nafis, this important Malay-Bugis historical and cultural text was written by the late Raja Ali Haji, a Malay clergy of Bugis descent in the 19th century,” said Mohamed Azmin.

He said that even today, the world has just rediscovered the Bugis epic called I La Galigo, a work that is said to be longer that the Mahabharata. Since 2004, it has been presented as a musical in the United States, Europe, Australia and Singapore.

“Under the auspices of my lord (the Sultan, cultural diversity associated with the cosmopolitanism of Selangor will be nourished according to our Malaysian motto of arms: Unity Is Strength,” he said.

NS