Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (29 June - 5 July, 2026)
Within a week of installation, both new Undangs face Adat challenges from inside their own Luak, while two columns ask whether an Undang is a Ruler.
What happened last week
27 June 2026, Sat: A section of the Sungei Ujong waris moved to challenge the installation covered in this publication’s latest post, Who Are the New Undangs of Sungei Ujong and Rembau?
The waris of Klana Perut Hulu and Klana Perut Hilir, together with the Waris di Ayer and Waris di Darat, issued a media statement objecting to the installation of Muhammad Faris Johari as the 11th Undang Luak Sungei Ujong, arguing that it departed from the order set out in the Teromba and that it proceeded without the unanimous agreement of the Dato-Dato Lembaga Adat or the consent of the Ibu-Ibu Soko and the Klana waris that Adat requires.
They also questioned the standing of the officers who proclaimed the appointment, and asked for the installation to be reviewed (Sinar Harian, 27 June 2026).
The objection sits inside the Luak, where Adat locates the choice of an Undang. Competing claims within Sungei Ujong have run since May, when three names were advanced for the same seat, so the fresh challenge extends an argument the Luak has been having with itself for months.
28 June 2026, Sun: The Rembau district customary council has denied that its choice of a new Undang was influenced by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
Speaking to KiniTV, the council said the appointment of Datuk Hassan Ab Hamid as Undang Luak Rembau, in place of Abdul Rahim Yasin, whose standing as chieftain had been in dispute for a lack of formalisation, was a decision of the Luak alone (KiniTV, 28 June 2026).
30 June 2026, Tue: In a notice dated 29 June, and following Hassan Ab Hamid’s proclamation as the 22nd Undang Luak Rembau on 27 June, the office ordered the immediate vacation of the official residence and Balai Undang Luak Rembau.
The seat had fallen vacant on the death of the previous Undang, Datuk Muhamad Sharip Othman, in May 2024, after which Abdul Rahim Yasin was reported in August 2024 to have been appointed the 22nd Undang, an appointment later reported as not complying with customary process (New Straits Times, 30 June 2026).
The step echoes the notice served on 30 April in Sungei Ujong to remove ex-Undang Mubarak Dohak from his official residence.
3 July 2026, Fri: A counter-challenge in Rembau came from a senior matriarch. At a media session on Adat and the rotation of the 22nd Undang Luak Rembau, the Ibu Soko Nan Tua of the Waris Perut Biduanda Sedia Raja Kampung Pulau, YM Rashimah Abu Bakar, petitioned Tuanku Muhriz to review the rotation and to set aside the installation of Hassan Ab Hamid, which she argued fell outside the customary order.
By her account, the Rembau title alternates between two carak, Lela Maharaja and Sedia Raja, and the 22nd turn belonged to Kampung Pulau and its candidate YM Hishamuddin Abu Hassan rather than to Kampung Tanjong.
She held that the choice of a candidate rests with the four Datuk Tiang Balai Baroh, and that several customary steps were left undone, which in her reading made the appointment defective under Adat (Negeri Kita, 3 July 2026).
As the Adat principle she cited has it, “yang dahulu didahulukan, yang kemudian dikemudiankan, yang berhak jangan diketepikan dan yang menunggu jangan dilangkahkan”, those with the earlier right should not be passed over and those still waiting should not be leapt.
Rashimah put her request in constitutional terms, accepting that the Yang di-Pertuan Besar consents to the Luak’s choice rather than making it, which raises the question of how a completed installation could be set aside without the Luak’s own bodies acting first.
Her claims about Kampung Pulau’s turn, and about the standing of the installation, are hers and await any answer from the Rembau Adat leaders who oversaw it.
Commentary worth reading
2 July 2026, Thu: Faisal Tehrani, writing in Free Malaysia Today under the title “Undang bukan raja, raja adalah raja”, (The Undang is not a king; the king is the king), argued that the Undang holds the standing of a keeper of Adat law rather than that of a raja, and that Article 7 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959 places the Yang di-Pertuan Besar above all others in the state.
He traced the title Undang to the 1898 confederation, drawing on A. Samad Idris’s “Payung Terkembang”, M. Rasjid Manggis’s 1970 study, and the historian Norhalim Ibrahim to argue that the agreement of that year lifted the Yang di-Pertuan Besar to the rank held by the other Malay Rulers while the Undang did not carry it.
On the co-ruler question he read the shared role as confined to the seven discretionary functions in Article 40(2), rather than a general co-rulership (Free Malaysia Today, 2 July 2026).
2 July 2026, Thu: The Star reported that a group describing itself as the Secretariat of Loyalty and Support for the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, chaired by Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin, lodged a complaint with the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Affairs Department on 1 July, asking it to act against any preacher who offers the Friday doa for a Ruler other than Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
Megat D. Shahriman said the practice, alongside certain road tours, could cause public confusion over the legitimate royal institution, and he characterised it as a challenge to Tuanku Muhriz’s sovereignty and a matter under the 3R framework of race, religion, and royalty (The Star, 2 July 2026).
The complaint answers an episode a fortnight earlier, when on 19 June a mosque in Jelebu read the Friday prayer for Tunku Nadzaruddin as “Yamtuan Besar”, following the chieftains’ directive to mosques in their Luak, a directive the Negeri Sembilan Mufti said fell outside his jurisdiction (Malaysiakini, 19 June 2026, Malaysiakini, 19 June 2026).
The department has yet to say whether it will act. Asking the authorities to police the content of the Friday doa raises separate questions about religious authority and freedom of religious expression, alongside the loyalty argument advanced by the secretariat.
What we are watching for next week
7 July 2026, Tue: A contempt application within the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) proceedings is listed for hearing at the Seremban High Court, with the substantive hearing on jurisdiction and justiciability separately fixed for 28 July (Free Malaysia Today, 5 June 2026).
Summary
Both installations of 27 June drew challenges from inside their own Luak, Sungei Ujong on the reading of the Teromba and Rembau on the order of the rotation, and in Rembau the customary council has already defended its choice as an act of the Luak, free of palace influence, even as a senior Ibu Soko disputes it.
Each argument is pressed in the language of Adat rather than against the throne. The Free Malaysia Today column questioning the standing of the Undang reaches a similar conclusion on one point: authority in Negeri Sembilan begins within the Luak, while the Yang di-Pertuan Besar gives consent to what the Luak has decided.
For all the petitions addressed to Seri Menanti, the argument that now matters sits below the throne rather than above it, in the question of which kerapatan truly speaks for the Luak, and that is something the Yang di-Pertuan Besar can consent to yet cannot decide on the Luak’s behalf.
New posts written by this publication last week
Who Are the New Undangs of Sungei Ujong and Rembau? (29 June 2026): Faris Johari and Hassan Ab Hamid were formally installed at Istana Besar Seri Menanti on 27 June 2026.
Bagaimana seorang Undang Negeri Sembilan dilantik dan dilucutkan? (1 July 2026): this publication’s explainer on how an Undang is appointed and removed under the custom of the Luak was carried in Bahasa Melayu by Free Malaysia Today.
What Happens When a Luak Cannot Agree on Its Undang? (5 July 2026): When two lineages inside a Luak each claim the rightful Undang, does the Yang di-Pertuan Besar decide between them, or does custom answer first?
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Sources:
Negeri Sembilan dispute may lead to contempt of court action (Free Malaysia Today), 5 June 2026
Khutbah Jumaat masjid Jelebu doakan ‘Yamtuan Besar’ Tunku Nadzaruddin (Malaysiakini), 19 June 2026
Order issued to vacate Undang Luak Rembau’s residence (New Straits Times), 30 June 2026
Undang bukan raja, raja adalah raja (Free Malaysia Today), 2 July 2026
Anak Nogori is independent commentary on the unfolding constitutional crisis in Negeri Sembilan, where centuries-old Adat Perpatih, royal succession law, and modern political manoeuvring are colliding in ways Malaysia has never seen before. If you find this useful, share it with someone who should be following this, or subscribe to receive the latest articles in your inbox.
