“When we've got these people who have practically limitless powers within a society, if they get a pass without so much as a slap on the wrist, what example does that set for the next group of officials that come into power? To push the lines a little bit further, a little bit further, a little bit further, and we'll realise that we're no longer citizens - we're subjects.” - Edward Snowden

"I don't understand why my phone is bugged. I don't understand why my movements are monitored by the Special Branch.”

I have heard these words before. There is always that line a Malaysian crosses. That line that nobody used to talk about but these days the state assures us is there and there will be consequences if we cross it.

I have heard this question before from teachers, journalists, activists, politicians, LGBT advocates, lawyers, police personnel, newspaper vendors, coffee shop owners, bloggers, doctors, pastors, imams, priests, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, in other words, average Malaysians who found themselves under the spotlight of the state.

The people, who ask this question, know the answer. You only ask this question if you have done something. Something that crosses that line. Something, which you think, is your right, that is the right of every citizen but which invokes the ire of the state. They ask this question because they believe they have done nothing legally or morally wrong, that they were acting in good conscience, but deep down inside they know there would be consequences.

But I have never heard this from a member of the Malaysian royalty...