I refer to the letter Why no Datukship for Yogi B ?

I agree with the writer on many of the issues he raised and I want to elaborate on some of them.

My view on Datukship is that it should not be given to foreigners. If ever it is to be given, it should be only under exceptional circumstances where there is substantiated evidence to show that the recipient has contributed greatly towards the well-being of Malaysia through his action, deeds and thus brought honour to the country.

With regard to Shah Rukh Khan, he certainly does not belong to that category of foreigners that I have mentioned in the above paragraph. The reason given by tourist officials and politicians from Malacca for giving the award to Khan is because he has a world-wide following and thus is helping to expose Malacca and Malaysia as a tourist destination to the wider world.

I would like to know which movie shot in Malacca, having Khan in the lead, was such a box-office hit that it attracted a huge audience throughout the world. The only film of his, shot extensively in Malaysia, that did well in terms of audience patronage was ‘Don’ (2007) which grossed Rupees 85 Crores (RM85m) worldwide.

The Tamil movie, ‘Billa’ (2007), also filmed exclusively in Malaysia grossed RM80 million. The box-office collection between the two movies differed by only RM5 million. Just as Khan has a large following the world over, so do quite a few Tamil actors. One or two like Rajnikant may even have a larger following than Khan at this moment in their careers.

But one must bear in mind that most overseas fans of the Indian film stars are of Indian or Indian ethnic origin with the exception of those in Africa, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and to a lesser extent in the Arab world.

One well known retired politician even said that Khan deserves a Datukship as he has been championing Malaysia to Hindi film producers as a movie location and thus contributing to our economy as well as creating jobs for locals in the film industry. If one were to use the same argument, then a Datukship should be given to the president of the South Indian Film Chamber as well as the head of the Tamil Film Association for their tireless efforts in promoting Tamil films to be shot in Malaysia.

These movies, I am sure, would have contributed to our food and hotel industries and other ancillary industries/services related to the film industry as well as providing jobs to local film artistes and crews. This is not to talk about the exposure of the Malaysian locale to the wider worldwide audience

My personal view is that there is a general disregard by Malaysian politicians and officials for Tamil movies as contributing factors to the economy as well as their potential, earning capacity and reach. This is out of sheer ignorance as well as prejudice.

A good Kollywood-Tamil hit (and not Mollywood which refers to the Malayalam film industry) has been grossing about RM80-RM100 million in the last few years. An average of seven to eight movies have been earning that much per year in the last 2-3 years. This compares favourably with a Hindi movie hit which struggles to reach even the lower RM60-70 million figure.

For the year 2008, the top Tamil movie ‘Dasaavatharam’ collected about RM170 million while ‘Jooda Akbar’ (Hindi) collected only RM60 million. In 2007, ‘Sivaji The Boss’ (Tamil) collected RM280 million as compared to ‘Om Shanti Om’ (Hindi)'s RM90million. In 2005, ‘Chandramukhi’ (Tamil) grossed RM200 million.

The reason for the high earning of Tamil movies is because firstly, these movies are being watched by the whole of south India which has a population of 240 million as well as the 25-30 million south Indians settled in the north of that country. Quite lately, Tamil movies have started attracting audience amongst the north Indians as well, just as Hindi movies have attracted Tamil audience.

Secondly, a large number of people of south Indian origin work and live overseas and Tamil movies have a strong following amongst them. Thirdly, a south Indian watches twice as many movies as their counterparts elsewhere in India.

In countries like the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the ministers in charge of tourism personally take a interest in welcoming and meeting film crews from overseas. The reception is fair and equal and they do not differentiate or are biased against one group as compared to another.

Forgive me for not sounding patriotic but I feel somebody should write to the heads of the Tamil Film Chamber in Chennai telling them that their contribution to Malaysia in terms of economics and exposure of the country to a worldwide audience is being ignored.

Their contribution will only be appreciated and valued if the actors of Tamil film industry have a large following among the local Malay Muslim population and better still if these actors, producers/directors are of the same religious faith as Malaysia’s majority populace.

To top it all, they should endear to the ruling political class.