A FRIEND of mine used to respond with this standard line whenever someone addresses him jokingly as 'Datuk'.

"When did I marry your grandmother?," he would retort back. And the several times I heard him repeat that line, his friends would be tongue-tied and wouldn't know how to react.

Datu, Dato or Datuk, no matter how it is spelt, is an affectionate term used in Malay society to address an elderly man, usually a grandfather. Dato actually means "Grandpa" too, so I was told.

But the subject matter I intend to discuss today is not about a term of endearment. It is the honorific title awarded by the king, sultans and governors to deserving recipients [supposedly] on the occasion of their official birthdays.

Of late, however, there have been many public complaints over the way the honorific titles are given out. There have been too many recipients of the Datukship in particular and this has been frowned upon by Malaysians in general.

Today, Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor celebrated his birthday and I am glad to read in the papers this morning that he only gave out 31 Datukships to people whom he thought were deserving recipients.

He lived up to what he said last month when he announced that he would impose certain restrictions of his own in the award of state titles, particularly the Datukship.

Starting from his birthday this year, the sultan has imposed stricter conditions - including a minimum age of 45 - on eligibility for the state's Datukship, in another move to limit the number of recipients and to protect the image and dignity of the awards.

Plain 'Mr' or 'Encik'

I recall that soon after he became prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also requested those responsible for recommending people for state or national awards to make sure that the recipients were truly deserving of such awards.

Abdullah made the statement probably because he was aware that there were people from shady backgrounds who were also recipients of such awards, particularly those given out by the states.

While they are many salivating to be awarded the Datukship, I can also name a few who had shunned the titles.

The very lovable Mohd Khir Johari who died last month is the first person that comes to mind. He was among a few national leaders who famously refused either state or federal titles during his term in office and only accepted the Tan Sri title in the 1980s, a decade after he retired from the cabinet.

He had said that "you must serve first and prove yourself, only then can you accept titles and awards."

All in, Khir served as a member of Parliament for nearly 30 years and was a cabinet member under Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak Hussein for about 20.

Then, who can forget the plain 'Encik' Ghafar Baba all throughout his public life, even when he was serving as deputy prime minister from 1986 to 1993. It was only after he retired that he agreed to receive the Tunship from the king.

Perhaps, few people are aware that Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang had also declined the Datukship from the Sultan of Kelantan on one occasion. Of course, the proposition to Kit Siang was via the recommendation of the PAS-led state government.

In the case of Kit Siang, it was more a matter of principle than anything else. I suppose he did not want to be the only DAP leader to be addressed as Datuk. His party comrades often called him 'Kit' and he appeared rather comfortable with that.

Leaders of opposition parties are not normally considered for state awards. This is not quite right, really. The exception is perhaps Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon. But he belonged to a more tolerant era of the past.

What people think

I can recall several incidents personally of how people perceive of honorific titles, the Datukship in particular.

I once heard a former Sarawak Cabinet member said that he would not want to be conferred the Datukship until he reaches the age of 50. I recall him saying that it would not be appropriate to be called a Datuk when you are still a young man. Moreover, he said he was not deserving of a Datukship when he was only serving as a junior cabinet member. I thought this was a rather humble gesture on his part.

At least, now we know that the Sultan of Selangor felt the same way. From today onwards, he would not be conferring the Datukship on anyone below 45. I suppose that sounds reasonable. You only have to look at the number of young recipients who were recently awarded the Datukship. Most of them are politicians from the ruling parties. The latest one I knew was only 33 years old. Just because his father was once a prominent minister, the son was made a Datuk. I don't think the young man is deserving of such a state award. Nobody is aware of what contributions he had made to the state which conferred the title on him. Cases such as this can only demean the prestige and honour that comes with the title.

Going on with this rambling, I also have a friend who was made a Datuk not too many years ago. He was not ashamed to tell me that he obtained the title just because he had made some 'offerings' to people connected with the royal family of a state. He was even more proud to say that he has a certain quota of the Datuk titles to be given to persons he recommends. Perhaps, my friend was bragging but I also have reasons not to believe him.

Remember the time when senior minister Dr Rais Yatim alleged that some recipients of the Datuk award paid for the prestigious title through their kaki or respective agents. He was quoted as saying that the matter was serious and he had urged menteris besar to stop the flood of such award recipients.

Dr Rais said menteris besar should advise sultans on the standard of recipients by having tight scrutiny of recipients' merit, service and personality, and not based on "buying and selling".

He said he has information of many people obtaining their Datukships after offering money. "This is corruption," he asserted.

From this statement of Dr Rais, I have no reason not to believe that he was telling the truth. Then again, none of the royal families came forward to challenge the minister's statement. So what is the truth? Your guess is as good as mine.

Mockery of the titles

Then, I have another businessman friend who once asked me whether I have any connections to get him a Datukship. He said he would like to have such a title to main main with as several of his business associates have the Datuk in front of their names - also to main main with. To these businessmen, it's about their big ego to be called a Datuk.

Of course, I politely told my friend that I am just a country bumpkin whose circles of friends do not include members of royalty but only kaki lima people. I believe God will never forgive me if I were to get involved in such 'trading' of state titles and awards. No, Sir, it is not something for me to main main with.

Let me say this again. The sad thing about all these is that if such honorific titles are for sale, then it only makes a mockery of the awards and it is demeaning for those who receive them.

I think we should all salute the Sultan of Selangor today, not only because it is his birthday but for being the first head of state to come up with a benchmark on how the Datukship should be awarded. In fact, all states should take the cue from the sultan. It's time to return the prestige and honour to a Datuk, like in the good old days when a person addressed as Datuk was such a respected and dignified fella.

To those of you out there who are also salivating for a Datukship, remember the words of the late Khir Johari, "You must serve first and prove yourself. Only then can you accept titles and awards."

As for me, I am still a long way to becoming a Dato. My boy is only 17.

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FRANCIS PAUL also wants to be a Datuk but he cannot afford to pay for it. He can be reached at [email protected]