Several readers share their thoughts on How to be a Datuk, eh!
YOUR article on the award of datukships is an issue which should make those concerned with dishing out the titles sit up and view seriously.
Often, it is not the sultans or governors who have the final say on who should get the awards and titles. There are recipients who are recommended by political leaders and business bigwigs with connections to the palace. Thus, it is not uncommon to find people of shady character being made Datuks. This, needless to say, has lowered the prestige of the titles.
We have already seen many examples of Datuks being involved in criminal activities, the worst being murder. Some, many like to believe, are murder suspects who have the good fortunes to be free men just because of some lapses in the law.
I hope that the Conference of Rulers will take note of Datuks and others with titles to their names who were already suspects or charged for criminal activities. They should come out with a ruling that all such people should be stripped of their titles. This, hopefully, will restore the prestige and honour of the awards. Those Tan Sris or Datuks who live up to the honour of the awards would also be prouder people.
At least, the Sultan of Selangor has started the ball rolling on giving a benchmark on recipients of state titles and awards. This is a step in the right direction. Now, we hope that politicians in Selangor will not interfere with his decisions on the matter.
There have been times when we wonder, for example, what on earth has a 30-year-old businessman from Johore 'contributed' to warrant him being given a datukship from Pahang, or the other way round. It's quite obvious that such a title could only be obtained through 'palm greasing'. - Encik AR Sukirman
A burden to be a Datuk
My late father was a Datuk. He died more than 10 years ago at a ripe old age of 88. He received the datukship from the sultan of my home state when he was about 60 years old.
My father had quite a fair bit of luck in his business. Well, we can call him a self-made millionaire. My father was also a generous man. He actually became quite a well known philanthropist in our home town. Somehow, he was recommended by an educational foundation he set up to aid needy students and I believe it was through the MCA quota that he was made a Datuk.
It's sad but true, Many people want to be datuks. It's a status symbol. What you have said about datukships for sale are only too true. I hope such a practice will stop.
I have actually been pressured by relatives, mainly uncles and cousins, to lobby for a datukship. To them, I must live up to my father's reputation as he was a Datuk. But I actually do not fancy such a title as I do not think it is necessary to expect anything in return for continuing with my father's charitable work.
Sadly, others including my own kin think differently. Sometimes, I wish we do not have such awards in this country. It may be prestigious to be given a title but to others, it has become a burden. - Happy Plain Mister
People will pay for it
I REFER to your tongue-in-cheek article which is not only hilarious but speak volumes about today's society who value title and wealth (not necessarily in that order) in order to stand out in the crowds.
Considering that Malaysia has thirteen rulers or heads of state plus a king who can give out federal titles, one is not surprise to see many titled people walking the streets, including many with dubious characters.
Gone are the days when datukships were only given to long serving senior government servants at the tail end of their illustrious careers. Nowadays, the recipients are getting younger and there are many young politicians who are still wet behind their ears being bestowed titles, including the datukship, for their so-called 'contributions' to society.
It is an open secret that if you can flush some funds to certain middle men, a datukship can be arranged for you and businessmen who want the glamorous title to win contracts won't bat an eyelid to pay for it.
The Sultan of Selangor's decision to limit state awards to those who are eligible should be emulated by other state rulers in order to preserve the dignity of the awards.
Royal awards to serving politicians should be stopped and the present top kicks in government should follow the examples set by Ghafar Baba ( left) and Khir Johari who only got their deserving titles upon their retirement from public life.
After all, Malaysia is only a small nation unlike Great Britain which not only has a single head of state but also give the knighthood 'Sir' to only worthy and deserving recipients and not to any Tom, Dick or Harry. - Hamdan Ibrahim
Chee Khoon honoured as a medical doctor
IN your article, you wrote 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".
If you remember Dr Tan's writing "Without fear or favour" in the Star many years ago, the citation for his Tan Sri-ship was for his contribution to the medical profession (he had once been president of the Malaysian Medical Association) and he accepted the award as such and not as a politician or as leader of the opposition. - Uncle Yap
Thank you, Uncle Yap, for the clarification. - Ed
Other ways to be a datuk
MONEY is not the only way to be a datuk. There are several ways to get it. You can try to sail around the world in a yacht. You can also follow Nicol David wherever she goes and learn to be a good sportsman. Alternatively, set up a big cheering team with you as the leader. You can also marry a datuk and then become a datuk. Or you can call up 100 millionaire datuks, analyse their successes, copy a bit from each one and you are already on the way to become a datuk. Good luck to all datuk aspirants. - Ray Yip
Readers can comment on this issue by e-mailing [email protected] . Selected letters will be published.
