Datukships from "Sultan of Malacca" and other "royals" invalid

The Malacca Datuks Council only recognises state titles conferred by the Malacca Governor and regards those given by a self-proclaimed "Sultan" and a territorial chieftain as fakes.

Council president Tan Sri Datuk Wira Ahmad Nordin Mohd Amin said the names of the bon fide title recipients are recorded in a stringently guarded logbook.

"We have not and will not accept any one who had received such titles from unauthorised individuals," he said yesterday.

Ahmad Nordin said even for Datukships conferred by the Governor, recipients should provide supporting documents from the State Secretary confirming the presentation of the award.

He said it was an important prerequisite before any name is registered.

"The logbook holds the names of all state Datukship recipients who were given the awards by Malacca Governors," he added.

Ahmad Nordin said the registration log was carefully guarded and tamper-proof.

The Malacca Datuks Council chairman was commenting on The Star's report on Thursday that two people were conferring scores of dubious state Datukship titles.

One is the self-proclaimed Sultan of Malacca, "Tuanku" Raja Noor Jan Shah Raja Tuah while the other is the Undang Luak (chieftain) of Naning, Negri Sembilan, Datuk Abdul Latif Hashim, whose "territory" covers Alor Gajah in Malacca.

The state's Palace Protocol and Ceremonial chief Datuk A.S. Khamis said Malacca recognised the customary aspect of the Naning Adat Perpatih system but did not recognise any title conferred by the chieftain.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Hairdressing Association president Billy Lim claimed that a company had sent him a letter offering him Datukship for a "significant sum of money".

Lim said he was offered various titles to choose from including Datuk Seri, Datuk and even a Doctorate from unknown sources.

"The same letter should have been sent to our association members so that those visiting hair salons could be attended by a Datuk', Datuk Seri' or even a Dr'," he joked.

Council member Datuk K. Basil said at the rate fake "Datuks" were being given out, he would not be surprised if two out of 10 Malaysians would be claiming to be a either Datuk Seri and Datuk by 2020.

He said the Government should not clamp down on unlawful investiture ceremonies.

"Some people are willing to pay up to RM100,000 for Datukships conferred by unrecognised individuals," he said.

Basil said the council had raised the matter of fake Datukships before and had also recommended punitive action be taken against those giving them out.

- ANN