The worth of an honorific title

The MACC arrest of titled persons raises a question about the integrity of the system of awarding honours.

COMMENT

In earlier times, Malaysians looked up to people whose names carried titles such as “Datuk” and “Tan Sri”. Such titles were hard to acquire. They were usually given to high-ranking retired civil servants, philanthropists and other distinguished men and women.

Today, however, datuks are a dime a dozen.

Last week, when the MACC arrested a number of datuks and a tan sri for alleged corruption and abuse of power, many members of the public started asking themselves whether there was any integrity in the system of awarding honours.

One person said, “I thought only people of upright character would receive the datuk award. Did these men deceive the people who nominated them for the title?”

A social observer said, “Did these people receive the awards because they are cronies and friends of our leaders? Were they nominated because of their connections?”

An honorific title can be taken away just as easily as it has been awarded. This has happened when certain datuks incurred the wrath of a sultan and when a datuk was charged with a crime.

A person who becomes a datuk has many doors open for him. In Malaysia, he receives preferential treatment, but this merely raises the disdain of others.

Some people become big-headed when they get the title. They don’t see anything wrong with jumping a queue, demanding an upgrade on a airline flight or having a highly-prized product reserved for them. Of course, when they are overseas, they don’t get any special treatment.

Being a datuk can affect a person’s memory. He may even forget his real name. When introduced to a new acquaintance, some datuks introduce themselves as “Datuk”, without mentioning their names. One foreigner, speaking at a high profile event in a leading hotel, once said, “I didn’t realise that ‘Datuk’ was such a common name for Malaysians.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to see how many datuk titles are awarded each year and for what reasons? No one would complain if the title is given, for example, to people whose organisations donate millions to charitable causes. But should we forget the individual who has devoted his spare time to running soup kitchens? How many datukships have been given to people who help the homeless, the disabled, the diseased or the marginalised?

The arrest of datuks and tan sris give us cause for concern. We have heard endlessly of scandals about “cash for honours” which have brought shame on the honours system in England. We hope that this does not happen in Malaysia.

Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist