By Kee Thuan Chye

COMMENT When Pakatan Rakyat took over a few state governments in 2008 I hoped, among other things, that the coalition would not recommend its elected representatives for datukships.

At a gathering hosted by the newly elected Sivarasa Rasiah and Elizabeh Wong to celebrate their electoral victories, I expressed this hope to both. I asked the same of Lim Guan Eng after he became Chief Minister. “We are not giving any titles,” he assured me. “I will try if possible to remain what I am.”

It hasn’t quite turned out that way.

Guan Eng himself has stayed true to his word but people under his watch, like Zahrain Mohd Hashim who has since become an independent MP, were presented awards. Sivarasa and Elizabeth are still without titles, but the Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim, already a Tan Sri, was made a Datuk Seri last year. I was disappointed that Nizar Jamaluddin, not long after becoming MB of Perak, became a Datuk Seri.

Well, win some, lose some.

I can understand the desire to reward people for their contribution to the advancement of society, but must this be in the form of a title that serves to set the recipient apart from common folk? The French Revolution ignited the idea of equality for all; the idea of superior beings set apart from hoi polloi remains simply unacceptable in some societies.

Britain, a vestigial monarchy, still sustains an order of knights and dames of course, even though it is a democracy with sometimes socialist inclinations. The monarchy is the main reason for the continued practice, and the class system deeply entrenched in British society, with the ruling class still highly influenced by the aristocracy.

Fortunately, many Britons don’t take themselves too seriously. Few would consider it compulsory to refer to the rocker Mick Jagger as Sir Michael or the actress Judi Dench as Dame Judi. In fact, Jagger’s fans were disappointed that he accepted the title. The highly successful composer of musicals Andrew Lloyd Webber was made a peer in 1997, but if he were to insist on being called Baron Lloyd-Webber, he would be laughed out of not only the theatre but anywhere in Britain. Except perhaps in the House of Lords.

While the knights and dames of Britain wear their titles lightly, the same does not seem to apply with their Malaysian counterparts (although “knight” seems a misplaced description for any of our datuks or tan sris – how many have been convicted for corruption or criminal breach of trust?). A film credit for Jins Shamsuddin has to carry the honorific Tan Sri; the singer Siti Nurhalisa has to be acknowledged Datuk every time she is addressed or announced as a performer; and Lee Chong Wei is sometimes similarly addressed in news reports even though it sounds patently weird when he’s lost a badminton match. Our “knight” lost? Woe upon us!

So many datuks and tan sris take themselves so seriously they will throw tantrums or threaten action if you fail to acknowledge their titles in public. This seems unbecoming, placing more emphasis on the title than the content of character or of personal calibre. You may be an excellent engineer or judge, say, but if you have to depend on an honorific to define you, that’s rather pathetic.

Besides, it is public knowledge that not all titles are awarded to those who are deserving. Sometimes, it all boils down to connections. A majority of public servants, political leaders and civil service officials, seem to be automatically conferred.

On the list of 101 candidates standing in the recent MCA elections were 38 with titles: seven Datuk Seris and one Tan Sri among them. The titled lot accounted for 37.6 per cent of the total. If that seems absurd, look at the Cabinet: virtually everyone has a title. It is difficult to imagine the British Government similarly being run by a bunch of Sirs and Dames. As it is, their Prime Minister is just plain Mr Gordon Brown.

I know someone who has been awarded multiple datukships not because he provides a creditable service to society but apparently more because he knows how to suck up to people in government and royal circles. To some of his professional colleagues, his vocational conduct is repugnant. I refrain from saying “professional conduct” because his conduct is actually unprofessional and a bane to society.

It is also public knowledge that in Malaysia, titles can be bought. What value is such a datukship then? How well does it sit on someone rewarded for actual creditable service as on another who had paid out tons of money for one? So why should Malaysian society take these titles seriously?

In reality, most of us don’t, but we refrain from expressing ourselves out of politeness or fear of reprisal. Behind the backs of incompetent datuks, we snigger at their lack of calibre. Among ourselves, we privately pour scorn on datins. “Ya lah! That woman so aksi and demanding, always saying she’s so rich and powerful. Sure lah, she’s a datin what!”

This merely begets hypocrisy. Worse, it fosters an undercurrent of resentment against what is perceived to be an exclusive class of beings, and creates the fanciful notion that datuks and datins are endowed with glamour. Have you looked at some of them? The word “glamour” might wish it didn’t exist.

There’s little glamour to be perceived after having sat through the tedious ritual of addressing the titled beings at public events. The master of ceremonies must make sure protocol is followed: so, too, the people who subsequently make the speeches. There’s the Tuan Yang Terutamas and the Yang Amat Berhormats and the Yang Amat Berbahagias and the Yang Berhormat Mulias. The Yang Berhormats of those in public office and the Yang Berbahagias of those who are not. And don’t you forget which is which. Everyone goes through this rigmarole, distasteful because it sounds like grovelling. Must we appear such an obsequious people? It would be so refreshingly simple for all to be addressed as just “Para hadhirin”.

I hope those Pakatan Rakyat leaders still without titles remain so but if they become more entrenched in government who knows what might get into their heads? But I for one simply can’t conceive of a Datuk Nurul Izzah or a Datuk Seri Lim Guan Eng. Most unpalatable of all would possibly to be confronted — when and if he ever retires — with a Tun Lim Kit Siang!

He is a people’s icon. If he crosses over, it would be a monumental loss.