It was reported today in The Star online that there will be no award conferred in conjunction with the Sultan of Terengganu's birthday. It is said that this is the first time in the country where there is no awards conferred during a Sultan's birthday.
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I think this is a very positive development in conferring awards and title to individuals. It really means that awards and titles are not given just for the sake of giving but it is given based on merit. It also shows that it is not mandatory that awards and titles need to be given during every birthday celebration of the Sultans.
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I do believe that those people who are craving for Datukship or Tan Sriship or whatever ship there is during the Sultan of Terengganu's birthday will be disappointed.
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Often we heard news report that link Datuks and Tan Sris with crime. You must be familiar with reports that says for e.g. seorang ahli perniagaan berpangkat Datuk dipercayai menjadi dalang dalam kegiatan jenayah tersebut or something like that. It is also true like a say that goes like this, "If you throw stones towards a crowd in Malaysia, at least one of the stones will hit a Datuk.
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I do not really know what are the criteria used for the conferment of titles to individuals but logically speaking, I think that the individuals must have made a great contribution to the country or at least the state for them to be conferred with the title. However, does every Datuk/Dato' in Malaysia has at least contributed something great to the country/state? I leave it for you to answer.
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Remember at one point of time (many years ago) when there was an issue of people buying the title? They just need to fork our a few thousand RM to get the title. Not bad huh!!! Well, definitely when I talked about contribution earlier on, I do not mean this type of "contribution".
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But have you ever thought why do some people really craving for the title? To me the answer is pretty simple. They want power. They want respect and they want privileges. This is because they thought that when they are a Datuk, they should be given prority. They sholud get the advantage. They should get whatever the ordinary people can't have. To top it all, they want the VIP status. By then, they have the licence to make people waiting for them to officiate a function, among others. Sounds familiar?
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But to certain extent, I do not really blame them. We, as the ordinary people are partly to be blamed because more often than not, we give them a higher status than us. Sometimes we do hear people say, "don't mess around with him, he is a Datuk" or "his father is a Datuk" or "I need to see the Datuk to get some "help"".
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To me if you are a Datuk or Tan Sri, so what??? You are just a human being just like me. You still need to do your "business" in the toilet just like me. You still need to eat just like me. You walk just like me. You don't make a great contribution to the country/state just like me. So, why the hell that I need to give my respect to you when there is difference between you and me? The only difference that I can think of is that I don't bluff but you do.
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Unfortunately, they forget one thing i.e. when they die, they leave behind their titles. They leave behind their Awards. When they die, they are just a mere hamba Allah (Allah's slave). The titles that they have could have given them a lot of advantages in the world but definitely it does not work that way in the hereafter. In the eyes of Allah, Allah only looks at the good deeds (exclusion to donations made with a condition of publicity) and our faith towards Him during our life time. Nothing more and nothing less.
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But having said that, I am not saying that all Datuks or Tan Sris are like that. There are still good Datuks and Tan Sris out there who get their title when they really deserve it. I am not really against all the Datuks and Tan Sris but most of them really make me sick.
