Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Ada Apa Dengan Title?

Hmmmm. Ordinary people? How do you define ordinary people?
Literally? Orang Kebanyakan? Rakyat Jelata? People with no
title?

If that's the case, does that mean people with titles are better? They are simply,
extraordinary?

What about a single mother (with no title), earning an honest living by working
two jobs, 7 days a week to raise her 4 children? Does that make her ordinary?
I would definitely associate such woman with the word "extraordinary"
and "special".

Last 2 years, pleasantly surprised to hear that the son of a close
family friend (one year older than me) got married with his coursemate a few
months back. But the surprise didn't end there. Apparently my family wasn't
invited to the wedding, at all. Wow. Ungga gangga!


You see, our family are related by blood (but quite far) and have been close
for as long as I can remember. And then it happened. For better or worse. He
received datukship for his accomplishments and achievements. And now,
he's a Tan Sri.


For the first time in the family, the Tan Sri was having the very first wedding
for their beloved son. The wedding must be grand I think, as the guest list
included the Prime Minister himself. I heard the Prime Minister did attend the
ceremony, at Dewan Perdana Felda. Personally, if their children would get
married someday, I was completely convinced our family would be invited. I know
for sure that when they're figuring out the guest list, my family would be on
the top 10 or at least top 20 on top of their head. It's a given. No doubt.
Whatsoever.

Or so thought.


I was wrong. My family wasn't even told about the wedding (until weeks later),
not to mention a formal invitation. When my parents told me about it, I
realized that my parents didn't show much emotion or disgust. My parents even
mentioned defensive words like, "
Oh mungkin dia lupa kot..."
and "Mungkin dah habis quota..tak cukup tempat duduk". While
my elder sister said, "




Tuh aa pasal, pelik jugak kenapa diorang tak
invite." But eyes never lie. I could see from my mother's eyes, she
was taken aback to say the least. Sad. Dissapointed. Frustrated. I could listen
to her tone. How could they?


And this PISSED ME OFF.


Well of course anyone who intentionally upsets our mothers would piss us off
eh?

This is unacceptable. You should't treat us like that, especially to my mom.
There's no excuse.

Why weren't we invited? Because we are ordinary and not good enough to their
so-called "standard"? Because we're not some Datuk or Tan Sri?
Perhaps some BIG SHOT people (emphasize on some, not all here) have
the perception that they're somewhat better than everyone else. I know that to
some people it's not a big deal (regarding the wedding invitation), I wouldn't
wanna go to the wedding anyway, but this is a huge concern. Why would people
change and forget their roots out of sudden, just because of a freakin' TITLE?


Title means nothing, if you're using it for your personal gain and benefits.
The Federal Territories Minister, Tan Sri Mohamed Isa Abdul Samad was found
guilty of money politics recently. Title means nothing, if you don't use the
opportunity to help out others in need and give back to the community. Title
means nothing, if you use your power and influence to commit crime (this also
include family members of politicians). Recently, the Inspector-General of
Police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar's son was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Agency
for
alleged ILLEGAL sale of Ramadhan bazaar lots. Title means nothing,
if you forget and ignore your family and friends. Title means nothing, if you
think you're better than everyone else. I don't know to what extend the truth
of this article, but you might wanna check it out anyway: Travelling Air Asia, Datuks turn bullies. What about the
richest people in the whole world (Forbes)? Are they rewarded titles as well, for their
extraordinary accomplishments? The top 10:


1) William Gates III

2) Warren Buffett

3) Lakshmi Mittal

4) Carlos Slim Helu

5) Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud

6) Ingvar Kamprad

7) Paul Allen

8) Karl Albrecht

9) Lawrence Ellison

10) S Robson Walton


The richest man in the world is only known as Bill Gates. No title whatsoever.
Perhaps only Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud is the only one with a title, and
that's because he's a Prince. Personally I think it's redundant and impractical
to say the least. What should we describe the King of Malaysia as "Malaysia Duli
Yang Maha Mulia Sri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agung"? To my
understanding, we should only use the word "Maha" to describe God's

sifat,
like Maha Pengasih (The All Beneficent), Maha Penyayang (The Most Merciful),
Maha Pengampun (The All Forgiving), Maha Pemurah (The Bountiful, the Generous),
etc. And now we're describing the King of our country, who is only HUMAN, as
Maha Mulia? Not right. How do you distinguish GOD and our KING then, if the
word "Maha" can be used as we please? Can anyone please explain?


Okay back to the main topic. I couldn't help but wonder, do they have a
selection committee for this purpose? Or they are just gonna pick some 50 people
or
so every Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan
Agung Malaysia's
birthday? What's the main criteria to be rewarded then?

Datuk Azhar Mansor was rewarded datukship as the first Malaysian to
sail solo around the world. Was he successful? I heard there were complications
and problems along the way, but I don't read that much about him.

Datuk Prof Jimmy Choo was rewarded datukship as world's famous shoe
designer, whose clients include the late Princess Diana.

Datuk Michelle Yeoh was rewarded datukship for her accomplishment as
an actress, including landing a role as a Bond girl.

Datin Paduka Sharifah Mazlina Syed Abdul Kadir’s solo trek to Antarctica?
I don't read much about that, so I can't say. Is she a royalty in the first
place? Maybe she is. Hehe so not relevant to this purpose of entry.

Datin Seri Normala Samsudin automatically received the "Datin"
title as the wife of Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid.

Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina automatically received the "Datin"
title as the wife of Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi.

Manchester United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson was knighted after the
club's magnificent treble in 1999, but if I'm not mistaken (correct me if I'm
wrong here), his wife, Cathy did not receive any automatic title for her
husband's achievement. That only makes perfect sense right? Why should you be
given a title just because you're legally married to the person? With all due
respect, Normala Samsudin and Tiara Jacquelina should EARN the title. You gotta
EARN what you DESERVE.

August 3 2003, Datuk Abdul Malik Mydin, 29, from Penang, became the first
Malaysian to swim non-stop across the 33.6km-wide English Channel. He made it
in 17 hours and 35 minutes. He was rewarded with a datukship.

July 13, Lennard Lee, a medical student at Cambridge University, successfully swam non-stop
across the same English Channel in 9
hours and 45 minutes. The temperature was about 16°C."

Lennard Lee did the impressive feat in HALF the time. But was
not rewarded datukship. Is there a double standard? Because it's an
embarassment for Datuk Abdul Malik Mydin?

But wait. There's one more important question here, kinda off topic, but
crucial to deliver my message.

That's not right.

Are we a nation SO obsessed with titles?

Apparently this obsession also happens in rural areas and kampung-kampung.
The title "Tok Haji" or "Pak Haji" is
frequently used to show that the particular person has performed Hajj at least
once. If I'm not mistaken, The Holy Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. performed Hajj only
once in his lifetime. But do we call him Haji Muhammad?

By having this title system and everything, it will create the unnecessary
social gap in our society. The rich becomes richer, the poor becomes poorer.
Why is there a need to differentiate people in the first place anyway? To label
people? Why don't we just follow India's Caste System for that
purpose?

We are all Muslims. Yang membezakan kita hanya Iman dan Taqwa.

If rewarding title is so NECESSARY to acknowledge extraordinary
accomplishments, then among the people who deserve them are Nobel Prize winners. And Ibnu Sina. Al-Khawarizmi. Al-Zahrawi.
Al-Jazari. Ibnu Baytar. Ibnu Khaldun. Al-Idrisi. Jabbir Hayan. Mimar Sinan.
Mother Theresa. Albert Einstein. Hellen Keller. Among others.

If you can cure cancer, then in my book, you deserve the highest title
possible. Such accomplishment can't be measured. Saving the humankind is simply
out of this world. Priceless. Extraordinary.

" Heroes are ordinary people doing extraordinary things at
extraordinary times under extraordinary circumstances."

just my 2cents at 9:53 PM |

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