Just call me Encik, thank you very much

Neil Khor
Jun 12, 10
1:28pm

Whilst we cannot ever hope to understand why Chua Jui Meng was stripped of his Johor titles, one lesson has emerged from Chua's experience. It is better not to accept any titles and honorifics except the ones that cannot be taken away. ( I like you I give you sweets , I don't like you I take it away ) hahaha

Encik sounds very nice to my ears and anyone born in Malaysia can avail themselves to the title.

If one has worked very hard for a medical degree, one can call oneself 'Doctor'. As medical doctors will tell you, once they have completed their post-graduate studies and become specialists, they revert to 'Mr'. The only "real" doctors around are those with a PhD, (Doctor of Philosophy). Once earned, such titles are impossible to lose. If indeed one loses them, the conferring body will usually have a responsibility to explain why, thus giving one the opportunity to defend one's case.

Interestingly, we are a nation that is so "hard-up" for titles that those in private universities "confer" honorary doctorates on their own vice-chancellors. Honorary doctorates cannot be used as freely as real doctorates. But nowadays, there are so many universities and so many doctorates that the degree and title is fast becoming meaningless. One therefore has to affix the conferring body (i.e. PhD Oxon (for Oxford) or PhD Cantab (for Cambridge) etc).

Blame it on the British

Perhaps, like everything else, we should blame the British for our fixation with titles, medals and abbreviations. If we had been ruled by the French, we might not have such a system in place. We might not even have monarchs, for that matter, especially after France became a republic in the late 18th century.

But the British who colonised Malaya were class-ridden and feudal-minded. There was a colour bar and 'whites-only' clubs.

Even as late as the 1950s, the Sultan of Selangor was not allowed into the Lake Club. It required the iron will of General Templar, then the High Commissioner to Malaya, to “convince” the members to allow the Sultan to go through its hallowed doors.

In 1867, after the bloody Penang Riots involving fighting between rival Sino-Malay groups, which also demonstrated the possibility of Sino-Malay cooperation, the British went into overdrive to separate the races. It was better for the Malays and Chinese and Indians not to mix "too much". It was not long after the incident that an Inspectorate of Police was established (1872), indirect rule through headmen ended in the Straits Settlements and secret societies that operated quite openly were regulated and later disbanded (1885).

But the most effective way to getting the unruly Chinese and the rebellious Malays into the ambit of the race-based and hierarchical colonial system was to set up a corresponding system of "merit" made up of medals and titles. Of course, this included the Malay rulers themselves and they were obliged to be included into the pecking order, with Queen Victoria at the top. In fact, it was the Jewish British Prime Minister Disraeli who cobbled together the title 'Queen-Empress of India' for Queen Victoria.

'Rake's progress of upward mobility'

To get onto to the social hierarchy, one must first earn the title Justice of Peace (JP). In Penang, the first Malay to be so honoured was Sheikh Omar Basheer, an influential religious figure who helped draw the Malays out of the secret societies. He was truly a peace-maker and community leader.

Among the Chinese, the first JPs included wealthy revenue-farmers like Koh Seang Tat, Foo Tye Sin and Cheah Chen Eok.

It would appear that the tradition of honouring business tycoons began a very long time ago. In those days, however, business tycoons were also civic-society leaders, philanthropists and patrons of schools. The income disparity was also much wider and society was more “respectful” of their social betters.

As the years passed and colonial society grew more complex, the honour system also expanded with new rungs added onto the ladder. JP was suddenly the first step in a very long 'rake's progress' of upward mobility.

There was the Order of the British Empire (OBE), given for meritorious service to the British Empire, usually after the person has donated money to some imperial cause.

Then, there was the Commander of the British Empire (CBE), given out more sparingly to those who have served on the various legislative councils representing the interests of one's race.

Next came the stratosphere, for none of the previous titles and medals actually came with an honorific. The only "distinction" they gave was the right to place the abbreviation behind one's name (i.e. Koh Seang Tat, JP OBE).

But getting onto the next echelon meant something else. The abbreviations KBE and KCBE stood for Knight of the British Empire and Knight Commander of the British Empire respectively. One can now put the title 'Sir' before one's name. By today's standards, the first level 'Sir' is level with 'Tan Sri', whilst the upper-level 'Sir' was equal to our 'Tun'.

However, for the Malay rulers and the various colonial governors and high commissioners, the titles and medals became even more elaborate. KCMG which translates into Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael & St George, has also been taken to mean “Kindly Call Me God”. Then there was GCMG Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael & St George, GCMG being said mean “God Calls Me God”.

The first Chinese to have been made a Knight was Sir Ong Siang Song of Singapore. A staunch Christian and a Queen's Scholar, he rendered great service to the cause of the Chinese in Singapore.

Naked without titles

In Malaya, there were several common people who were made Knights. In Penang, there was Sir Kamil Ariff, a founder-member of the Penang Malay Association (the precursor to Penang Umno) and Sir Hussein Abdulcader, a lawyer.

In Johor, there was Sir Onn Jaafar, the founder-president of Umno, whereas Melaka had Sir Cheng Lock Tan, the founder-president of the MCA. Selangor had millionaire and MCA stalwart Sir HS Lee.

It is human nature to want to be distinguished. Some prefer to be pious or at least outwardly pious to win a seat by God's side. Others prefer to accumulate wealth so that they can be “respected” by those who are not as rich. Some prefer the politician's soap-box, so they can champion a cause, which very often is bound-up with self-interest.

There are those who feel naked without some titles and abbreviations after their name, as though medals and titles 'maketh the man'.

But there is a draw-back to being so distinguished - one can always find oneself on the wrong side in a flick of the eye, like all those OBEs, CBEs and JPs experienced when the Japanese Imperial Army marched into Malaya and expelled the British. They were among the first to be hauled up, slapped in public, and kennelled in enemy camps. Of course, most survived, but never again were they regarded by their fellow men as social “betters”.

For those aspiring for 'Datukships', they should take a leaf from history and Chua Jui Meng's experience: It is much better to be just an 'Encik', at least they can't take that away from you.