IT’S not about missing the forest for the trees. Yet society and companies are disinclined to scroll the federal database to verify the authenticity of Malaysia’s honorific titles.

The gullibility of Malaysians bewilders the Council of Datuk Dato’ Malaysia.

“Titles are usually given to those who are above 45 years of age and who have contributed to the nation. People should be vigilant when approached by someone with an honorific title. The younger they are the more cautious a person should be,” council secretary-general Samson David Maman told The Malaysian Insight.

Samson said all it takes to verify the authenticity of a title is to visit the government website and type in the name they want to check.

“There have been cases of supposed royal title award ceremonies being held at hotels, which is akin to the presentation of fake titles because investiture ceremonies do not take place at such venues,” he said.

“We have received many complaints from the public questioning why the Registrar of Companies (ROC) doesn’t make the effort to verify honorific titles produced by individuals.

“They also want to know what happens when a company director or chief executive officer is caught using a fraudulent title. Will the ROC face action for its (failure to investigate)?”

He cited the example of one Chan Wai Lan, who went by Tan Sri Sophia Chin on Facebook. She was the owner of a company called Quarters. A check at the database would show that Chan was using a fraud honorific title.

Samson said he had warned Chan against abusing the title but she had blocked him on Facebook.

“Chan is not on the federal database. PSM is a federal award. Yet Chan managed to fool even the ROC with her ‘Tan Sri’ title.”

The Securities Commission (SC) in January took Chan, who was a director at Pixelvest Sdn Bhd, to task for laundering RM164.5 million.

“The SC said Chan received illegal proceeds in her personal bank accounts as well as in several companies of which she is director or partner,” he added.

He said only the sultan could bestow a state title. Federal titles may be applied for and the government decides on their issuance based on the person’s contributions to sports or the community.

Samson said the Awards Act 2017 and the Emblems and Names Act (Amendment) 2016 were introduced to protect the awards and royal institutions after people claiming to be royalty, such as the  self-proclaimed “sultan” of Malacca and “king” of Borneo, Sulu and Mindanao handed out titles.

Soliciting for awards or selling fake awards are punishable by a fine of up to RM500,000 or 20 years’ jail.

Under the Emblems and Names (Amendment) Act, the offender could be fined RM20,000 or imprisoned for to three years or both. Before the amendment was enacted, offenders were fined RM1,000 for the improper use of emblems, names, and pictorial representations.

“The media can help mitigate the problem by verifying the legitimacy of the title used by the interviewee. One media outlet learnt this lesson the hard way when its regular contact with a Datuk title turned out to be a fraudster.”

Samson said fake titles abound in the entertainment, corporate and business sectors. Non-governmental organisations, too, are not spared.

“For such people (who use fake titles), it is about pride. It gives them a false sense of importance.

“We identified a family who used fake Datuk titles as well as a consulate representative who decided to obtain the Datuk Seri title but ended up being conned.”

He recalled another case, of an insurance agent who for RM30,000 received a fake Datuk title which she unabashedly used until the police and council caught up with her.

The problem of fake titles could be easily dealt with if the public made the effort to verify them, said Samson.

“Take the trouble to check the validity of a title when the situation warrants it. Help us eradicate the problem.” – May 3, 2024.