In Malaysia, we have a lot of official honorific titles such as Dato’, Datuk, Dato’ Seri, Tun, and Tan Sri among many others. While we know that these titles hold importance to the individuals who possess them, do we know what they actually mean? Or rather do we know the differences between these titles?
If you’re one of the people who may not be aware of the difference and when to use them, then fret not as we’re here to help you differentiate these honorifics. However, before we proceed, let’s learn about how one could obtain these honorary titles.
An honorary title is a form of recognition and respect given to an individual for their contribution achievement or service to society. There are two kinds of honorary titles which are federal titles and state titles. The former is considered the highest of all titles as it would bestowed upon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA). The latter, on the other hand, is awarded by a state ruler like the Sultan or a governor.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we prepared a little table to simplify the differences between the aforementioned titles. Don’t worry, we’ll provide a brief explanation for each but we won’t go into too much detail as it’s actually even more complicated and confusing.
Datuk/Dato’ (Federal vs State)
Both titles are pronounced the same and are probably the most confusing out of all titles. Why? There are both federal and state versions of these titles according to the state. As seen in the table above, Datuk is a federal title while Dato’ is a State title.
For the Datuk title, it’s is awarded by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and is divided into two ranks: Panglima Jasa Negara Award (PJN) and Panglima Setia Diraja (PSD). Whereas Dato’ is awarded by the state’s Sultan or governor and can be passed down from father to son.
Dato’ Sri/Dato’ Seri
The title of ‘Dato’ Seri’ is the highest state award awarded by one of the nine state rulers. Meanwhile, the title of ‘Datuk Seri’ is given by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the governor. As for the spelling of ‘Seri’ or ‘Sri’, it really all depends on the state, but it is worth noting that ‘Dato’ Sri’ is only awarded by the Sultan of Pahang. The rest of the states would use ‘Dato Seri’.
Tun/Tan Sri
Both are federal titles but ‘Tun’ is considered the highest-ranking title. Meanwhile, the title ‘Tan Sri’ is placed one level below ‘Tun’ and shares the same rank with the state titles ‘Dato’ Sri’ and ‘Dato’ Seri’ and just like the Datuk title, it’s also divided into two ranks; Panglima Mangku Negara (PMN) and Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM).
If you want to know in full detail about these titles, you can visit this website (1)(2) for more information.
Source: Istana Negara, Istiadat (1)(2)
