It has been a long-standing practice for countries throughout the world to confer awards to individuals who rendered a lifetime of service or attained achievements in their fields, in recognition of their contribution. For example, the most well-known monarchy, the British monarchy confers the Knights Bachelor award that comes with the title, Sir to outstanding individuals.
In Malaysia, the monarch and state rulers have the rights to confer honorary titles to individuals including political figures, academicians, entrepreneurs, civil service officers, athletes and artists. Some awards carry titles such as Dato, Datuk Seri and Datuk that are equivalent to the British Sir and should be prefixed to their names in written or verbal addresses.
The conferring of these awards can even be extended to citizens from another country. For example, President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto was recently granted the top honorary award in Johor, known as Darjah Kerabat Pangkat Pertama (which does not carry a title) on his visit to Malaysia in January 2025, while Indian actor and producer Shah Rukh Khan was conferred a Datukship by the Malacca governor in 2008.
Malaysia’s Honours System
In Malaysia, there are 13 states and three federal territories, which implement their own honours systems, with varying lists of awards and medals.
The royal rulers play a key role in bestowing such awards and titles. Upholding the duty of protecting the customs and religious rights of the Malay peoples, the nine royal families in Malaysia lead the states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan. Every five years, they rotate to be the paramount ruler or monarch, with the title, His Majesty The King. Other states without a ruler such as Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak are led by governors known as Yang Dipertua Negeri. The federal territories consisting of capital city Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan do not have separate leaders.
In each state, the honours system is usually tier-based. For example, the state of Selangor has a total of 13 awards. One of the highest awards, the Darjah Kebesaran Seri Paduka Mahkota Selangor (S.P.M.S.), carries the title Dato Seri and is usually bestowed to members of the royal family, high-ranking ministers or outstanding individuals. This is followed by the award, Darjah Kebesaran Dato’ Setia-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (S.S.I.S.), with the title Dato Setia and Darjah Kebesaran Dato’ Paduka Mahkota Selangor (D.P.M.S.), which comes with the title of Dato.
Some awards are field specific such as the Darjah Kebesaran Ahli Kegemilangan Sukan Selangor (A.K.S.), which is bestowed to outstanding sports athletes. The awards such as the Darjah Kebesaran Setia-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (S.I.S.) and Darjah Kebesaran Ahli-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (A.I.S.) are also granted to government officers who have contributed to the nation and its peoples.
| Awards (State Of Selangor) | Titles |
| Darjah Kerabat Selangor Yang Amat Dihormati (D.K.) | – |
| Darjah Kerabat Selangor Yang Amat Dihormati (D.K.2) | – |
| Darjah Kebesaran Seri Paduka Mahkota Selangor (S.P.M.S.) | Dato Seri (male recipient)/ Datin Paduka Seri (female recipient) |
| Darjah Kebesaran Dato’ Setia-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (S.S.I.S.) | Dato Setia (male recipient)/ Datin Paduka Setia (female recipient) |
| Darjah Kebesaran Dato’ Paduka Mahkota Selangor (D.P.M.S.) | Dato (male recipient) / Datin Paduka (female recipient |
| Darjah Kebesaran Dato’-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (D.S.I.S.) | Dato (male recipient) / Datin Paduka (female recipient |
| Darjah Kebesaran Ahli Kegemilangan Sukan Selangor (A.K.S.) | – |
| Darjah Kebesaran Setia Mahkota Selangor (S.M.S.) | – |
| Darjah Kebesaran Setia-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (S.I.S.) | – |
| Darjah Kebesaran Ahli Mahkota Selangor (A.M.S.) | – |
| Darjah Kebesaran Ahli-Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (A.I.S.) | – |
| Bintang Perkhidmatan Cemerlang (B.P.C.) | – |
| Bintang Kecemerlangan Sukan Selangor (B.K.S.) | – |
Under the Federal Territory Awards System, there are seven awards as shown below. The top award is the Seri Utama Mahkota Wilayah (S.U.M.W.) and carries the title of Datuk Seri Utama. This is followed by the Seri Mahkota Wilayah (S.M.W.) award with the title of Datuk Seri and Panglima Mahkota Wilayah (P.M.W.), which comes with the title of Datuk. Upon winning an award, the recipient will have to attend a formal award ceremony at the royal palace to receive the award from the respective royal ruler. The award usually come with decorative medals which will be pinned to the recipients’ formal garbs.
| Awards (Federal Territory) | Titles |
| Seri Utama Mahkota Wilayah (S.U.M.W.) | Datuk Seri Utama |
| Seri Mahkota Wilayah (S.M.W.) | Datuk Seri |
| Panglima Mahkota Wilayah (P.M.W.) | Datuk |
| Johan Mahkota Wilayah (J.M.W.) | – |
| Kesatria Mahkota Wilayah (K.M.W.) | – |
| Ahli Mahkota Wilayah (A.M.W.) | – |
| Pingat Pangkuan Mahkota Wilayah (P.P.W.) | – |
When an individual is granted an award that comes with a title, their spouse is addressed with a complementary title. For example, the wife of a Datuk title recipient is addressed with the title of Datin prefixed to her name.
How Does One Get Awarded?
An individual who has rendered service and contributed in his or her field for a long period of time can be nominated for an honourary award. A qualified nominator should also be someone who has rendered a service or made contributions to the country himself or herself. For example, a head of a government department or agency can nominate an officer to get an award. The nominator will need to verify the service or contributions of the nominee and submit a completed form to the respective authorities.
Only individuals who fulfil certain requirements can be awarded with an honorary title. For example, under the honours system of the state of Selangor, a nominee cannot be involved in bankruptcy, corruption and criminal activities.
Nominees who had received a state award can be nominated again three years after being granted with an award. Nominees also should not be nominated for an award that is equivalent or of a lower ranking than his or her current titles. Nominees who had rejected the conferment of a title in the past should also not be nominated again for the same title.
Revocation Of Honorary Titles
The monarch and state rulers can withdraw titles and awards conferred to an individual at any time should the recipient had been found to have engaged in criminal activities, convicted by the court or dishonor the country.
In 2022, Penang’s governor revoked the state title of Dato’ Seri Utama from former prime minister Najib Razak after his conviction of corruption was upheld. Selangor’s sultan at the time also withdrew two awards, which carries the titles of Dato’ Seri and Dato’, that were given to the former prime minister.
Read Also: What Does It Mean Financially To Be A Middle-Tier Income Household In Malaysia?
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