Having been on the business end of such rumours, i think i can say with some authority that if there is smoke, there is probably a fire. Let's assume for a moment that they do get married, does Siti assume the title, Datin Siti Nurhaliza? In my opinion that would be a travesty -- she deserves a Datuk-ship of her own.
We've had a sailor conferred a datukship, we've had a fella who swam the English channel given a title, surely, for all the fame and glory Siti has brought to the nation, for all her songs and contribution to the arts and music industry of Malaysia, for so many years -- surely, she should be a Dato' in her own right by now. The fact that she isn't stinks to high Heaven and makes a mockery of the titles other Dato's have received.
Titles are great things, in theory. Maslow, who's one smart cookie, said (correctly) that a human being needs recognition in order to complete the Hierarchy of Needs. I'll go one step further -- the society we live in, needs to have heroes, recognized heroes. Heroes allow human beings to dream and hope and have role models to aspire -- heroes make it possible for every generation of the society to be better than the last; without hope and dreams, where would we be?
The flaw in our system of society is that its the kings, sultans and rajas that select our heroes, they and only they select the ones who are granted the titles, the pangkat. With such authority, its a shame they don't use it more wisely. Siti Nurhaliza is a hero of our generation, and should be officially recognized as one.
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