title of the book

used to be part of life was tracking the progress and updates about people you know; like mrs so-and-so has just given birth to her 4th child, else, elysse, ellen and ethan, mr so-and-so has migrated with his wife to australia, miss so-and-so has just been headhunted by competitor company. so that there is safe topic that we can talk about and elaborate on when we meet up. and knowing which sensitive areas to avoid; like not mentioning the name of his 12th girlfriend infront of his 13th, or asking after her boyfriend when they have just split up last month. common interpersonal courtesies, i believe. however, something that i suck terribly at. blame it on the lack of hard drive space in my brain.

nowadays, it has evolved to include remembering that certain person's title. waitaminit! in a panic, and just split seconds before that person ends up right in my face, i will have to remember is he a tan sri, a datuk, or a mister. people do get offended when you don't address them with their official title. after all, they've paid so much to be where they are now. ahem, i shall say no more. that person ceases his existence as a person, as your relative, as your friend, as your family member even, once he receives that title. suddenly michael, or kevin, is no longer good enough. it's now datuk for you. of course there are those that will say, 'no, call me by my name". yes, they pay so much to have status quo. gasp! was there a hint of cynicism there? unless of course, we are talking about honorary ones, where they are conferred for , do i dare to use the adjective "genuine" (as opposed to.... ) merits to society as a whole, instead of the usual merits that are hard to quantify and even harder to name.

so, what do these great people of our nation get in return for their investment? as far as i've seen, a guaranteed table when making a reservation. datuks will earn them a table, tan sris a room, that's the way it goes. and perhaps, when seated in airplane first class (and only first class, doesn't work if you are a datuk in economy class), your title will probably earn you an extra smile, a more dedicated service and maybe, just maybe, an extra piece of hors d'oeuvres. when you are overseas, it just confuses people even more; they must be wondering why so many malaysians have the same christian names infront of their last names, a little like their bob and peter perhaps?