Shahrukh conferred Datuk title in Malaysia

Shahrukh Khan and awards always go hand in hand like fish and water. The latest award to this superstar comes in the form of a prestigious title of 'Datuk' (the equivalent of a knighthood in Britain), by Malacca in recognition of his promotion of the state through his films. With this, SRK becomes one of the 750 chosen ones to be given awards to mark the 70th birthday of Malacca's nominal head of state, Mohamad Khalil Yaakoob. The sad part is that this move has not gone well with many Malaysian residents.

Speaking about the award, Malacca Chief Minister Mohamad Ali Rustam said that SRK had helped the state's tourism, through six of his movies being shot at Malacca, which also included One 2 Ka 4, a film which was shot at a Malaccan resort. He also added that it would have costed them (the Malacca state) millions of dollars to promote their state through ads, but SRK brought Malacca to the attention of the world through his movies.

Leading the people who were opposing this award was the Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, who justified his stand saying that priority should be given to local artistes. And that if one has to confer the award on SRK for promoting the Malacca state, then, other foreign stars like Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who shot the Hollywood movie Entrapment in Kuala Lumpur in 1999, should also be given similar recognition.