Feudalism in an Egalitarian Nation

In August 2006, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) received a Minangkabau customary title. The title, Yang Dipatuan Maharajo Pamuncak Sari Alam, was reportedly bestowed by the Lembaga Kerapatan Adat Alam Minangkabau (LKAAM), a customary institution whose establishment in the early New Order era was midwifed by military figures and a key supporter of the ruling party, Golkar.

The practice of granting customary titles to outsiders is not new. In the 1950s, there was a plan to award the title of Bundo Kandung to then-First Lady Fatmawati. The plan was scrapped after A.A. Navis successfully convinced the military that the title originated from a mythical figure in the Kaba Cindua Mato story, who became pregnant after drinking coconut water. While normal in mythical logic, such an extraordinary pregnancy was deemed inappropriate for the First Lady.

Customary organisations in West Sumatra have long been accustomed to bestowing titles upon state officials. Records show titles have been given to figures such as Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Taufik Kiemas, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, Surya Paloh, and Anwar Nasution. This raises the question of why these titles are so important to the nation’s officials and businesspeople.

For Minangkabau men, a customary title is a given. A traditional saying states, ‘small by name, big by title’. Every married man is given a title, announced during a simple wedding ceremony, as recognition of his adulthood and his right to participate in clan deliberations. The title is a communal inheritance, not personal property. Upon death, it returns to the clan. Since every Minangkabau belongs to a clan, every adult male has a title, making it unremarkable within the society itself.

A title functions like an address, valid only if it points to the right place. Recognition depends on the holder’s ability to fulfil the mandate implied by the title. If they fail, the title becomes meaningless, even a burden and a source of ridicule. The egalitarian Minangkabau society judges people pragmatically based on their function. A clever person is respected for providing solutions, a wealthy person for being a source of help in times of difficulty. A title holder who fails to meet expectations is judged harshly. Society enforces its own law, forgetting the old title and bestowing a new, more fitting one. For instance, a penghulu who prioritised catching and selling snakes over his duties was mockingly called Datuk Gelung, while another who acted as an agent for an illegal lottery was dubbed Datuk Togel.

In reality, the ideals embedded in titles are often impossibly high. One might be titled ‘Datuk Rangkayo di Langit’ (Rich Lord in the Sky) while struggling on earth, or ‘Sutan Menjinjing Bumi’ (Sutan Who Carries the Earth) despite having an amputated hand. Some bearers become famous for roles unrelated to their title, like the scholar HAMKA, known more for his writings than his title Datuk Indomo, or M. Natsir, a renowned thinker rather than Datuk Sinaro Panjang. Conversely, the revolutionary Tan Malaka is better known by his title than his birth name, Ibrahim.

Since the 1980s, however, there has been a trend of bureaucrats and businesspeople in West Sumatra hunting for customary titles, particularly that of Datuk. This pursuit intensifies ahead of general or regional elections, with newspapers filling with congratulatory advertisements for newly inaugurated title holders. While some titles are granted along family lines, the phenomenon points to a new form of feudalism, where titles are sought for prestige and political gain rather than earned through communal responsibility.