Michelle Yeoh may not have been nominated for an Oscar for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but her performance in the hit Ang Lee movie has brought her a title - from her home state of Perak in Malaysia.
Yeoh (right) was officially bestowed the title of Datuk by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, on Wednesday, on his 73rd birthday because her international fame and repute had brought honour to the state. Yeoh is the first Chinese performing artist to be made a Datuk; her businessman father also holds that honour. The title is generally given by ruling Sultans in the different states in Malaysia to those deemed to have made a social contribution to the state.
The first thing Yeoh did on returning home after three weeks of location scouting in China for her new movie, The Touch, was to get herself a traditional Malay suit as a sign of respect before visiting the Sultan at his palace.