A title held by Malaysians who made significant contributions to
Malaysia, and is often a title awarded by the
Sultan of their respective states. However it is common knowledge that the title can be purchased via bribery, so it is not uncommon for
people with the "Dato" title to treat their lower class citizens like trash.
"Holy shit, did you hear? Dato
Tan just
slapped a waiter and a waitress at a steamboat restaurant"
"What do you expect? Datos are merely rich
gangsters"