A study on honors titles and medals of the Sabah Chinese

In traditional China, the social hierarchical structure consisted of shi(scholars), nung(peasants), kung(laborers) and shang(merchants). The laborers and merchants had been regarded as lower peoples. Since the mid-19th century, many so-called lower people went to the British Malaya for living. Following the upwards social mobility in homeland, rich Chinese in Malaya began to earn as well as purchase honorary titles and medals to express their different status in society. In 1963, Sabah became a state in Malaysia, many Sabah Chinese, by various ways, received honorary titles and medals from the Heads of Sabah State and Malaysia. This is a paper to study the titles and medals of the Sabah Chinese.