23 July – Finally, Malaysia's own veteran actress Lai Meng was given the Datuk title for her lifelong devotion to the arts and numerous artistic contributions. Affectionately known as Lai Meng Li, or Aunty Lai Meng, received the Datukship from the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah last Sunday and was quoted as saying that she never expected the honour at all! "I'm happy to be recognised for my hard work at this age and to still have job offers. As an actress, we do our best on the roles given to us. We must continue to improve," said the humble actress.
Although Aunty Lai Meng did not expect this honour, it is far from being her first. Earlier this year at the 25th Malaysian Film Festival, Lai Meng was given the Special Jury Award. In 2008, she even earned herself a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. She was nominated for her role as a self-sacrificing senile mother who was neglected by her three grown-up sons in Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo's "Money No Enough 2". Lai Meng told news sources that she is glad that her movies and drama series were well-received by the audiences and that she had no plans to retire as she was still very much in love with her job. Lai Meng made her debut in the entertainment world as part of a popular radio comedy sketch in the 1950s. She then rose to fame in the popular TV series "Empat Sekawan", which ran for two decades, ending in the 1980s.