Digging up for Facts

1. I am still digging up for facts pertaining to my late father such as dates of his birth and death, his marriages and his early career as a teacher. The task is very challenging because much of the information about my father was either lost with the passing of time or buried somewhere in archives and libraries.

2. It has been more than a hundred years now since his name appeared in the List of Qualified Juror, Penang, 1904. (Straits Settlements Government Gazette, of December 23, 1904.) Each name listed is followed by the occupation, and employer's company name, as well as the person's place of abode:   

Mahomed Ismail Merican, schoolmaster, Free School; Farquhar Street.

3. I guess that he began his career as a teacher in 1904 at the age of 18. He might have taught at Free School for 6 years and then left for Kedah to become the headmaster of Government English School, Alor Setar, in 1911. He went on to join the Kedah Civil Service and retired in 1937.

4. I have yet to find out the date of his earlier marriages before he married my mother, Gayah binti Abdul Rahman aka Gayah binti Osman. He might have married my mother in 1946 or earlier. (I was born in 1947.)

5. I am quite certain that my father passed away sometime in November, 1956. There is an article “Mr. M. I. Merican – An Appreciation” written by L. C. L. (Lim Cheng Law) in the Straits Echo and Times of Malaya, Wednesday November 28, 1956. Among other things, L. C. L. wrote:

Sir – I wish to extend my last respects to the late Mr. M. I. Merican of Alor Star but formerly of Penang. He was a one whose friendship I valued very much.

Mr. Merican, the best English educated of the Noordin’s family was a younger brother of Mr. M. H. M. (John) Noordin, a former Municipal Commissioner and a nephew of Mr. M. M. Noordin of “Clifton,” Northam Road Penang. …

6. In a letter to the editor “Death Of Mr. M. T. Merican” in the Straits Echo and Times of Malaya, Saturday November 17, 1956, J. F. A. of Sungai Petani wrote:

Sir, - I have heard with deep regret of the death of Mr. M. T. Merican, and I seek the courtesy of your columns to pay a small tribute to his memory.

“AMTIAM,” the nom-de-plume by which he was known to his friends, was nephew of Mr. Ismail Merican of Alor Star, and son of the late Mr. Kassim Merican, who, if I remember correctly, was one of the founders of the Chinese Recreation Club, Penang. …

7. Assuming that my father was still alive at the time J. F. A. wrote his letter, I have searched all the November 1956 issues of the Straits Echo for news reports of my father’s death, but did not find any. I just have to keep on searching …

Relics from the Past

1. I would like to share with the readers several belongings of my father's which are still in my possession. These include several books, journals, photographs and a silver salver.

2. My father left behind more than a dozen Agatha Christie novels of which only a few are still on my bookshelves. There are several novels by Charles Dickens and other authors and a few non-fiction work as well.

3. One book has a greeting note on the inside of its front cover. It was from one G. B. Kellagher living at Bude, Cornwall at that time (1947). Later I learned that Kellagher was a Judge of the First Division of the High Court of Kedah. He had compiled a book, The Laws of the State of Kedah.

4. I still remember an impressive collection of the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society on my father's bookshelf, but now there are only a few of the journals left.

5. There is an old photograph of my father with his adopted family members. I'll write about the photo later to point out that what I've written earlier about  my father's marriages is quite misleading.

6. There is a silver salver given by Kedah State government as a souvenir for his service as unofficial member in the State Council. The inscription on the salver was in "Jawi" and read thus:  

Kepada yang berhormat Cik Mohamad Ismail bin Bapu Marikan, J. P. ahli Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan daripada 1367 sampai 1374 dan Majlis Mesyuarat Negeri daripada 1367 sampai 1374 sebagai kenangan di atas jasa tuan daripada kerajaan Negeri Kedah.

Published in 1952

JMBRAS, December 1930

Published in 1920

My father with his adopted family members

Greeting note by Kellagher