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1. I am 70 and sixty years have
passed since my father died in 1956. After his death, ties with his side of the
family died out as well. As a matter of fact, during a period of nine years or
so living with my father, such ties never came to pass. There were occasional
visits to his family members in Penang during my childhood days that I still
vaguely remember, but that soon passed as my father got older and was over the
hill.
2. My mother was from a simple family.
She was a naïve and a quiet woman, a shrinking violet by nature. On account of
her nature, one can only imagine how she fared in putting herself across to her
aged husband regarding the future of their children. Like any loving and caring
mother she had high hopes for her children. That I knew for certain.
3. At the time my father was on
his last legs, my mother must have expected that she would come into a generous
sum of money upon his decease with which to bring up the three of us and to give
us proper education. But surprisingly, he left us with only a few cents in his
bank account.
4. My mother was broken-hearted for some time,
but despite her seemingly timid personality she was a strong and determined
woman for our sake. She brought up the three of us with great hardship and self-sacrifice.
By virtue of that we fared fairly well in our education and career.
5. It is misleading to assume
that my father had failed to carry out his duty to the last. He must have been
very proud to have the three of us hence publicizing each and every one of our
births in the newspaper. I still remember my father taking me on my first day to
school in 1954. He was 72 then, just two years before he died. Therefore, the
unexplained sum of a mere pittance in his bank account would indefinitely
remain a mystery.
6. After my father’s death, aside
from my childhood memories of him, there was nothing much that I knew about his
career and his genealogy. By the time I reached my teens I began to realize
that my father was somebody during his lifetime. A few village elders I talked
to spoke highly of him. And then there was an impressive volume of books that
he left behind.
7. It was not until a few years
after I retired from the government service that my children started to inquire
about their grandfather, Mohamad Ismail Merican. It was then that we decided to
research the man that has remained obscure in our family. Until now, after putting
in long hours at the library and the archive, we have discovered numerous facts
and figures pertaining to the man, his career and his genealogy.
8. Briefly, my father was a scion
of a wealthy family, the patriarch of which was his famous grandfather, Mohamad
Merican Noodin. He lost his father at the age of two and was brought up by his
uncle. He went to Penang Free School and was considered ‘the best English educated of the Noordin’s
family’. He began his
career as a teacher at his alma mater and later moved to Alor Star in 1911 to
become headmaster of a newly founded English school. He then joined the Kedah
Civil Service and retired in 1937. In 1940, he was
appointed as Justice of the Peace. During the Japanese occupation he was recalled to duty by the Kedah State Council and assumed the post of Legal
Adviser. He retired again in 1946.
9. The above summary should
suffice to show that my father was an educated and sensible person. For that
reason, my children and their cousins do not believe that their grandfather
would leave his wife and children entirely to fate. They believe that he had
thought about their future after his decease and that he had planned ahead as
befitted a sensible person. Coming from a well-to-do family, they believe that he
had received a legacy by way of inheritance.
10. Consequently, there were
speculations about money and property. Indeed in the past there had been rumours
that my father had allocated a generous sum of money for the education of his
children. Whatever happened to the money nobody knew but some pinned it on to
the doing of my father’s trustee(s) whoever he or they might be.
11. Then there was this story
that my mother used to tell time and again. It seems that my father had
purchased a piece of land in Penang for $30,000, but without a shred of
evidence to support the claim, it would be like a wild-goose chase to look for
the “property” if indeed it exists.
12. A few years back circa 2014,
there seems to be a concerted effort to obscure the identity of my father’s
heir. This was in the form of altering certain particulars in the birth
registration. Whoever was behind this unlawful act or for what purpose it
transpired is not known.
13. My nephews and nieces as well
as my children strongly believe that their grandfather had left a legacy that
might have been badly executed in the absence rightful heirs. A lawyer friend of my niece told her that when
it comes to inheritance, there is no question of attributing greed to someone who says that they have a
right to something that belonged to someone who has died. The lawyer stressed
that in Islam a person who protects what is rightfully theirs or who lays claim
to something that is rightfully and legally theirs is considered as observing
jihad.
14. Reflecting upon the lawyer’s words, I have to admit
that all along I have been most indifferent about my rights and inheritance. On
the other hand, my children and their cousins are determined to look for the
bequest left by their grandfather. They are not willing to lose out to unscrupulous individuals. I believe that the truth will prevail.
