A mystifying end

1. I was born during the last nine years of his life when he was in his mid-60s. How I wish I could write a vivid account of my childhood memories of him, but unfortunately I have a very poor memory. Those childhood memories fade with time; what remain are patches of blurred episodes in my mind.

2. I knew nothing of the story behind his marriage to my mother—so very late in his life. She was probably about 46 years his junior. I suppose they made strange bedfellows on account of the fact that he was a man of the world, educated and of wide experience whereas she was a very shy, naive, illiterate village girl who mostly kept to herself.

3. That said, I tried to console myself by reflecting on a common Malay axiom which goes, ‘Jodoh terletak di tangan Tuhan,’ which literally means ‘one’s partner is predestined by God.’ This saying is especially uttered in the face of ‘unexpected’ marriage.

4. My father remarried after his first wife passed away and before long the same fate befell his second wife, a widow, who had a son who became attached to him. He had no children of his own from his first two marriages. Probably, he must have been greatly elated to have been blessed with three children after marrying my mother—prompting him to publicise our respective births in a local newspaper.

A childhood photo of me with my father's portrait 

in the background

5. I believe the boost had also led to occasional trips to George Town apparently to bring us close to his side of the family. The trips—so very faint in my mind—took place before my schooldays, after which there was no more trips to his home town which he left in order to come over to Alor Star where he made a name for himself as a distinguished civil servant.

6. I grew up in a big wooden house along a main road about three miles from town. Until now I have no knowledge of the history of the house. It seemed that my father was contented with life living in the big house amid the family members of his stepson. There is a faint episode that still sticks in my mind where he tutored a young member of the royal family in that very house.  

7. As far as I recall he was still active before I entered primary school towards the mid-50s. He was working at the time but I didn’t have the slightest idea of what he was doing then. Deep in my mind there hung a blurred episode of climbing a flight of wooden staircase in a shop, following him up to a crowded office upstairs.

8. I didn’t spend my entire childhood with my parents; I stayed with my grandmother as well. Being fond of me, she used to take me regularly to stay at her place which was within walking distance of my parents’ abode.

9. There were things going on in the last three years of his life that I wasn’t very clear about. I supposed he was disappointed when I wasn’t accepted to enrol at a premiere school where he was one of the pioneer headmasters. He was grumbling when he took me on my first day of school to enrol at a missionary school instead. 

10. I guess it was during my third year in primary school that the village carpenter and his son started to build a wooden house extending from the front of my grandmother’s house. By and by I learned that it was my mother’s house they were building and we were supposed to move there upon its completion.

11. I wasn’t fully aware that my father’s health was gradually deteriorating at that time. My mother was always nagging him to move out of the big house but he refused. I had a feeling that relations with the family members of his stepson had soured. It ultimately led to a heated argument that took place one night. I have but a very faint memory of the incident that led to our departure from the big house. We all moved out—along with my ailing father—to my grandmother’s place.

12. My father was bedridden as his illness worsened and before long he breathed his last at his in-law’s. His remains was then placed at the newly built house and eventually buried at the local cemetery.

13. So much for my childhood memories of my father. It was not until 2013 that I began my research on my father. Only since have I learned facts and figures about his career and life in general. The information that I’ve garnered formed the basis of my reflections that follows.

14. I was nine at the time of his passing. His death was a bitter disappointment to my mother. As I grew older she told me there were only a few pitiful ringgits in his bank account. He left us neither a fortune nor a legacy.

15. That said, it was a curious ending. He was a grandson of a well-known merchant in George Town at the turn of the 19th century and his father was also an established merchant in his own right. My father joined the Kedah Civil Service in 1911 and retired on a good pension from the state government in 1937. He drew 222 ringgits and 86 sens monthly—quite a substantial amount at the time. After his retirement from the civil service, he apparently took up private practice.

16. Later during the war my father was called back by the state government and served as legal adviser and public prosecutor until British re-occupation and the BMA. After his retirement for the second time, he was appointed unofficial member of Executive Council and Council of State until 1954.

17. Ergo, it’s inconceivable that my father—a worldly-wise man of wide experience—would leave his wife and children with practically nothing to live on when he was gone. It seemed unlikely that he hadn’t given our welfare some thought. There remains a big question mark over what had actually gone wrong.

18. Of course rumours surfaced about his supposed bequest that was embezzled and that we were supposedly victims of misappropriation. That said, speculating about the rumours would be pointless. Nonetheless, the ending of my father’s life is arguably shrouded in mystery. It would remain obscure indefinitely.

  

The love of learning

 1. Umar and Nuraina are very hardworking and diligent. For them school is like a second home. They would never miss school—not for anything. Umar was absent for only one day on account of running a high fever and so Nuraina had to take the day off too. Nuraina had a fever for two consecutive days and her mother told her to skip school against her will, but Umar insisted on going to school.

2. On the third day Nuraina had not fully recovered but she woke up very early for school. Her mother thought that it wasn’t a good idea but Nuraina had made up her mind and that’s that. It was a Friday and she told her mother she would miss the spelling quiz if she were to skip school.

3. Both Umar and Nuraina fared quite well in their lessons. Except for a few careless mistakes, Umar did well in his Malay and English spelling quizzes. He caught up very fast in reading and counting despite the fact that it was his first time in kindergarten. Nuraina made only one mistake in all of her spelling quizzes. She joined the kindergarten with her brother, following his liking for books, writing, drawing and numbers. Thus she gradually acquired those skills as well.

4. My daughter used to share with me pictures and occasionally videos of the siblings that she took before sending them off to school or when they’d reached the premise. They were pictures of happiness and enthusiasm. Their mother gave them guidance and encouragement with their schoolwork at home. So they never left their homework undone.

Pictures of happiness

5. When the spread of COVID-19 began to seriously affect the life of the public at large school was disrupted at times due to the lockdown or MCO sometimes for weeks. When they had to stay away from school for too long they’d complain to their mother that they missed school so much.

6. But they were not made idle albeit staying at home for they were expected to do exercises in their workbooks regularly. The workbooks were then returned to teachers for marking and the routine went on. During the recent CMCO imposed on the state, the siblings followed their lessons conducted by teachers on Facebook. They never missed their lessons and did all their homework after every lesson.

7. My daughter and son-in-law took heart because the school did not call off the year-end celebration albeit without parents’ participation. Both Umar and Nuraina received prizes for their ceaseless effort in their schoolwork and quizzes.

8. They won trophies at the year-end celebration. Umar won a trophy for fast learner, a champion trophy for English quiz and the first runner up trophy for Malay quiz. As expected, Nuraina won the best speller trophy as well as trophies for consolation prizes in English and Malay quizzes.

9. We were very happy for them. They deserved the sweet smell of success for their determination and hard work. I suppose they’ve put their best foot forward and by and by they’d cherish the love of learning.

 

A scary tale

1. As a small boy I was very fond of listening to stories. One of my uncles used to tell local folk tales which I enjoyed very much. At times there were also nonsensical ghost stories and scary tales. One particular tale typically whispered by the womenfolk was absolutely terrifying.

2. It was about an eerie stranger the likes of a grass cutter who carried a sickle and a gunny sack except that he wasn’t looking for any grass to cut. Supposedly he went stalking for solitary kids wandering in vast paddy fields or along deserted lanes. It was rumoured that he would sever a child’s head with his sickle and carry it away in his gunny sack.

3. The rumours surfaced at the time when a new bridge was being built in town and word had it that the severed head would be offered as a sacrifice so as to protect the bridge from falling down. Indeed, it was scary and children were told to play it safe in order to avoid going missing. But as I grew older I thought it was just another cautionary tale.

4. That was around the mid-50s and I had long forgotten about it until recently when I chanced upon an article on the internet about the discovery of a bronze oil lamp buried in the foundations of a Roman building. Archaeologists believe it was deposited as a ‘foundation deposit’ about 1,900 years ago.

5. That was the first time I came across the term ‘foundation deposit.’ According to one definition “Foundation deposits are the archaeological remains of the ritual burial of materials under the foundations of buildings.” (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia)

6. As regards the content of the article, what interests me most is the exemplification of foundation deposits which include material objects such as divine figurines, lamps and coins. For instance, several years back archaeologists discovered a foundation deposit which was a cache of gold and silver divine figurines dated to 3,600 years ago. It was found inside a clay pot buried within the foundations of a building.

7. That said, foundation deposits may not be material objects alone. A discovery made over a century ago revealed that a human being was buried in the foundations probably for the purpose of serving as a guardian spirit.

8. According to the report, in some cultures people would bury their dead under the floor inside their home believing that the spirits of the dead would protect them and the household; hence the suggestion that the practice of home burial in ancient times was antecedent to the ritual burial of materials under the floors of buildings or foundations.

9. One of the authors of the discovery pointed out that it’s rather misleading to think of foundation deposits as artefacts of ancient superstition. He used to work in construction in the early 80s and told of workers throwing money inside when they built the foundations.

10. He said the practice was related to popular belief. Since ancient times foundation deposits was accepted in construction to bring luck or as symbolic protection of the building or even to cast fear and awe on attackers.

11. The practice is considered a common cultural norm in the ancient world. The archaeologists suggest ritual offerings buried during construction were intended to ensure the safety of building and its occupants.

12. Obviously the article reminded me of the scary tale that I’ve mentioned earlier, prompting me to wonder if it was really just another cautionary tale. Was the sacrifice bit actually made up to scare children or had it got something to do with the construction of the bridge?

13. At the time Malaya (or Tanah Melayu) was still under British rule. The key players involved in the construction of the bridge were people from different cultural backgrounds and beliefs. They comprised of British officials and professionals from the immigrant population. That said, there is room for popular belief too even among the cosmopolitans.

________

In passing

"You need the shovel? What for?"

Note: See my post “Stories behind my strip cartoons” published on September 12, 2020.  

Strange coincidence

1. One day as I was buying some cut fruits by a side road, a familiar face passed by. The fruit seller greeted him amiably and the man responded with a cheerful smile. He walked past us towards a row of food stalls nearby to have his lunch, I supposed.

2. I have seen him several times at the Tamil Muslim restaurant at the junction about 30 yards away from where the fruit seller parked his small truck. He wore long sleeves as usual and I fancied that he might be working as a clerk at one of the lawyers firms across the main road. I haven’t seen him for quite some time since the restaurant closed down months ago.

3. “That’s Dr Saaya,” the fruit seller remarked to me as if he realised that I was wondering about the identity of the man in his sixties whom I was following with my eyes.

“He’s a doctor?” I responded, quite amazed.

“You might have noticed his clinic across the main road.”

“Yes, of course,” I said, feeling quite embarrassed.

“He and Dr Rosli are the only Malay doctors in town,” he said as fruits and money changed hands.

4. Then I drove my wife for lunch at an eatery a short distance away along the main road. On the way my wife chewed her cut watermelon to the last piece. As usual the eatery was practically void of diners at lunch hour. On our arrival there was only one regular customer eating his meal.

5. As usual we settled at one of the inner tables. I sipped a bit of warm water and finished up my cut pineapple before eating my meal. As we were eating, another familiar face appeared. He was a regular who looked like a retired government servant in his sixties.

6. He turned up almost every time we ate out at the eatery for lunch. In spite of that we never had a chance to greet each other because he usually arrived later and settled himself at a front table and always faced outside. I am a slow eater and he was already done and went off before I finished my meal.

7. Then on one occasion he was already at his meal when my wife and I arrived at the eatery. As a gesture of politeness I nodded and smile at him. From then on when we met at the eatery there were at least exchanges of smiles. One day he was still eating at the time we were leaving, so I nodded at him and said, “Be seeing you.”

8. That remark had its effect I supposed, for on one particular day the unexpected happened. As he was leaving he turned and smiled at me and put his thumb up. I waved at him. Before leaving the eatery, out of curiosity I asked Tahir, the waiter who usually attended to us, “Do you know the person eating at the front table just now?”

“Dr Rosli,” he replied promptly. I was quite taken aback and the fruit seller’s words came to my mind.

“His clinic is just over there by the main road,” Tahir added gesturing his hand in the direction of the clinic and I thought I knew where it was. On the way home I was watchful and didn’t miss the doctor’s clinic. And then going 200 yards further I caught sight of Dr Saaya’s clinic as well.

  

M.I.M.

 

M.I. Merican (1882-1956)

1. M.I.M. was the initials used by my father, Mohamed Ismail Merican, when he wrote articles to the newspapers. So it seems. Khoo Salma Nasution quoted an article written by M.I.M. in her book The Chulia in Penang mentioning that the initials were my father’s. I once visited the author at her bookshop in George Town and she confirmed it.

2. Looking for my father’s writings is not easy. He was born on this day of 14 February 18 years before the dawn of the last century. He might have begun writing for the newspapers during the turn of the century. It’s very difficult to search for old newspapers from the late 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century even if they still survive in their common abodes—libraries and archives.

3. We began hunting for his writings at those places since 2013. It’s unfortunate that to date we haven’t found any. I know of at least two articles written by my father that were published in local newspapers. One is obviously the article mentioned above which was published in the Straits Echo, 1904, describing “the Dato’ Kramat cemetery in Perak Road [Penang].” The other one is an article titled “The History of Captain Kling Mosque.” And I believe there has to be several others. I just have to keep searching.

4. I was quite lucky in my search at the Archives where I found a few of his letters, albeit official ones, which reflect his character as a down-to-earth person. Besides the letters, I was fortunate to have come across a typewritten copy of one of his speeches. It was an adjournment speech at the meeting of the Council of State held on 18 August, 1948.

5. Later I found a fairly lengthy newspaper report of yet another one of his speeches in the Straits Echo & Times of Malaya dated September 7, 1951 under the headline “Case for Mukim Councils, Land Banks.” It covered much of the words of his speech.

6. On one occasion I visited his alma mater and came across a very old Free School Magazine which contained a report he wrote about the problems faced by the Cadet Corps in the absence of the teacher in charge. Consequently he remarked that someone was appointed to act for the latter who had gone on a long leave.

7. One of his writings emerged from an unexpected publication. I once got hold of a school magazine containing a piece on fascism. I lost it a long time ago together with a page of his typewritten anecdote that I kept when I was still in my teens.