The appointment

1. Last two years my niece wrote a letter to Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (Tun Mahathir) in the hope of making an appointment with him. She mentioned in the letter that she was the granddaughter of Mohamad Ismail Merican and that her mother wished to meet with Tun Mahathir in order to consult him about a private matter. (Read my post “A matter of great concern.”) My niece further mentioned that her uncle, Mohd Sharif Marikan, would also be coming along with them to the meeting.

2. In a matter of several days after delivering the letter, an appointment was fixed on 6 May, 2016 at Tun Mahathir’s office at the Albukhary Foundation Headquarters Building in Kuala Lumpur. We left for Kuala Lumpur in the early morning to keep the appointment.

3. I felt very pleased and honoured to have the opportunity of meeting Tun Mahathir in person. We were greeted warmly by the most eminent person in the country. The first thing that impressed me was his smile and humility which concealed his status as a renowned statesman.

4. Then we gathered at his table and got down to business. My sister explained that there had occurred an inaccuracy in her identity record in the National Registration Department system. She expressed hope that Tun Mahathir would consider her request for a written testimony regarding her true identity. Being modest, he casually mentioned that he was afraid if it would be of any use to her.

5. As proof of her identity as well as mine, we showed Tun Mahathir available evidence which included photocopies of vital documents such as birth certificates, a photo of my father with his adopted family, and paper cuttings from the Straits Echo. He scrutinised all the evidence that we showed him one by one. He even scanned through a brief tribute to our father published in the aforementioned paper.

6. It seemed that Tun Mahathir had no knowledge of our parent’s marriage and that they had children from the marriage. However, I was so impressed and glad that he still remembered my father. He told us that our father had an adopted son by the name of Hamid whom he seemed to know. He also told us that he used to pass by our father’s house along Jalan Langgar on his way to school, the Sultan Abdul Hamid College. He remembered that the house once stood somewhere within the vicinity of what is now an old bus station.

7. Tun Mahathir seemed satisfied with the evidence that we showed him. He asked me how old I was and I told him I was 69. He seemed very convinced that my sister and I were children of Mohamad Ismail Merican.

8. After a while he duly picked up a pencil and looking closely at one of the photocopies, he started to copy information thereon on a piece of paper. Just as he began writing, I said to him that the photocopies were for him and hence he stopped.

9. Then I said that we would not take much more of his time and thanked him for the time he spent with us. We all stood up and then had a picture taken with Tun Mahathir.

10. As we shook hands, I asked to hug him and we embraced each other in silence.  Before leaving, I expressed our hope that he would always be in good health and continue his good work for the good the country.

11. Incidentally, at that time Tun Mahathir was under attack by his political adversaries because of his critical views of the ruling government. The bad-mouthing included calling him a senile old man which was utterly false. At the time we met him, Tun Mahathir was already 91 but I noticed that his mind was clear and sharp. He was remarkably spry, healthy for his age.

12. By the way, my sister received a written testimony from Tun Mahathir in less than two weeks after the meeting. The testimony signifies my sister’s true identity. It is a very significant piece of evidence indeed. My sister submitted the testimony with the other documents to the NRD in support of her request for rectification of inaccuracy which had occurred in her identity record.

13. Aside from the other documents, I believed that the testimony did matter in affecting the decision arrived at by the NRD in Putrajaya in favour of my sister’s request. I noticed that the testimony was dated 10 May – the date that Tun Mahathir was sworn in as the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia two years later. What a strange coincidence!

Note: Tun Mahathir’s father, Mohamad Iskandar, and my father, Mohamad Ismail Merican, were teachers at the Penang Free School in the early 1900s. Mohamad Iskandar became the first headmaster of a newly founded English school in Alor Star, the Government English School, but only for a brief spell.  Later, my father came over from Penang to become the third headmaster of the school in February 1911 and later joined the Kedah Civil Service (KCS).