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| From right: M.I. Merican, Darus (seated) and Abdul Hamid. The child is Mohd Noor. |
2. My father
was surrounded by family members related to him by marriage long before he
married my mother. His first wife was Chik binti Hassan who had a nephew named Darus bin Samaun. In his youth, Darus might have lived with my father.
3. As he had
no children of his own, my father adopted Abdul Hamid
who was probably another one of Chik’s nephews. Apparently, he loved Abdul
Hamid dearly hence putting Abdul Hamid’s bin after his name.
4. Abdul Hamid
died young leaving a wife and two children. His wife, Hamisah,
was married to Darus who took over guardianship of Abdul Hamid’s children; a
daughter, Maimunah, and a son, Mohd Noor. Later, Darus and Hamisah settled down
at Jalan Kaki Bukit outside of Kangar
and were blessed with six of their own children.
5. When Chik passed
away, my father married a widow named Che Chah.
I have no knowledge as to whether her widowhood was a consequence of a breakup
with her husband, Che Daim, or by reason of his death.
6. Che Chah had a son
named Che Omar who got married to his cousin, Che Tom who was a daughter of
Zainuddin, Che Daim’s elder brother. Apparently, Zainuddin and my father were
great friends.
7. Even before
his retirement in 1937, my father had already
made a name for himself as an outstanding civil servant under the Kedah state
government. He was recalled to service by the Kedah government during the Japanese
occupation to head the Department of Justice. He held the post of Legal Adviser
and Public Prosecutor for Kedah and Perlis until the end of the war.
8. My father’s
grandchildren by marriage, that is, the children of Abdul Hamid and Darus and especially
the children of Che Omar revered him greatly and referred to
him as tuk wan (grandpa).
9. It happened
that my father’s stepdaughter-in-law had a younger brother who would become a
very successful and influential man in his later life. Apparently, he had an
above average IQ and attended a premiere school in Alor Star.
10. I am not
interested in his life’s pursuit or his climb to success but instead I would like
to speculate upon his attitude towards family relationship. He was about 10
years old when I was born in 1947. So, being a bright young boy I believe that
he knew about his father’s friendship with my father who was in fact his
co-uncle by marriage.
11. One other
thing that interests me most was his close ties with the Darus’ family.
One of the latter’s daughter admitted that in the past he used to visit them
and they referred to him as “pak uda” (=uncle). Apparently,
this might have come to pass on account of Maimunah and Mohd Noor. Both of them
were almost his peers. Maybe they grew up together while Abdul Hamid was still
living at home in Alor Star.
Thus, it seemed very likely that “pak uda” was also aware of the “patriarch” of
the family.
12. Now, comes
the intriguing part of this anecdote. Recently my daughter accompanied her
husband and in-laws to a reception thrown by a VVIP. It happened that “pak uda”
also attended the reception. During the occasion my daughter’s father-in-law
introduced her to the latter mentioning that she was her daughter-in-law and a
granddaughter of “Mohamed Ismail Merican.”
13. Alas, the
name didn’t ring a bell at all. “Pak uda’s” response seemed evasive: “I’ve not gone
back to Kedah for so long.” How he could ever forget the name would remain a
mystery indefinitely.