I wonder why

1. At my daughter’s wedding reception several days ago, out of the blue my friend’s wife asked me if my surname was spelt ‘Merican’. I told her it was ‘Marikan’. They were just leaving then, so the dialogue ended there. I wonder why the casual query.

2. Apparently to some people ‘Merican’ signifies lineage and status. Members of the Merican clan of 18th and 19th century Penang were wealthy merchants and respected community leaders. The surname ‘Merican’ are used by their descendants up to the present time. Most of them are people of status and wealth.

3. Before I touch on ‘Marikan’, I would like to share a little secret concerning my surname. It was during my early schooldays that I came to realize that my grandfather was actually of Indian descent. In my birth certificate his name was written ‘Vappoo Marikan Nordin’. Vappoo! How strange and foreign it sounded then. I kept it a secret from friends to avoid being ridiculed.

4. Suffice it to say that ‘Marikan’ seemed silly enough inasmuch as it was omitted whenever I had to write down my name during my entire schooldays. Moreover, my full name was quite a long one: Mohd. Sharif Marikan bin Mohd. Ismail Marikan. So I used to write my name Mohd. Sharif bin Mohd. Ismail or simply Mohd. Sharif Ismail. But that was a thing of the past.

5. I would like to believe that ‘Marikan’ in my birth certificate was purely accidental. My father might have entrusted someone to report my birth. In those days penghulus took care of the registration in their mukims. They were usually Malay-educated. The report might have been verbally communicated; hence the Malay spelling of my surname ‘Marikan’.

6. I am quite certain that it was not what my father had wished for. My birth announcement in a local paper had my name printed ‘Mohamed Sheriff Merican’. The person entrusted by my father might have dictated it differently. It was quite unlikely that my father had not given any vital information to him for the registration of my birth.

7. So what actually went wrong? It would be idle to speculate on what had happened so long ago, but as I have mentioned earlier my children and one of my nieces have far-fetched thoughts that I was a victim of bad intentions right from the start. They claimed that as it stands, my present identity has obscured my lineage to the Noordin clan.

Recall from leave

Continued from previous post.

1. In March 1930 my father applied for another long leave. He was still Office Assistant at the Legal Adviser’s Office. In his remarks the Head of Department (an Acting Legal Adviser) put his recommendation down stating that the work of the office could be carried on as on the previous occasion when he went on leave, i.e. the Chief Clerk acting as Office Assistant with another clerk to assist.

2. However the Government decided to postpone his application for several months pending replacement of the Head of Department. It was not until October, after the replacement, that the new Head of Department followed the application up stating that Mr. M.I. Merican had applied for three months’ vacation leave to commence on 24 October (originally it was 3 June). Subsequently the State Council in its meeting on 29 October, 1930 allowed Office Assistant to have a three months’ vacation leave from 1 November 1930 to 27 January 1931.

3. About two years later on 8 December, 1932 he applied for another four months’ vacation leave on full pay. The leave was to commence on 31 January, 1933. The Head of Department in his remarks recommended the application for approval on condition that he “must have a competent officer to relieve Che Merican.” He further noted:

… Che Merican is occupying his own house and will continue to do so during his leave. …

The State Council on 23 January, 1933 granted him four months’ leave on full pay with effect from 15 February, 1933.

4. However, there arose an urgent matter concerning the translation of the new draft Criminal Procedure Code. In his minute of 9 March, 1933 to the Adviser, the Secretary to Government (S.G.) noted:

… It is desirable to submit the draft to [the State] Council early … It is not possible to do so without further assistance. I suggested to the L.A. to talk it over with Mr M.I. Merican who is now on leave. …

5. Consequently, in his memo of 10 March, 1933 the L.A. informed the S.G. that Che Merican had agreed to do the translation of the ‘new’ Criminal Procedure Code and Courts Enactment, starting as from 17 March, 1933. He further noted:

He [Che Ismail Merican] expects to take 1 – 2 months and you have agreed that he should receive a corresponding extension of his leave. Apparently no question will arise re pay and allowances.

6. Subsequently, the State Council on 3 April, 1933 had allowed that Che Ismail Merican be recalled back from leave to carry out the work of translating the Criminal Procedure Code within a time limit of not more than two months and that he should receive a corresponding extension of his leave.

7. The L.A. was notified about the decision of the State Council upon which he duly responded in his minute dated 12 April, 1933 to the Under Secretary (U.S.). He noted inter alia:

Actually Che Merican finished the translation of the Criminal Procedure Code and Courts Enactment and recommenced his leave on 10 April, 1933 – which means that he must have put in some very hard work. …

8. As a matter of fact the translation of the Code and the Courts Enactment was accomplished in 19 sittings of the Translation Committee which took 19 days. The L.A. in his letter dated 4 July, 1933 to the U.S. stated among other things:

… I have the honour to forward herewith record of the sittings [Sgd. M.I. Merican] held by the Translation Committee in dealing with the Criminal Procedure Code covering a period of 18 days.

... In accordance with the State Council’s approval of 7th Zulhijjah, 1351 [3 April, 1933], … recalling Che Ismail Merican from his leave, I now recommend that a total period of 43 days be formally approved to replace the equivalent period of Che Ismail Merican’s leave which was occupied in attending to the translation of the Criminal Procedure Code.

... Che Ismail Merican will resume duty on the 1st Rabialakhir 1352 [24 July, 1933] …

9. The last time he applied for long leave on full pay was on 25 June, 1936. It was one and a quarter years away from his retirement. At the time he was standing in for Mr. E. la M. Stowell as Acting Superintendent of Education.

10. The State Council granted him the four months’ leave which could commence after he had handed over to the latter upon his resumption of duty. Stowell resumed duty on 1 November, 1936 and Che Ismail Merican commenced his leave on the same date. As he resumed duty on 29 February, 1937 my father was attached to the Office of State Council and the following month appointed Acting 2nd. Under Secretary.

11. It wasn’t all work. There was time for rest and relaxation. In spite of that, my father seemed to put work first before rest.

Note: Mine in square brackets.

Worth his weight in gold

1. My mother used to tell me that my father could read and write in English as well as Jawi. Besides his proficiency in English he had to be proficient in Jawi as well to accomplish his important work as “special translator of Enactments etc.” After translating an enactment from English into Malay, the Malay version had to be transliterated in Jawi.

2. My father was educated at Penang Free School with probably little or no knowledge of Jawi. Apparently he picked up Jawi while he was headmaster of Government English School. In a letter dated c 14 January, 1913 from the Secretary to Government to the British Adviser (Adviser) regarding the nomination of Mohamad Ismail Merican as Superintendent of Schools, the writer remarked thus:

... In my opinion Mohamad Ismail Merican is capable of carrying out the work of Superintendent of Schools and he is now learning to read and write Jawi. ...

3. My father worked for Kedah Government for 27 years, four months and 24 days. The first 13 years saw him progressed through several appointments which included the post of Headmaster, Senior Auditor, High Court Registrar, Acting Sheriff and Assistant Superintendent Monopolies and Customs.

4. His last 14 years of service was mostly spent at the L.A.’s office, working as Assistant to the L.A. His appointment as special translator of Enactments and subsequently his expeditious translation work had elevated his status as a public servant. Most of the L.As. he worked with appreciated his work on account of his devotion to duty and his sense of responsibility. It was the highlight of his achievement in the service.

5. His experience on the legal side would become useful even after his retirement. As a matter of fact he was worth his weight in gold to the State of Kedah during the Japanese Occupation. At 60 he was recalled to duty by the Kedah State Council. He assumed duty on 10 February, 1942 as Legal Adviser and Public Prosecutor. He was also appointed a member of the State Council. He retired again in 1946 and then served as an unofficial member in the State Executive Council and State Council (1947-1954).

Note: Jawi is an Arabic alphabet for writing Malay etc. in Southeast Asia.

Loads of translation

1. For obvious reasons the State Council’s decision on “a temporary expediency” was not a satisfactory arrangement either to the Superintendent Monopolies or to the Legal Adviser (L.A.). In a letter to the Adviser, the L.A. stated that it had entailed undue delay. He noted that my father was burning the candle at both ends.

2. In his letter, the L.A. enclosed a statement showing a list of Enactments and rules which awaited drafting (see below). He pointed out that some of the 27 items on the list need to be translated very urgently and noted that the list would certainly continue to be added to.

LIST

1. Stamp.

2. Government Officers’ Guarantee Fund.

3. Rides.

4. Reciprocal Judgments.

5. Pension.

6. Hospitals (Estate)

7. Perlis Sharaiah

8. Insolvency

9. Land.

10. Rules under “Courts Enactment”.

11. Wild Animals and Game.

12. Christian Marriage.

13. Labour Code.

14. Criminal Procedure Code.

15. Penal Code.

16. Customs.

17. Excise.

18. Bull and Cock Fighting.

19. Lunatics.

20. Chinese Marriage and Interstate Succession.

21. Prison Rules.

22. Evidence Ordinance.

23. Arbitration.

24. Dangerous Drugs.

25. Motor Cars.

28. Forest.

27. Minors (especially Mohammedans and Chinese)

3. Due to the urgency of the matter, the State Council in October 1923 decided on the secondment of the “Translator of Enactments” temporarily to the L.A.’s office to assist him in the translation work. Later he was appointed Assistant to the L.A. The loads of translation were enormous. Translation work was also done at home to cope with the load. This was evident in his memo dated 15 September, 1932 to the L.A. It read:

I shall be much obliged if you will be good enough to forward the attached bill to the Under Secretary for payment of my remuneration for translations therein detailed. This work was done at home. I am entitled to payment of a personal fee at the rate of $1/- per folio in accordance with the decision in S.C. 374/49 but I am charging Government only 75 cents per folio.

4. The bill was for his translation of notes of evidence in Criminal Case No. 1 of 1351 and notes of evidence in Criminal Case No. 2 of 1351. He charged the Government $193.50 for the work and was paid in full.

5. He had most of the translations to his credit. For instance, the translation of Criminal Procedure Code which was done by a committee of three took 25 days to accomplish. The members of translation committee were “Che Merican, Che Kassim and Che Hanafi.” The Acting L.A. in a letter to the Adviser dated 3 July, 1933 recommended that bonuses be paid to the three of them. Note his remarks:

… In addition to his labours as a member of translation committee, Che Merican was responsible for the original translation of the Code and of the Courts Amendment Enactment. He voluntarily came back from leave to do this translation and accomplished it in 25 days. During those 25 days he worked at considerable pressure and frequently worked overtime.

... I would suggest that $400 be paid to Che Merican and $200 each to Che Kassim and Che Hanafi. …

6. I believe that besides Enactment etc. re the list above, there are numerous other translations that he had done during his time working either as Assistant to the L.A. or Office Assistant at the L.A.’s office for almost 14 years. The enactments and rules he translated that I have mentioned previously are from official files that I was able to find in the National Archives of Malaysia. Other documents pertaining to his translation work might have been lost with the passing of time. Suffice it to say that for fourteen years “… M.I.M. Noordin was responsible for the translation of hundreds of enactments and it was said that few knew more about the laws of Kedah than he.”*

* Khoo Salma Nasution. The Chulia in Penang. Penang: Areca Books, 2014.

to be continued