A promotion on merit

1. By July 1926 my father was confirmed in Class III Kedah Malay Civil Service holding the post of Assistant Legal Adviser. Incidentally there had been disagreement over the designation of the appointment. The initial designation was Assistant to the Legal Adviser. In a letter to the British Adviser (Adviser) dated 24 May 1926, the L.A. at the time recommended that my father be confirmed in the appointment then described as Assistant to Legal Adviser Class III Malay Civil Service with effect from the date of the creation of the appointment i.e. 10 November 1923.

2. However, in the letter the L.A. suggested that the designation of the post be changed to “Office Assistant, Legal Adviser” giving his reason as follows:

In view of the fact that the duties of this appointment consist almost entirely of translation work with a little simple drafting I think “Office Assistant, Legal Adviser,” would be a more suitable title than “Assistant to the Legal Adviser” …

Thus the title of the appointment was changed to Office Assistant, Legal Adviser as of June 1926.

3. About five months later there would be a return to the status quo ante. The former L.A. was replaced by an Acting Legal Adviser who decided to ask that the appointment described as “Office Assistant, Legal Adviser” should in future be designated “Assistant to the Legal Adviser.” His proposal was made in a letter to the Adviser dated 2 April 1931 in which he stated his stand thus:

I do not consider the title of Office Assistant appropriate: an Office Assistant is usually an officer who supervises the work of the subordinates in an office: that of Mr. Merican is essentially collaboration with the Legal Adviser.

He went on to state that the Justice Mr. Kellagher* agreed with the proposal. Thus the appointment described as Office Assistant, Legal Adviser, had been designated “Assistant to Legal Adviser” with effect from 13 April 1931.

4. About two years after getting the original title of his appointment back, my father had applied for promotion to Class II of the Kedah Civil Service after being in the service for over 23 years. He was at the top of Class III then and had been drawing the maximum pay thereof for at least 13 months. In a letter to the Acting L.A. dated 6th July, 1933 he highlighted his application on merit:

Those officers of the Malayan Civil Service who have held the appointment of Legal Adviser and under whom I have served, have invariably appreciated my work.

As to my conduct and industry in the performance of my duties, I have no doubt that you and Mr. Justice Kellagher can testify to my devotion to duty and my sense of responsibility and I have reason to believe that I have given both of you entire satisfaction.

5. The Acting L.A. forwarded the application to the Kedah Government in a letter dated 19 July, 1933 in which he conveyed his recommendation as follows:

I recommend this application. Che Merican is an able and experienced officer and a quick and industrious worker whose work, during the time I have acted as Legal Adviser, has given every satisfaction. Mr. Justice Kellagher who had very considerable acquaintance with Che Merican’s work when he was Legal Adviser confirms my own opinion. I have reason to think that Che Merican’s very considerable knowledge of Kedah law has been of great use to many of my predecessors and the promotion he now seeks would be a fitting recognition of his long and useful service.

Subsequently my father was promoted to Class II as from 21 October, 1933.

*G.B. Kellagher from Bude, Cornwall was Legal Adviser, Kedah, acting European Judge, Kedah and then a Judge of the First Division of the High Court of Kedah. He had compiled a book, The Laws of the State of Kedah.

A new chapter

1. As I’ve mentioned earlier, my father’s appointment as translator had brought him good luck in his career. He had started the work of translating the Enactments as early as 1922 when he was the Assistant Superintendent Monopolies and Customs in Sungai Petani. His earliest work was probably the translation of the Arms Enactment, the Customs Enactment and the Arbitration Enactment. These were completed in December 1922 for which he was paid a bonus of $100 rial.

2. At that time he was caught in a tug-of-war between the British Adviser (Adviser) and the State Council. The Adviser was keen for him to be seconded to the Legal Adviser’s office so that he could carry out the translation work without much interference. However, the Adviser had discovered that he felt it a downward step to be transferred to work as a mere translator and thus the public would think that he had been degraded.

3. To the Adviser’s mind, my father’s thought was baseless on account of the fact that the work was of great magnitude and could only be done by a qualified person. In order to encourage him the Adviser suggested that his transfer be described as “seconded to act temporarily as Assistant to the Legal Adviser.”

4. However, the State Council did not fully support the idea, so it was agreed that he should assume duty as Assistant Superintendent Monopolies and Customs in Sungai Petani and do in addition the special translation work for the Legal Adviser (L.A.). For that he would receive a special allowance in addition to his ordinary pay.

5. The L.A. was not satisfied with the arrangement. In a letter to the Adviser he stated that it had entailed undue delay. The L.A. noted that my father was burning the candle at both ends. As the latter seemed to be spreading himself too thin, the L.A. argued that the arrangement was neither satisfactory to the Superintendent Monopolies nor was it to himself.

6. In his letter, he enclosed a statement showing a list of Enactments and rules which awaited drafting. 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. He stated that if he were to have a competent assistant then his assistant would be fully employed to do the translation work and other related duties.

7. On account of the urgency of the matter, the State Council in its sitting on 7^th October 1923 had decided on the secondment of Che Ismail Merican temporarily to the L.A.’s office to assist him in the translation work and in consequence the transfer of officials affected by the secondment.

8. Thus in November 1923, my father opened a new chapter in his career. He was fully occupied with the load of translation that had to be done. Apart from the translation and checking, he also helped to transcribe into ‘Roman’ characters, as well as translate into English, the records of cases sent up to the Court of Appeal.

9. On account of his hard work and dedication, he gained the confidence and won the favour of his superior. In January 1924, the L.A. in his letter to the Adviser put forward a recommendation that the post of Assistant to the L.A. be made a Class III appointment and that Mr. M.I. Merican be posted to that appointment. Regarding the merits of the latter, the L.A. commented inter alia:

As to the merits of this case, apart from his length of service (13 years) and age (42 years old), I have been much impressed by Mr. Merican’s zeal and ability and the high quality of his work speaks for itself.

10. Consequently, the State Council in its sitting on 6 March 1924 had decided in accordance with the recommendation.

Note: Mine in brackets.

Moving on to pastures new

1. My father was left an orphan at the age of two. He was brought up by his uncle, Habib Mohamed Merican Noordin, and educated at Penang Free School. Although he was said to be “the best English educated of the Noordin’s family,”* it was not known to what level he completed his schooling. In any case, it qualified him to be a teacher at his old school.

2. When Habib passed away in 1909, my father had become a Senior Assistant Master after having taught for 11 years or so. At the time he might have thought of moving on to pastures new.

3. At the end of the preceding year, an English school was being opened in Alor Star, Kedah. The Kedah state government appointed Mohamad bin Iskandar, a senior teacher at the Penang Free School, as the first Headmaster of the school, known as Government English School (G.E.S.). The pioneer Headmaster resigned and returned to his former school in 1910. The school was left in the hands of one Md. Salleh.

4. Tunku Ibrahim, the Regent of Kedah at the time and a friend of my father, requested him to fill in the post of Headmaster of the G.E.S., so he resigned his post in Penang Free School and came over to Alor Setar to assume the position in February 1911. Thus, began his lifetime career in the Kedah Malay Civil Service (KCS).

5. Ironically, as soon as he assumed duty, the school would be closed for two months or so. At the time the first census covering the Unfederated Malay States which included Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Perlis and Johor was being held. Hence the Kedah Government decided to hold its first census.

6. My father and a number of boys were called upon to work in the Census Office which was situated on the ground floor of Balai Besar, Alor Star. He was appointed as Chief Clerk at the office. The author of the Census Report (1911) stated in his remarks: “Ismail Merican, the Head Master of the English School, worked indefatigably as Chief Clerk at tabulating the results and showed considerable skill in controlling a large staff of clerks.”

7. After the census had been conducted, my father carried on his duty as Headmaster. Under his tenure the enrolments were 160 boys by 1912. The school expanded its teaching staff, and taught up to Standard Four by then. Che Md. Ariffin, Secretary to the Government, and the Headmaster of the school selected an area of about 30 acres at Tanjung Bendahara, Alor Star, for the site of the present building.   

8. During his time as Headmaster, he used to stand in for one J.M. McDonough when the latter was seconded to the British Adviser’s office or otherwise on leave. He earned special allowances of $15 rial a month while McDonough was on leave and received acting allowances for doing his work when he was away.

9. McDonough was then an official at the Audit Office and probably he was also in charge of schools. Once, my father was appointed Acting Superintendant of Education for 18 days or so in early 1912 while McDonough was on leave. The latter’s situation seemed a matter of concern to the government with regard to his capability to promote education in the state. Thus, in January 1913 a proposal was forwarded by the Secretary to Government to the British Adviser (Adviser) nominating Mohamad Ismail Merican as Superintendent of Education, but it did not work out in his favour.

10. However, in March 1913 my father was appointed Senior Auditor, North Kedah. Apparently my father was a down-to-earth and assertive person. Within weeks of his appointment as Senior Auditor, he asked for an increase in housing allowance which was $10 rial a month. The Government answered his request with a $5 rial increase payable as of April 1913.

11. It seemed that his time as Senior Auditor was not all easy ride. There were rough times too. For instance, in late February through early March of 1915, it seemed that he was taking too much time in his audit in Langkawi. For that reason, the Adviser inquired about the date he left for Langkawi and the number of departments to audit. According to him 10 days were sufficient for the audit. My father enclosed a written report in his minute stating that he very much regretted the long time taken. In another instance, he reported the threats made by one Mr. Stuart during the audit of the Education Department in February 1916. It was a consequence of an argument he had with the latter at the time of the audit.

12. Then in September 1917, he applied for a rickshaw allowance. In his application he stated the need for a suitable conveyance to go to government departments around town to carry out his duties. He concluded by expressing his disappointment over his salary increment. He wrote:

“… In view of the above circumstances (reasons for a rickshaw allowance) couple with the fact that I am not going to get next year, and have not got, any increment for two years in the face of hard times, I think that only the grant of such an allowance would meet the case.”

As regards the rickshaw allowance, there was no regulation to it, so he had to be contented with “charging actual expenses.”

13. He served for about five years as Senior Auditor before being appointed Registrar of High Court in June 1918. He was promoted to Class IV of the Kedah Malay Civil Service as of September the following year. His appointment as Registrar was the beginning of his involvement in the legal side of his career. He benefited much from his time in the Registry through hard work and dedication. At times he stood in for the Sheriff while he was on leave. In fact, he was Acting Sheriff in the last months of his time in the Registry. In a letter of request for promotion to Class III of the Malay Civil Service, he wrote:

“… While I was in the Registry I was largely responsible for every preparation concerning the inaugural of the Court of Appeal which went off without any hitch and tacitly met with the approval of the Judges of the said Court. All the records of the appeals had to be done in two languages which I did single-handed and within very short notice. …”

14. However, there was a short break from the “legal circles.” In October 1922 he was appointed to the post of Assistant Superintendent Monopolies and Customs (ASM&C) in Sungai Petani and was on probation for one year. He was confirmed to the office in October the following year. Prior to his confirmation, in August 1923, he asked for promotion to Class III of the KCS, but the Government was of the opinion that it was premature and that he could only be promoted to Class III if and when a vacancy were to recur.

15. The year 1922 marked a turning point in my father’s career. In October of that year just before his transfer to Sungai Petani, he was appointed to carry out the work of special Translator of Enactments etc. The Adviser was thinking in terms of his secondment to the Legal Adviser’s office to carry out the work, but the State Council decided as a temporary expediency that he should be called upon to assist in translation work in addition to his other duties and should receive a fee for so doing.

16. However, he was seconded to the Legal Adviser’s office in November 1923 to carry out the translation work. Actually, his involvement in the translation of Enactments began when he was appointed to sit on the Enactment Translation Committee in January 1916. Later in September 1918, he was appointed a committee member for the drawing up of laws for the State of Kedah. 

17. As it turned out, his appointment as translator was a blessing in disguise. It drove him to live up to his potential. For a number of years he carried out the enormous work of translating the Enactments to the best of his ability. It was the highlight of his achievement in the service. He was given a monthly allowance of $35 rial as of 11 November 1923 for doing the translation at the Legal Adviser’s office. It was withdrawn as from 24 January 1928. Khoo Salma Nasution wrote in The Chulia in Penang:

“… 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.”

18. My father spent 27 years in the KCS, the last 14 years of which were spent mostly in the office of the Legal Adviser. At first he held the post of Office Assistant and finally as Assistant to the Legal Adviser, an appointment in Class II of the KCS, on a salary scale of $450 - 575 a month.

*Lim Cheng Law, “Mr. M.I. Merican – An Appreciation” in Postbag – Letters to the Editor, Straits Echo and Times of Malaya, Wednesday November 28, 1956.
Mine in brackets.