Selamat Hari Raya to Along & Teman, Angah and Ayip. I hope you had a meaningful and blessed Ramadan and have a joyous Hari Raya. Ayah, Amir and I miss you all so much.
We will do the usual stuff. After sending Betsy for boarding tomorrow, we will leave for Juasseh to join the family. Then lepas sembahyang raya and makan-makan we will go on to Penang pulak. Be back on Thrsday. Catch you guys on skype that weekend ok. Luvyall.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Hj Nordin Kadir & Hjh Miah Jaudin - Part 7
Kuala Lumpur Years
Atok went to KL in 1972. His first stop was the Veterans Department of MINDEF to ask for assistance in getting a job. There were openings for security positions in P.Jaya and Dean Bandaraya KL.
The family stayed in Kampung Juasseh while I was sent to the Malay Girls hosterl in Seremban.
After a successful interview at DBKL he started work as a Pegawai Penguatkuasa with the rank of private on 27/2/72. His starting pay was RM 148 per month. DBKL Penguatkuasa was in charge of demolishing illegal houses, town cleanliness and taking care of hawkers.
After Atok was given the quarters in Cheras flats, the family moved to KL while I stayed in Seremban. We stayed at block 3 of the cheras flats for 1 year before moving to the current flat.
In 1972, the price of ikan kembung was -- per kati while kelapa was 20 sen. Wan need not buy any vegetables because she would pick kangkung, paku, ubi and rebung from the nearby mining pools near the flats.
One of the perks of the DBKL Penguakuasa officers was the fear the Chinese and Indian shopkeepers had for them. I vaguely remember Atok getting freebies from these shopkeepers. I clearly remember accepting free sireh for Wan from Indian sireh sellers at Jalan ----. I now know what the favors are called.
Atok retired on 15 nov 1983 at the age of 55. His last drawn salary was 670 ringgit.
Atok went to KL in 1972. His first stop was the Veterans Department of MINDEF to ask for assistance in getting a job. There were openings for security positions in P.Jaya and Dean Bandaraya KL.
The family stayed in Kampung Juasseh while I was sent to the Malay Girls hosterl in Seremban.
After a successful interview at DBKL he started work as a Pegawai Penguatkuasa with the rank of private on 27/2/72. His starting pay was RM 148 per month. DBKL Penguatkuasa was in charge of demolishing illegal houses, town cleanliness and taking care of hawkers.
After Atok was given the quarters in Cheras flats, the family moved to KL while I stayed in Seremban. We stayed at block 3 of the cheras flats for 1 year before moving to the current flat.
In 1972, the price of ikan kembung was -- per kati while kelapa was 20 sen. Wan need not buy any vegetables because she would pick kangkung, paku, ubi and rebung from the nearby mining pools near the flats.
One of the perks of the DBKL Penguakuasa officers was the fear the Chinese and Indian shopkeepers had for them. I vaguely remember Atok getting freebies from these shopkeepers. I clearly remember accepting free sireh for Wan from Indian sireh sellers at Jalan ----. I now know what the favors are called.
Atok retired on 15 nov 1983 at the age of 55. His last drawn salary was 670 ringgit.
Hj Nordin Kadir & Hjh Miah Jaudin - Part 6
Army Depot Police (ADP)-Singapore
Atok joined the ADP on 8 Oct 1956. The ADP was under the British Police War Department in charge of food, transport and ordnance management. Their depots were at Alexander, Bukit Panjang and Kranji. He rose to the rank of sargent.
Surprise !! - Jan 1957
I was born at 11 pm malam Jumaat(ie. Thursday) in Kampung Juasseh. However, my birth cert stated jan 18, 1957.
But, a check with the google date calculator showed that Jan 18 is a friday! This can only mean that my real birthdate was jan 17 1957!
A neighbour, Hamzah Manat, helped report my birth at the police station, hence the mistake, maybe.
When I reached 4 months of age, Wan, Mak Jo and I moved to Singapore to join Atok.
Atok had to apply to become a Singapore citizen in order to be able to work and for us to attend school without having to pay huge amounts of money, which he did on 6 Apr, 1959. Wan did not apply for citizenship and she remained a social visitor until we left Spore for good. She had to pay 30 dollars every 3 months to the immigration counter at Tanjung pagar as compensation to the Spore authorities.
We stayed in a small rented room at Lorong Lompang Bukit Panjang for 20 dollars a month before Atok found a proper house, in which we stayed for most of our lives in Singapore.
October 1963
Busu was born on 15 october 1963 at Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Singapore.
1964 Race Riots
A huge procession for the Maulud Nabi from Masjid Sultan to Geylang Serai in July 1964 sparked Singapore's worst racial riots in history. A curfew was imposed for two weeks. As a result, the Singapore government banned all religious processions.
Because of the riots, Atok and Wan had to leave Singapore temporarily. A kind Chinese dobi man near our house helped us by driving us to Johor Baru in his car. From there we found our way to Segamat, then to kampung Juasseh.
Party Time at ADP
Every three months, the ADP would have a party at the Mess with free flowing alcohol. Sometimes Atok and Wan would bring us to attend the parties. Of course, almost everyone would partake of the food and drinks in front of their families.
After that they would have their joget lambak. Atok would invariably be one of the regulars on the dance floor- Wan, not so much.
Atok joined the ADP on 8 Oct 1956. The ADP was under the British Police War Department in charge of food, transport and ordnance management. Their depots were at Alexander, Bukit Panjang and Kranji. He rose to the rank of sargent.
Surprise !! - Jan 1957
I was born at 11 pm malam Jumaat(ie. Thursday) in Kampung Juasseh. However, my birth cert stated jan 18, 1957.
But, a check with the google date calculator showed that Jan 18 is a friday! This can only mean that my real birthdate was jan 17 1957!
A neighbour, Hamzah Manat, helped report my birth at the police station, hence the mistake, maybe.
When I reached 4 months of age, Wan, Mak Jo and I moved to Singapore to join Atok.
Atok had to apply to become a Singapore citizen in order to be able to work and for us to attend school without having to pay huge amounts of money, which he did on 6 Apr, 1959. Wan did not apply for citizenship and she remained a social visitor until we left Spore for good. She had to pay 30 dollars every 3 months to the immigration counter at Tanjung pagar as compensation to the Spore authorities.
We stayed in a small rented room at Lorong Lompang Bukit Panjang for 20 dollars a month before Atok found a proper house, in which we stayed for most of our lives in Singapore.
October 1963
Busu was born on 15 october 1963 at Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Singapore.
1964 Race Riots
A huge procession for the Maulud Nabi from Masjid Sultan to Geylang Serai in July 1964 sparked Singapore's worst racial riots in history. A curfew was imposed for two weeks. As a result, the Singapore government banned all religious processions.
Because of the riots, Atok and Wan had to leave Singapore temporarily. A kind Chinese dobi man near our house helped us by driving us to Johor Baru in his car. From there we found our way to Segamat, then to kampung Juasseh.
Party Time at ADP
Every three months, the ADP would have a party at the Mess with free flowing alcohol. Sometimes Atok and Wan would bring us to attend the parties. Of course, almost everyone would partake of the food and drinks in front of their families.
After that they would have their joget lambak. Atok would invariably be one of the regulars on the dance floor- Wan, not so much.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Haji Nordin kadir & Hjh Miah Jaudin-Part 5
Atok Masuk Askar
Atok enlisted on 24 August 1948 in the Askar Melayu. His contract was for 7 years of service and 5 years of reserve (ie. optional). Starting salary was 45 ringgit and he was stationed in PD for 6 months. He was then posted to the 3rd Batalion C Company in Pengkalan Chepa Kelantan. Later on he would be rotated within the platoons which took him to Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. Until 1950, there were only 3 battalions in Askar Melayu.
Marriage
Atok and Wan married on 24/4/48. It was the second marriage for both where the earlier marriages ended in divorce. Atok was first married to Hafsah Lajan and they had a son who later died. Wan married Dolah Bin Omar.
Mak Jo was born on 7 Nov 1949 in Kg Kuala Sungkak. Only after she was 25 days old, would Atok get to see her for the first time.
Life In the Army
At Sg Ruan Pahang Atok had his first encounter with the Communist.His other encounter was at Mawai Johor when his lorry was ambushed by them in 1952. On both occasions, the Communists were hiding in trenches, yet after a short exchange of gunfire, they retreated very quickly into the jungle.
Wan and Maj Jo lived in Pengkalan Chepa for slightly over a year before calling it quits and moved back to the kampung. Wan couln't stand having an absentee husband.
INn 1951, during a 3-month operation between Batu Melenting near Gua Musang to Grik Perak to accompany English and Australina foreign surveyors to survey the land for the future highway decades later, the entire platoon almost starved. Every 4 days, food was airlifted by an army plane and dropped to the platoon in the dense jungle. Once it happened that there was a dense fog and the helicopter couldn't locate the men. For 4 days they were without food. After they had build a fire huge enough for it to been seen, would they get their food. During this operation, they also captured a woman communist who surrendered without a fight.
Atok and his Army buddies in mentakab Pahang
I may be biased but with those killer looks, he should try his luck in films rather than the army.
Atok enlisted on 24 August 1948 in the Askar Melayu. His contract was for 7 years of service and 5 years of reserve (ie. optional). Starting salary was 45 ringgit and he was stationed in PD for 6 months. He was then posted to the 3rd Batalion C Company in Pengkalan Chepa Kelantan. Later on he would be rotated within the platoons which took him to Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. Until 1950, there were only 3 battalions in Askar Melayu.
Marriage
Atok and Wan married on 24/4/48. It was the second marriage for both where the earlier marriages ended in divorce. Atok was first married to Hafsah Lajan and they had a son who later died. Wan married Dolah Bin Omar.
Mak Jo was born on 7 Nov 1949 in Kg Kuala Sungkak. Only after she was 25 days old, would Atok get to see her for the first time.
Life In the Army
At Sg Ruan Pahang Atok had his first encounter with the Communist.His other encounter was at Mawai Johor when his lorry was ambushed by them in 1952. On both occasions, the Communists were hiding in trenches, yet after a short exchange of gunfire, they retreated very quickly into the jungle.
Wan and Maj Jo lived in Pengkalan Chepa for slightly over a year before calling it quits and moved back to the kampung. Wan couln't stand having an absentee husband.
INn 1951, during a 3-month operation between Batu Melenting near Gua Musang to Grik Perak to accompany English and Australina foreign surveyors to survey the land for the future highway decades later, the entire platoon almost starved. Every 4 days, food was airlifted by an army plane and dropped to the platoon in the dense jungle. Once it happened that there was a dense fog and the helicopter couldn't locate the men. For 4 days they were without food. After they had build a fire huge enough for it to been seen, would they get their food. During this operation, they also captured a woman communist who surrendered without a fight.
Atok and his Army buddies in mentakab Pahang
I may be biased but with those killer looks, he should try his luck in films rather than the army.
Haji Nordin kadir & Hjh Miah Jaudin-Part 4
Life under the Japanese Occupation and Bintang 3
Atok
I remember Atok's mother, Wei Ngkak or Eyam vaguely. Those times when we visited her in Sungkak, she always had wajid although most time it was moldy. I liked her wajid whenever it wasn't moldy.
Eyam was a smart woman. Whereas many people went hungry and died during the occupation, Eyam managed to feed her children rice most days which was a luxury not many could afford.
Most people survived on tapioca which made parts of their bodies, limbs and faces swollen.**
Eyam had build a kolah which was where she kept her money and the rice. She had been widowed in 1939 but she managed to save some money which she rolled tightly and put in a tin can and placed in the kolah. She cleverly put some planks over and camouflaged it as a stove complete with charred wood, ashes and burnt stones. Every so often she would put a periok with warm food over the stove to fool any visiting Japanese soldiers.
Bintang 3
After the Japanese surrendered, and before the British secured the whole of the countryside, the vacuum was filled by the notorious Bintang 3. This was for a period of 2 weeks.
One of the Commies in the village was called Udin and his sidekick was
Ah Lok. Ah Lok used to be Atok's playmate since they were about the same age and attended the same school. He threatened Eyam,that the commies would imprison Atok since he was working for the Japanese in Singapore. Ah Lok wanted "100 Ringgit Duit British" in return for Atok's freedom. Eyam bargained down to 50 ringgit.
Atok and his family survived by planting rice and tapping rubber. Eyam died in September 1986, probably surpassing the 100-year mark.
Wan
Women's quota for rice was 80 gantang per year and children's quota was 40 gantang. What this meant was whatever extra your rice fields produced, went to the Japanese. Pak Jo's father, Idris, who was also Siah's nephew whom she called Mat Hilir, was the "pembanci" for the Japanese. He helped Siah by suggesting that she hide 3 bags of rice in the chicken coop under the kampung house, before he comes to 'banci' their household.
So Siah's household also did not have to rely on a tapioca diet all the time since they have some hidden rice.
There were no shops selling kain or garam. They would use whatever clothes they had until tattered and torn. Some people had no more clothes left, they used guni for clothes. There was no salt although funnily enough, there was kicap to flavour their food. When people died, some dikapankan dengar tikar.
Abu,Wan's eldest brother, was accused by some people to be a communist sympathizer. He was sent to a Japanese prison in Seremban. As part of his torture routine, he was force fed soap water lying down. Then the prison guards would put a plank of wood on his upper body and some of them will simultaneously jump onto the plank. Bloody water would ooze out of every orifice in his body. He survived the ordeal although with many broken ribs as a testament to the barbaric treatment at the hands of the Japanese. He died 3 months after he was released from prison.
Siah died on 24.8. 1945 when the Japanese were about to surrender. Thankfully she was 'dikapankan dengan kain batik baru'.
The Con
A Chinese man from Juasseh came to Wan's house the day before the Japanese surrendered. He asked Wan if she wants to convert her ringgit into Japanese money (duit cap pisang they call it) at an unbelievably attractive conversion rate. So Wan gave him 40 ringgit and got 4000 duit Jepun! Day after, it became worthless. He went on to con a few other people.
The Putar Belit of Siah's Land
After Siah died, Wan Atik, her sister then came to live in the kampung house. The land the kampung house sits on was slightly more than 1 acre. Her other piece of bebun property is 2 acres. Rightfully, after Siah died, these properties would be passed on to Wan.
Since these lands are Malay Reserve lands, the administration, came under the jurisdiction of the Lembaga.
Wan Atik with the help of Kerani Bador, a pegawai tadbir tanah managed to cast doubts with the Lembaga,on Wan's status with respect to the suku. For an adopted child be be given the full status of the Suku Seri Lemak Minangkabau, she or he must be 'dikhadimkan by the Lembaga'. Dikhadimkan means diiktirafkan. I can only guess that to 'khadimkan' someone is probably inviting the Lembaga to a kenduri and baca doa.
Because of the khadim issue, Wan was bequeathed only half share of the kampung land. The other half went to Wan Atik and another sister Lamah. When both wan Atik and Lamah died, this half went to Wan Atik's daughter.
Wan Atik and Kerani Bador were in-laws.
Abu, Wan's brother, had the foresight to safeguard Siah's kebun land. He reassigned the kebun to his friend with specific instructions to transfer it to Wan after Siah's death. His honest friend did just that.
** Tapioca contains toxic cyanogenic glucosides. Too much consumption, as in this case, can result in acute cyanide intoxication and goiters.
Atok
I remember Atok's mother, Wei Ngkak or Eyam vaguely. Those times when we visited her in Sungkak, she always had wajid although most time it was moldy. I liked her wajid whenever it wasn't moldy.
Eyam was a smart woman. Whereas many people went hungry and died during the occupation, Eyam managed to feed her children rice most days which was a luxury not many could afford.
Most people survived on tapioca which made parts of their bodies, limbs and faces swollen.**
Eyam had build a kolah which was where she kept her money and the rice. She had been widowed in 1939 but she managed to save some money which she rolled tightly and put in a tin can and placed in the kolah. She cleverly put some planks over and camouflaged it as a stove complete with charred wood, ashes and burnt stones. Every so often she would put a periok with warm food over the stove to fool any visiting Japanese soldiers.
Bintang 3
After the Japanese surrendered, and before the British secured the whole of the countryside, the vacuum was filled by the notorious Bintang 3. This was for a period of 2 weeks.
One of the Commies in the village was called Udin and his sidekick was
Ah Lok. Ah Lok used to be Atok's playmate since they were about the same age and attended the same school. He threatened Eyam,that the commies would imprison Atok since he was working for the Japanese in Singapore. Ah Lok wanted "100 Ringgit Duit British" in return for Atok's freedom. Eyam bargained down to 50 ringgit.
Atok and his family survived by planting rice and tapping rubber. Eyam died in September 1986, probably surpassing the 100-year mark.
Wan
Women's quota for rice was 80 gantang per year and children's quota was 40 gantang. What this meant was whatever extra your rice fields produced, went to the Japanese. Pak Jo's father, Idris, who was also Siah's nephew whom she called Mat Hilir, was the "pembanci" for the Japanese. He helped Siah by suggesting that she hide 3 bags of rice in the chicken coop under the kampung house, before he comes to 'banci' their household.
So Siah's household also did not have to rely on a tapioca diet all the time since they have some hidden rice.
There were no shops selling kain or garam. They would use whatever clothes they had until tattered and torn. Some people had no more clothes left, they used guni for clothes. There was no salt although funnily enough, there was kicap to flavour their food. When people died, some dikapankan dengar tikar.
Abu,Wan's eldest brother, was accused by some people to be a communist sympathizer. He was sent to a Japanese prison in Seremban. As part of his torture routine, he was force fed soap water lying down. Then the prison guards would put a plank of wood on his upper body and some of them will simultaneously jump onto the plank. Bloody water would ooze out of every orifice in his body. He survived the ordeal although with many broken ribs as a testament to the barbaric treatment at the hands of the Japanese. He died 3 months after he was released from prison.
Siah died on 24.8. 1945 when the Japanese were about to surrender. Thankfully she was 'dikapankan dengan kain batik baru'.
The Con
A Chinese man from Juasseh came to Wan's house the day before the Japanese surrendered. He asked Wan if she wants to convert her ringgit into Japanese money (duit cap pisang they call it) at an unbelievably attractive conversion rate. So Wan gave him 40 ringgit and got 4000 duit Jepun! Day after, it became worthless. He went on to con a few other people.
The Putar Belit of Siah's Land
After Siah died, Wan Atik, her sister then came to live in the kampung house. The land the kampung house sits on was slightly more than 1 acre. Her other piece of bebun property is 2 acres. Rightfully, after Siah died, these properties would be passed on to Wan.
Since these lands are Malay Reserve lands, the administration, came under the jurisdiction of the Lembaga.
Wan Atik with the help of Kerani Bador, a pegawai tadbir tanah managed to cast doubts with the Lembaga,on Wan's status with respect to the suku. For an adopted child be be given the full status of the Suku Seri Lemak Minangkabau, she or he must be 'dikhadimkan by the Lembaga'. Dikhadimkan means diiktirafkan. I can only guess that to 'khadimkan' someone is probably inviting the Lembaga to a kenduri and baca doa.
Because of the khadim issue, Wan was bequeathed only half share of the kampung land. The other half went to Wan Atik and another sister Lamah. When both wan Atik and Lamah died, this half went to Wan Atik's daughter.
Wan Atik and Kerani Bador were in-laws.
Abu, Wan's brother, had the foresight to safeguard Siah's kebun land. He reassigned the kebun to his friend with specific instructions to transfer it to Wan after Siah's death. His honest friend did just that.
** Tapioca contains toxic cyanogenic glucosides. Too much consumption, as in this case, can result in acute cyanide intoxication and goiters.
Haji Nordin Kadir & Hjh Miah Jaudin-Part 3
Atok's Education
He went to Sekolah Sungai Dua, a Malay school for standard 1-5. Students who did well after Std 5 were selected for further training for 3 years after which they could enroll as guru pelatih. Some, after, std 5, went for Special Malay Class (now Remove Class) to learn English. Atok's father refused to allow Atok to attend SMC for fear of "masuk api neraka" for learning English.
When he was in the second year of the 3-year further training, the Japanese landed. It was 1941. Being one of the better students, he was picked by the Japanese to train for 3 years in Singapore. The place was called Kaigun Kokusho, a aircraft training facility in Seletar. After 3 years training at the facility, students became pilots I suppose. They were given uniforms and accomodation.
These were turbulent times with Allied B29s zooming past and running to take cover. In 1944, after the second bombing of Seletar, Atok and a friend from Rasah negeri Sembilan, evacuated the centre and hitched a ride in a cargo train back to Gemas. He was around 17 years of age at that time. His nascent pilot training died a premature death with that fateful train ride.
3812 is significant to him and many others who lived through the Japanese occupation. 3 years, 8 months and 12 days-that was the length of the Japanese occupation of this country.
n.b. A wikipedia search showed that Kaigun Kokusho is also the name of the Japanese naval fighterplane. Although it was adequately designed it lacked the climb-rate and high altitude performance to successfully intercept the American-made B29s.
Wan's Education
She went to sekolah kebangsaan until Std 5.The Japanese came when she was in Std 5. Her teacher would teach the students how to greet the Japanese when they came. Wan was big for her age so her teacher advised her to stop schooling since the Japanese were going to take away the bigger girls to turn into concubines.
She was also a good student at school. After she stopped schooling, in the mornings she would climb up a tall langsat tree behind the kampung house which allowed her to see the students lining up for their classes.
She and her mother Siah tilled the padi fields and to supplement their income, she picked daun rumbia to weave into atap roofs which she sold for 20 sen apiece. Siah also had 2 acres of land with rubber trees.
He went to Sekolah Sungai Dua, a Malay school for standard 1-5. Students who did well after Std 5 were selected for further training for 3 years after which they could enroll as guru pelatih. Some, after, std 5, went for Special Malay Class (now Remove Class) to learn English. Atok's father refused to allow Atok to attend SMC for fear of "masuk api neraka" for learning English.
When he was in the second year of the 3-year further training, the Japanese landed. It was 1941. Being one of the better students, he was picked by the Japanese to train for 3 years in Singapore. The place was called Kaigun Kokusho, a aircraft training facility in Seletar. After 3 years training at the facility, students became pilots I suppose. They were given uniforms and accomodation.
These were turbulent times with Allied B29s zooming past and running to take cover. In 1944, after the second bombing of Seletar, Atok and a friend from Rasah negeri Sembilan, evacuated the centre and hitched a ride in a cargo train back to Gemas. He was around 17 years of age at that time. His nascent pilot training died a premature death with that fateful train ride.
3812 is significant to him and many others who lived through the Japanese occupation. 3 years, 8 months and 12 days-that was the length of the Japanese occupation of this country.
n.b. A wikipedia search showed that Kaigun Kokusho is also the name of the Japanese naval fighterplane. Although it was adequately designed it lacked the climb-rate and high altitude performance to successfully intercept the American-made B29s.
Wan's Education
She went to sekolah kebangsaan until Std 5.The Japanese came when she was in Std 5. Her teacher would teach the students how to greet the Japanese when they came. Wan was big for her age so her teacher advised her to stop schooling since the Japanese were going to take away the bigger girls to turn into concubines.
She was also a good student at school. After she stopped schooling, in the mornings she would climb up a tall langsat tree behind the kampung house which allowed her to see the students lining up for their classes.
She and her mother Siah tilled the padi fields and to supplement their income, she picked daun rumbia to weave into atap roofs which she sold for 20 sen apiece. Siah also had 2 acres of land with rubber trees.
Hj Nordin Kadir & Hjh Miah Jaudin - Part 2
The Early Years
On their ICs, their dates of birth are 15/11/28 and 30/4/28 for Atok and Wan respectively. Of course, we should give a wide margin of error for these dates.
Atok's Family
Atok was born to Eyam Bt Mangkas and Kadir bin Subuh bin Salam bin Sapi-e in Kg Kuala Sungkak. He was their fifth child. The siblings are Uncit (Rashid), Atin, Yusuf,Moktar, Nordin and Timah. Moktar died young while the rest except Uncit are still living.
Atok's father taught agama lessons to the villagers and was later appointed to teach at Istana Sri Menanti by the then Yam DiPertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Tuanku later became Malaysia's first Agong. The appointment letter to your great grandfather is attached. He died in Sept 1939.
Wan's Family
Wan's parents were Siah Bt Sahak and Jaudin bin Kulup. Her two older brothers were Abu and Mahat. Abu was a penghulu and Mahat was a "pegawai engineer" with the then Malay Service Commission now, the PTD. She remembers Abu fondly but not so much Mahat since he didn't quite treat her like a sister.
Siah was relatively wealthy with several lots of kebun and sawah. She remembers she was very manja with her father Jaudin. At bath times he would carry her on his shoulders. He died when Wan was about 6 years old.
Chinese Connection
Siah never mentioned that Wan was adopted. It came from Wei Bong's husband (neighbour). Kaya Amus, Wei Bong's husband, told Wan that she was adopted from a Chinese family in Kuala Pilah. Later on when Mak Jo was still a toddler, they and a family friend, carpenter Kaya's grandfather, went to a Chinese goldsmith shop in Kuala Pilah to meet her brother. He gave them the cold shoulder. Then as a token acknowledgment, he gave Mak Jo a "loket buah kemunting".
There were a few more occasions when she would pass by the shop and she and her 'brother' would both curtly nod to each other. The Chinese family later left Kuala Pilah.
This is the 75-year-old appointment letter to Kadir bin Subuh. It was dated 21 April 1936. On the right hand corner it was signed Abdul Rahman, the Yam Tuan himself.
On their ICs, their dates of birth are 15/11/28 and 30/4/28 for Atok and Wan respectively. Of course, we should give a wide margin of error for these dates.
Atok's Family
Atok was born to Eyam Bt Mangkas and Kadir bin Subuh bin Salam bin Sapi-e in Kg Kuala Sungkak. He was their fifth child. The siblings are Uncit (Rashid), Atin, Yusuf,Moktar, Nordin and Timah. Moktar died young while the rest except Uncit are still living.
Atok's father taught agama lessons to the villagers and was later appointed to teach at Istana Sri Menanti by the then Yam DiPertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Tuanku later became Malaysia's first Agong. The appointment letter to your great grandfather is attached. He died in Sept 1939.
Wan's Family
Wan's parents were Siah Bt Sahak and Jaudin bin Kulup. Her two older brothers were Abu and Mahat. Abu was a penghulu and Mahat was a "pegawai engineer" with the then Malay Service Commission now, the PTD. She remembers Abu fondly but not so much Mahat since he didn't quite treat her like a sister.
Siah was relatively wealthy with several lots of kebun and sawah. She remembers she was very manja with her father Jaudin. At bath times he would carry her on his shoulders. He died when Wan was about 6 years old.
Chinese Connection
Siah never mentioned that Wan was adopted. It came from Wei Bong's husband (neighbour). Kaya Amus, Wei Bong's husband, told Wan that she was adopted from a Chinese family in Kuala Pilah. Later on when Mak Jo was still a toddler, they and a family friend, carpenter Kaya's grandfather, went to a Chinese goldsmith shop in Kuala Pilah to meet her brother. He gave them the cold shoulder. Then as a token acknowledgment, he gave Mak Jo a "loket buah kemunting".
There were a few more occasions when she would pass by the shop and she and her 'brother' would both curtly nod to each other. The Chinese family later left Kuala Pilah.
This is the 75-year-old appointment letter to Kadir bin Subuh. It was dated 21 April 1936. On the right hand corner it was signed Abdul Rahman, the Yam Tuan himself.
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