DIY Kampong Style

I had the privilege of getting part of the care and attention of not just my parents, my brothers, and sisters but also the affections of my aunties, uncles and cousins. However, I never got to know the love of either maternal or paternal blood grandparents. Too late but I now regret a great deal. I never took the trouble to ask my parents or my uncles of my spiced heritage and life in Penang in the 1800s. That my dad and mum occasionally spoke to each other and their brothers and sisters in Hindi, further strengthened the premise my parents have strong ancestry links to the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent. Sadly, I know not of the exact origin of my genes. The blood that runs in my vein is no doubt like the curry of the original nasi kandar – campur semua. So, what’re my roots? I guess primarily some part of Middle to Northen India with a sprinkling of Arab blood, Malay and some incidental Japanese genes from the maternal side. This is clear till today in the varied appearances of the members of the Ahmad Al Bakish clan.

The reality was kids and teens then did not see value outside the history book. Only now I keep on hammering my head who were my paternal grandparent, Ahmad Al Bakish, Mastan and wife Khatty? What were their occupations? I went on the Internet to find out about Mastans. I was quite shocked initially to find out that the most famous Mastan (Mirza) was a Bombay gangster and smuggler of the 1960-1970s, now being made famous by a Bollywood film.

Well, I traced one Mastan on the net but fortunately or unfortunately he was not my maternal grandfather as the latter died way back in the 1940s. I will continue to look for clues to find the ingredients of my family’s blood so that the younger generations can look back and realise that we are what we are and be proud of our heritage. One thing for sure Hindustani’s blood run thick in our veins for till today (up to my generation at least) we address our elder brothers with the Hindi prefixes Bai, our elder sisters Bo and our uncles and aunties Caca and Cachi or Khala and Khalu. To simplify my heritage, I belong to the Penang Mamak clan.

Should the reference genetic maps of the various races of Malaysia becomes available and affordable, they will tempt one of my relatives to map my genome and search for clues of our true mixed and uncertain ancestry. To the present generation, I strongly recommend the keeping of an electronic diary to avoid trying to recollect most things from tired brains and unlabeled photos retrieved from dusty termite-attacked boxes. Better still, start writing your experiences regularly, for everything in life is interesting and important at one time or another. One does not have to be a President or Prime Minister to unfold and share one’s exciting life experiences.

My neglect of my ancestry’s history prompted me to encourage my children and nephews and nieces to start digging the past and connecting to build our family tree especially now that the facilities on the internet are available. One of my nephews Mohd Hanif Din kicked off the project and at the time of writing over 500 members of the Ahmad Al Bakish 4th and 5th generations are connected. My nephew, Dato Dr Zulkifli Ismail is also trying hard to trace our ancestry. I hope he will make any corrections or add accuracy to the information to get nearer the whole truth.

The Author

Tan Sri Dato Dr Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee was the 6th child of the 12 children of Babjee and Khatom Mastan. Mustaffa, as he was fondly called by members of his clan and friends, was a cheeky lad. His character was moulded principally by the environment and comradely in the family.

He had been exposed to various challenges as a child, as a student, working adult and as an old retired science-loving person.

He loved the outdoors for photography and indoors for reading and writing.

His dream was planetary peace and friendship.

Many books are sold. Some are never opened, some are flipped through and others carried decorative bookmarks to remind the reader where he left days or years ago. A true reader grimaced, smile, laugh, and even cry through the pages. -Musta a

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. - Bacon

Nature knows no pause in progress and development and attaches her curse on all inaction. - Goethe

There are three di culties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing, to find honest man to publish it, and to get sensible men to read it. - Colton