After the War

Statutory Declaration (1949) to fill the blanks and made corrections in my original birth certificate. Note the quality of the paper.

It was with some perturbation I pen down my lineage based on flimsy verbal information and lack of records about my ancestors. My paternal grandfather Ahmad Al Bakish was I suspect of mixed Indian (possibly Gujerati) with Arab blood (possibly Hydramaut). Grandfather Ahmad can pass off for a Malay more than an Indian or Arab in the portrait probably because of the songkok he was wearing. I have no clue

how the Al Bakish came to be attached to his name. One thing I am sure of was that some members of my great grandfather’s family were converted Muslims from India. His wife, my paternal grandmother Khatijah Bee was I guess of Indian-Malay blood. This couple produced four sons; Dr S.M. Baboo, S.M. Noor, S.M. Abdul Karim and Dr (Veterinary) S.M. Babjee (born 05-11-1907) and three daughters, Aishah Bee, Fatimah Bee and Aishama.

Except for Abdul Karim who had no sibling, the other three sons of Ahmad Al Bakish and daughter Khatijah Bee, proved to be virile and highly productive. Their eldest son, my most senior uncle Dr S.M. Baboo was one of the early Malay doctors. He married Tengku Rahimah Tengku Mohd Radin of Satun who delivered nine children, Kamaluddin, Sona Jan, Noor Kathoom, Nor Zaiton, Arrifin, Latifah, Halidah, Faridah and Ferial. My grandpa another son, my uncle S.M. Noor who married my mother’s sister Zubaidah had eleven children, Sidek, Rahim, Mohiyudin (Babjan), Gulab Jan (Gula Bee), Rokiah, Khairuddin (Omar), Zaleha, Katijah, Ahmad Din, Zarina Jan, and Izuddin. His first child was Fatimah Bee (Bibi) from his first marriage to Siti Zainab.

Ahmad Al Bakish youngest child, Dr S.M. Babjee married Khatum Mastan and they had twelve children – thirteen, as one was accidentally aborted. It looks like the Ahmad Al Bakish “clan” truly believed in “cheaper by the dozen” Having lots of children was the norm in those days.

Al Bakish eldest daughter, Aishah Bee married Mr Matloob Khan, a wealthy businessman living in York Road, Penang but she died after bearing two daughters, Banoon and Laila and a son Noor Khan. After Aishah’s demise, Matloob Khan married her younger sister Aishama. The third daughter Fatimah Bee was married to Abdul Karim Al-Idrus, and they had two daughters, Sharifah Zubaidah and Sharifah Nor. So, my parent’s clan were close knitted – almost tribal. One thing characteristic of them was that none of the Ahmad Al Bakish clan had more than one wife except to replace their deceased partners and that too they preferred the sisters of their wives. This “tribal” practice I suppose was common in those days.

Aishama was the only surviving paternal auntie that I remember well. She had no live child of her own but had adopted a child she named Ugir. We addressed her as Khala, which in Hindi means auntie. She was a typical sentimentalist, always wanting and expecting to be doted upon by her nieces and nephews. I was one of her favourites as she doted on me a great deal and I love her dearly and was close to her partly because her brother was my dad. She cried at the slightest sign of imagined negligence, after her husband, Matloob Khan died she became even more emotional each time close relatives visited her. I remember her fondly sitting near one of the windows looking onto York Road, always sniffing at a knot made on her handkerchief soaked in 4711 Eau de Cologne. During Hari Raya, her Pulut Kacau (glutinous rice in red sugar) and halua masket were the best traditional delicacies I had ever tasted.

According to one source my paternal grandfather, Ahmad Al Bakish (Albakish) was one of the Malay Police Officer pioneers who died in Japanese hands after being tortured during the Japanese occupation. I hope one of us could search the police archives to confirm this bit of information. Though I am opportunistic about getting any bit of information, we should keep searching.

I even have less information about my maternal grandparents. My maternal grandfather was Mastan who was first married to a lady named Zainab. I do not know of any siblings from the first marriage. Mastan later married my maternal grandmother (Siti Zainab) who adopted a Japanese lady known by her pet name as Khatty. From this union, Mastan had four children, Khatum (my mother), Zubaidah, and Bahanum, and their only brother Yusof. All their children were fair-complexion presumably from the Japanese genes of my maternal grandmother. Her background remains a mystery at least to our family. I could not get facts about my maternal great grandfather either, except that his name was Mastan. I never got to see both my paternal and maternal grandparents as they all died before I was born or when I was still a toddler.

Zubaidah, my mum’s sister, married my dad’s elder brother S.M. Noor after his first wife Siti Zainab died after delivering a daughter (Bibi). However, my maternal auntie Zubaidah bore him 13 children of which 11 survived to adulthood. My other maternal auntie Bainum married Kadir Mydin, and this pair had three boys; Karim, Latiff, and Rashid. Bainum died a young lady. Then Kadir married another lady by the name of Majan Wahed Miah and they had 11 children, Dr Samad, Jamilah, Tamnah Khatum, Zurina, Laila Khatum, Haque, Faridah, Bismillah. Khala Mina, their grandmother was also my grandmother in practice. She doted her love on all.

S.M. Babjee Ahmad and Khatum Mastan were married in June 1930 at York Road, Penang. A group photo taken on or close to the wedding day showed my dad clad in a grey western suit and a “Nehru cross Javanese songkok” while my Mum was dressed in a sari with a head cover. The costumes worn by my dad and mum and close relatives as shown in the photo confirmed our strong cultural links with India. Readers may wonder why I went some length to attempt explaining my heritage. I hope to encourage the new generation to converse with our elders about the past, unlike me who missed the boat plus the benefit of their wisdom.

My parent’s first child was a boy, Ahmad Din (Ir), followed by a girl, Nur Jehan, then another girl Nur Baharee, then a boy Ahmad Maulana (Datuk), and followed by another girl, Sakina and then me. My mother was extremely fertile, so was my father. After me there was a tragedy when the family lost a sibling from an abortion. Indirectly I was the cause of the abortion as I was told that my mother slipped and fell near a well while looking for me. But God was quick to bless and compensate her with another 6 children, Ahmad Shukor, Sheik Mohd Amin (Dr), Zainab, Mohd Yousoff, Abdul Salam (Dr) and the last child, Mohd Salim (Dr). Five of their children were born in Sungei Petani, Kedah where Dr Babjee worked most of his life as a Government Veterinarian.