It feels like it’s been forever since I wrote anything.
The truth is, life has been too hectic in the various spaces of my life, particularly involving work and Ruzain – a lot has been happening. While many times there were intentions to write, I never managed to find time to get to it in the past few months.
Anyway, while I couldn’t write, I tried my best to be steadfast at reading, where possible slotting time for daily reading in between my busy life schedule – can’t really claim I succeeded with my efforts here too.
But a recent trip up to Kuala Kangsar to visit Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah triggered back my interest in history and going spiral reading on it.
I’ve always been fascinated by history since I was young – it was my favorite subject for some weird reason. Believe it’s something I inherited from my late grandfather – Tok Ein. I always treated reading history books like reading story books.
Also when it comes to history, I’ve always been interested to learn more about my family’s ancestry – both from my late dad and mum’s side. It’s not that it makes any difference today, if there were any lineages leading to aristocracy – it was the days of yesterday. Personally, I am a firm believer of merit and never a person of protocol.
But it’s fun to know your roots – in a way, being proud of what your family stands for is never wrong.
Today’s posting, I’m jotting it down so that my son, nephews and nieces (also myself) knows and don’t forget our line of ancestries.
My Mum’s Side – Perak at Heart
There isn’t much I know of my mother’s side (she doesn’t know much too) besides knowing both my late grandfather and late grandmother originated from Perak.
My grandfather (Tok Ayah), Badiozaman bin Raus was from Sayong, Kuala Kangsar with Bugis lineage and my grandmother (Tok Mak) Robe’ah binti Daud was from Kampar.
They stayed at Jalan Othman, PJ Old Town near Assunta Hospital where my mum grew up – the exact area was called “Kawasan Melayu” (translated Malay area). My late grandfather used to work at Cold Storage’s ice factory in Sungai Besi where he would cycle back and forth from home to work.
My fond memories was of him always being a modest and humble man; he seems contented with whatever he has.
Every time we came to visit, he will pass me and my elder brother a box of raisins each to eat – I used to prefer the black raisins rather than the yellow but I’ll eat any of them up anyway.
My Dad’s Side – The “Wan” of Kedah
My dad’s ancestry line has more color and is easier to trace as there are actually written references available thanks to my great grandfathers being prominent individuals in Kedah and Selangor.
Our family’s “Wan” surname originated from Kedah – both my grandfather’s and grandmother’s ancestry coincides to Wan Su @ Dato’ Temenggong Kolot, Bukit Lada, who originated from Pattani.
My Late Grandmother’s Ancestry
My late grandmother (Tok Mak) Datin Paduka Wan Mardziah binti Wan Sulaiman was the daughter of Kedah’s Shaykh al-Islam, Sheikh Wan Sulaiman bin Wan Sidek, a renowned Islamic scholar in the region during his era.
He was known as the scholar who modernized the Islamic administration in Kedah. He introduced the modern Islamic school, Madrasah al-Hamidiah. Later, together with Tengku Mahmud, he was the man behind the establishment of now famous Islamic secondary school “Maktab Mahmud”, which he did not manage to see as the school opened a year after he passed away.
He passed away on 2 May 1935 at the age of 61. There is a primary school in Alor Setar, Kedah named after him.
My late grandmother’s ancestry lineage: Wan Mardziah binti Wan Sulaiman bin Wan Sidek bin Wan Aman bin Wan Net bin Wan Su @ Dato’ Temenggong Kolot, Bukit Lada.
My Late Grandfather’s Ancestry
My late grandfather (Tok Ein) Dato’ Paduka Haji Wan Ibrahim bin Wan Soloh came from a family that has been of service to the royal family.
He himself was the Dato’ Seri Amar Diraja of Kedah, responsible for managing customs (adat-istiadat) related matters for the Kedah royal family.
While coming from the same family roots of Wan Su Dato’ Temenggong Kolot, Bukit Lada, Kedah, my late grandfather originated from Selangor with strong family roots in Klang.
It was my curiosity on the Selangor side of the family that brought me to purchasing a book titled “Pesaka Selangor” (original title: “Kenangan2 Selangor”) written by Dato’ Bentara Kiri – Dato’ Amar Diraja Selangor, Wan Muhammad Amin bin Wan Muhammad Sa’id, who is basically my great granduncle.
The book was written in 1916 and was first published in Malay jawi in 1937. I got my hands on a preloved (by the library) 1966 version for a hefty but worthwhile RM180 price tag. The book has some cool and original insights into life back then during the early days in Selangor, which is something I could not have imagined.
A big part of the book tells the story of the famous Klang War between Raja Mahdi and Raja Abdullah (the one I first learned in the history book at school), which my ancestors was part of.
It was from this book too I learned a bit more of the origins of my family lineage in Klang, Selangor, which seems to have stronger roots than I thought.
There was also a chapter in the book that told the story of how in the middle of the war, my great grandfather and great granduncle was almost sentenced to death while in custody of Raja Sulaiman by the advice or Raja Ahmad, his uncle. But they were saved due to the many good deeds their father Wan Muhammad Sa’id had given to Raja Sulaiman over the years.
The whole incident was already written by the Almighty but the thought of the possibility that it could have happened – I won’t even be here today.
My late grandfather’s Selangor ancestry could be traced back to his grandfather, Wan Muhammad Sa’id, who was born in Klang from the marriage of Wan Muhammad Hadi, son of Wan Su with Che Mahirim, daughter of Tuan Imam Abdul Haj, who was originally from Klang. My late grandfather’s grandmother Che Ghuliah, daughter of Enche’ Bahir bin Dato’ Kaya Hassan also originated from Klang.
Basically my family roots in Klang and Selangor are deep. Sadly, don’t really know anyone from that side of the family.
His father, my great grandfather was in service to the Selangor Royal family as the Dato’ Bentara Kanan Sedia Diraja Wan Soloh bin Wan Muhammad Sa’id, who coordinated the audiences who meets Sultan of Selangor and who reads out the Sultan’s commands (titah) during official ceremonies.
My late grandfather’s ancestry lineage: Wan Ibrahim bin Wan Soloh bin Wan Muhammad Sa’id bin Wan Muhammad Hadi bin Wan Su @ Dato’ Temenggong Kolot, Bukit Lada.
While I take pride and feel proud of my family lineage, it is not my intention of jotting these down to show off in any way – it’s really to record it so that it doesn’t get lost as generations passes by. Hopefully this becomes a good point of reference especially for my family members.
And it’s who we are today and what we put in that matters, not the family lineage or history we have. Especially in our journey of achieving the ultimate goal of becoming better servants to the Almighty.
Roots.