Family Ties: My Grandparents

Genealogy is the study of families and tracing of their lineages and history - a difficult feat indeed for anyone to undertake, unless one has descended from kings/queens or great heroes. I can only go back to my grandparents, just two generations earlier. Both sets of grandparents lived in Pulau Pinang.

Of my paternal grandparents, I never knew my grandfather Mohd Noor bin Sulayman, who passed away before I was born. There are no photographs of him, so I do not even know what he looked like. But it seems that he had roots in Pagaruyong, seat of the Minangkabau kings.

My Grandmother Maimunah (1950s)

My grandmother Maimunah, whom we called Tok Munah, I remember very well. She was a very fair and pretty woman, very kind and  soft spoken as well. When we visited her in Pulau Pinang in the 1950's (from Alor Star), I recall that I was most fascinated with a white teapot that she served us tea with. It was very small, but it seemed to fill so many cups! I have inherited that teapot which I treasure a lot, but have never used it because I prefer that the 'magic' it did then remain with me forever.

Tok Munah's magic teapot (CNB 2012)

Mohd Noor and Maimunah had only two children - my father Bahari and his younger brother S. S died while still a teenager in an unfortunate accident while helping out during a wedding kenduri.

My maternal grandparents Arshad bin Hj. Mohd Alam and Milah binti Dali (d. 2003 aged 93) had five children; my mother Puteh, Ashaari, Sopiah, Ismail and Yaakub. My grandfather whom we called Tok Wan Tok Chad, was a very tall man, over 6 ft. He was of fair complexion and his roots seem to be in Siam (Thailand), but my grandmother Milah was sawo matang (brown complexion) with roots in Java.

Milah and Arshad; rephoto-ed  from my uncle's collection
Now I know where I got my elfin ears!

I remember my Tok Chad had been a fierce School Head Teacher, and a very strict Guru Mengaji (Quran Teacher) as well. He was semi-paralysed in his last years, and my Tok Milah had a difficult time looking after his needs. But Tok Milah lived a long life till her 97th year.

A platter I inherited from Tok Milah (CNB 2012)

I have to record that my mother had foster parents as well - her uncle-in-law (?) we knew as Tok Wan Tok Jaya and her aunty Hudoh (though she was most beautiful but her parents named her 'Ugly' to ward off the evil eye!) My mother was given to her to care for the first few years. I never knew Tok Hudoh, but Tok Jaya was a very kind man who roamed Georgetown to pray in its mosques. Sometimes my siblings and I go to town after school to eat or shop, and we would often times meet Tok Jaya there. I remember we had to cease eating our favourite asam laksa at a certain shop in Penang Road when he forbade us because he knew something that we were not aware of.

(In progress)