501451 Biography of the Early Malay Doctors

BIOGRAPHY OF THE EARLY MALAY DOCTORS 1900-1957 MALAYA AND SINGAPORE

I have obtained feedback from the publisher today, 30 November 2012. The Press Release (PR) has been sent to 105 media organizations in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Please note that the listed price for the book is AUD$39.99 for paperback and AUD$59.99 for hardcover. At Xlibris, the prices are in Australian Dollars.

I would appreciate it and be very grateful if anyone could email me if you see any promotion on the book. It will be a good learning experience for me.

You can also use the PR attached below for promoting my book in your magazines, newspapers, club magazine, flyer, poster, banner, etc. You can edit for brevity or to fit column or page constraints. Shouldn't be a problem. I trust people.

PR AU 501451 684196 Nov 26.doc 38K   View   Download

------ The PR starts here ---------

Contact:  Marketing Services
 1-800-618-969
 MarketingServices@Xlibris.com.au

Xlibris
Suite 1A, Level 2, 802 Pacific Highway, Gordon NSW 2072


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Book on Malay Medical Pioneers Takes Up Their Role in Shaping National History
Faridah A. Rashid chronicles the few good men who practised medicine in obedience to Islam to reach the “bottom billion” of their suffering masses

KELANTAN, Malaysia  – Faridah Abdul Rashid fills in an important gap in Malayan history with her treatise on early Muslim doctors who worked in British Malaya (now Malaysia), Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia.  In no wise does her book neglect faith in favour of the secular nature of modern medicine.  Thus, while Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and
Singapore is a chronicle of doctor graduates from King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, it is also a study in the interaction of faith and healing as these doctors practised grassroots rural medicine to reach “the bottom billion.”

The doctors in this book were the first Malaysians and Singaporeans to practise modern medicine.  Yet there were less than 60 of them from 1911 to 1957 before Merdeka or Malaysian independence.   Their significance lies in their providing the groundwork for the Malaysian health system, which is numbered among the world’s most enlightened and progressive health programmes.   The said doctors built prayer rooms in hospitals for patients as well as immunized patients.

Another vital part of the history of these medical pioneers was the belief of many people in their capabilities to lead, not just in helping provide good health.  Thus, beyond faith and medicine, they were obliged to lead in the political enlightenment of their people.  Some of them were stalwarts of the Malaysian independence movement.
The Malaysian health system today operates with a big budget, but it started out with a group of people who became part of the agency of humanitarian change for their suffering masses.  The system still proudly practises this part of their history today.

For more information on this book, interested parties can log on to www.Xlibris.com.au.

About the Author
Faridah Abdul Rashid was born in Malacca, Malaysia.  She grew up and attended schools in Malaysia and completed the Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE) in 1975.  She attended universities overseas and holds a double BA in Microbiology (with distinction) and Chemical Sciences from California State University (1980), MSc in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside (1982) and PhD from the University of Western Australia, Perth (1990).  She has received prestigious financial, academic and merit awards locally and internationally.  She is a lecturer in biochemistry at the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan in Malaysia. Her teaching career began in 1982. She has taught medical biochemistry to medical undergraduates and postgraduates in addition to medical laboratory technologists and nurses. Drawing on her passion in local history and zest in computers, she was compelled to teach subjects pertaining to medical bioethics, history of medicine and research on telehealth.

Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore * by Faridah Abdul Rashid
Publication Date: November 21, 2012
Trade Paperback; $39.99; 982 pages; 978-1-4771-5994-1
Trade Hardback; $59.99; 982 pages; 978-1-4771-5995-8
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at 1-800-618-969. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (02) 8282-5055 or call 1-800-618-969.

Xlibris books can be purchased at Xlibris bookstore. For more information, contact Xlibris at 1-800-618-969 or on the web at www.Xlibris.com.au.

-------The PR ends here ---------

The book image is on the Internet and can be used for promotion.


My portrait is also on the Internet and can be used to promote my book. This is my official image for my book. You can crop or edit it.



My details can be obtained from LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/faridahabdulrashid

My book info is here: http://www2.xlibris.com/books/webimages/wd/anz/501451/

The fan page for the book in Facebook is here: http://www.facebook.com/EarlyMalayDoctors


The 105 (106) organisations which have been faxed the PR are (based on the report I received from the publisher):

Organisation	Media type
The Observer (Home Hill)	Daily Newspaper
The Sunday Times	Daily Newspaper
Harper's Bazaar	Magazine
Numurkah Leader	Daily Newspaper
The West Australian ED Magazine	Daily Newspaper
News-on-Bookselling	Magazine
Insights	Magazine
Lake Times	Daily Newspaper
Health Today Malaysia	Magazine
New Times	Magazine
Sarina Midweek	Daily Newspaper
The Inverell Times	Daily Newspaper
Bega District News	Daily Newspaper
Asuh	Magazine
The Tablelander	Daily Newspaper
Euroa Gazette	Daily Newspaper
The Weekly	Daily Newspaper
The Herald Sun Weekend	Daily Newspaper
Signs of the Times	Magazine
Attitude	Community Newspaper
Pink Ribbon Magazine	Magazine
Press Guide	Magazine
Broadside	Magazine
Far North Queensland (FNQ) Independent	Daily Newspaper
Sayang Muslim	Magazine
Woman's Day	Magazine
Deniliquin Pastoral Times	Daily Newspaper
Vision	FM Radio Station
Scone Advocate	Daily Newspaper
Berita MMA	Magazine
Riverine Herald	Daily Newspaper
The Herald Sun YourMoney	Daily Newspaper
Bellarine Times	Daily Newspaper
The Australian Women's Weekly	Magazine
West Coast Sentinel	Daily Newspaper
Blaze	Magazine
The Western Herald Bourke	Daily Newspaper
Barossa & Light Herald	Daily Newspaper
Radio National The Book Show	Radio Network Show
Pelita Bahasa	Magazine
Duo Magazine	Magazine
Byron Shire Echo	Daily Newspaper
Think Big Magazine	Magazine
Eastern Riverina Chronicle (Henty)	Daily Newspaper
Allora Advertiser	Daily Newspaper
Gladstone News	Daily Newspaper
Forbes Advocate	Daily Newspaper
Hunter Valley News	Daily Newspaper
The Warialda Standard	Daily Newspaper
Ballina Shire Advocate	Daily Newspaper
Top	Daily Newspaper
East Gippsland News	Daily Newspaper
ASIA TIMES	Daily Newspaper
Nihon Keizai Shimbun Sydney Bureau	Daily Newspaper
Radio National Australia Talks	Radio Network Show
Malaysian Women's Weekly	Magazine
The Northern Star	Daily Newspaper
The Irrigator	Daily Newspaper
SHE	Magazine
Singapore American Newspaper	Daily Newspaper
Hello Malaysia	Magazine
SMA News	Magazine
ABC Radio National The Book Reading	Radio Network Show
Quadrant	Magazine
Yass Tribune	Daily Newspaper
Chieu Duong	Daily Newspaper
New Dawn Magazine	Magazine
Port Stephens Examiner	Daily Newspaper
Whitsundays Coast Guardian	Daily Newspaper
Hopetoun Courier & Mallee Pioneer	Daily Newspaper
Geelong News	Daily Newspaper
Mailbox Shopper	Daily Newspaper
Traralgon Journal	Daily Newspaper
Camden Haven Courier	Daily Newspaper
The Sunday Canberra Times Relax	Daily Newspaper
The Australian Family	Magazine
Majalah I	Magazine
inCite	Magazine
Blayney Chronicle	Daily Newspaper
NANYANG SIANG PAU	Daily Newspaper
ABC Channel 2 NSW First Tuesday Book Club	Television Network Show
Westerly	Magazine
New Sabah Times	Daily Newspaper
Condobolin Argus	Daily Newspaper
Yamaji News	Daily Newspaper
Gatton Lockyer Brisbane Valley Star	Daily Newspaper
The Malaysian Reserve	Daily Newspaper
Australian Author Journal	Magazine
UTUSAN BORNEO	Daily Newspaper
Gold Coast Panache	Magazine
MALAYSIA NANBAN	Daily Newspaper
Benalla Ensign	Daily Newspaper
Great Southern Herald	Daily Newspaper
The Edge Singapore	Daily Newspaper
Riverland Weekly	Daily Newspaper
The New Paper	Daily Newspaper
Townsville Bulletin	Daily Newspaper
South Gippsland Sentinel Times	Daily Newspaper
The Sunday Telegraph Funday Telegraph	Daily Newspaper
NW	Magazine
Her World - Malaysia Edition	Magazine
Today	Daily Newspaper
The Noosa News Life	Daily Newspaper
LiveWell	Magazine
Eastern Shore Sun	Daily Newspaper

Thank you if you are helping to promote my book.

Stamford Raffles and Warkah-Warkah Raja Melayu

Who was Raffles?

Warkah = letters of correspondence

Prof Ahmat Adam has researched and written about Raffles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MSloHUA3Uv0
- correspondence (letters, warkah) between Raffles and the Malay rulers from Bali (written in Malay), Java (written in Javanese) and Bengkulu (Bencoolen)
- the Malay calendar system, the daur system used Arabic alphabets, separate from the Islamic calendar
- these letters are kept in the British Museum
- the spread of Islam via tasawwuf (sufism)
- the link of the Malays to their Indian ascendants
- Light was a thief (stole Penang and Province Wellesley from Kedah)
- Raffles liked the Malays and studied and mastered the Malay language
- Raffles sided with Sultan Abdul Rahman of Riau-Lingga-Johor (younger brother of Sultan Hussain of Singapore) and obtained Singapore for the British
- Sultan Hussain remained a puppet sultan in Singapore under the British. Broken hearted, he left for Malacca. He died in Malacca. His son did not manage to regain the throne in Riau-Lingga-Johor nor Singapore.
- aspects of British colonialism in Malaya: To separate the administration (secular State) from religion (Islam), taking the administration for themselves and limiting the Malay rulers to manage just the religion. For judiciary, the Roman court system overruled the Shariah/Syariah/Islamic Law. This was the British system of "divide and rule" which was how Tanah Melayu fell to the British colonials.
- today, we don't teach students to think but to copy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=8qDxsxbQkXg&feature=endscreen
- Dunia Melayu
- When did Islam come to Tanah Melayu?
- Islah dan sejarah (transformation and history)
- the British laid the foundation for Malaysia
- Islah was the State religion (religion of the nation)
- a lot of Malay artifacts have been discovered at Bujang Valley and in Cambodia
- the headstone of Fatimah
- the headstone of Sultan Malikul Saleh
- the Chinese chronicle, Kublai Khan's time: mentioned Sumatra
- the old Chinese chronicle mentioned South East Asia (SEA)
- Islam spread gradually from 12C and was established by 14-15C
- Islam could have been brought by the sufis (ahli tasawwuf)
- Islam was established in Sumatra in 19C
- When did Islam come to Tanah Melayu?
- Batu Bersurat has Malay and Sanskrit
- Chinese chronicles mentioned Iskandar Shah visited China
- Iskandar Shah was the son of Parameswara
- Sultan Muhammad Shah practised Islam
- Sri Maharaja was Sultan Muhammad Shah 1423-1424/5
- Malacca was established in 15C; Malacca was an international trading port
- Malacca's rise to greatness was troubled by Siam
- Malacca was a strategic location in the Malacca Straits; a;; trade focused on Malacca
- the Ming Emperor provided protection to Malacca
- the Ming Emperor was a Muslim and his food was cooked only by his wife; the rest of the palace was non Muslim
- there was close ties between the Malacca rulers and Chinese Emperor: exchange of silk, etc
- the Malacca officials visited China many times
- Is Malacca really that great?
- Portuguese sources: Malacca was an Islamic centre (santri = alim ulama)
- the Malay ulama learned from maulana, they performed tarawih in Ramadan, they prayed on the 27 Ramadan
- the Malay rulers learned from the ulama
- Sultan Mansor Shah learned Islam but there was no pondok recorded in Malacca history
- Who was the great sufi in Malacca? Was there one?
- There were many sufi in this region; was Malacca a centre of lerning of Islam? There is no evidence
- These great sufi left a lot of books which they wrote and were widely distributed in SEA
- Portuguese arrived: The ulama took charge of Islam in Malacca; some of the rulers sided with the Portuguese
- Old Johor was attacked by the Portuguese
- later the rulers sided with the Dutch
- under Alauddin Riayat Shah, Aceh attacked Perak
- Perak prince was married to Aceh princess => ?
- the Malays were scared on the Aceh
- there were many attacks and royal marriages between the Malays and Aceh
- many of the Malay states were attacked by Aceh each time the Malays disobeyed the Aceh rulers
- creation of the Orang Besar 8, 12, 16 based on Aceh system
- Aceh destroyed a lot of Malay things but the Aceh books survived till today
- the Malay rulers were weak and could not defend themselves
 - Malacca fell to the Dutch; Kedah fell to Siam; Sultan Mahmud was a homosexual and died from a stab wound (Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang) which ended the Malacca Sultanate
- Bugis arrived in Tanah Melayu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I-3mafnF5E
- Sultan Mahmud was of Indian extraction (described as a wild character)
- Tun Fatimah was an Indian-Malay mix
- Hang Tuah's child, Tun Biajid (?)
- a lot of Malay practices are derived from Indian beliefs (Hinduism and Zoroastrianism) and practices
- Sanskrit words in Malay usage, past and present
- Hisbul Muslimin
- Malacca Malays aren't like the Malays in Kelantan and Terengganu
- the Indian influence was very strong in Malacca

http://elib.uum.edu.my/kip/Author/Home?author=Ahmat%20Adam.
(papers)

Monograph 43. Letters of Sincerity: The Raffles Collection of Malay Letters (1780-1824)
A Descriptive Account with Notes and Translation by Ahmat Adamhttp://www.mbras.org.my/monograph43.html

What's Up?

Nothing much. The second book is late (still being printed). I'm just waiting. There is however good news from another quite unexpected aspect of this research. My husband went to talk to his friend about staging some drama/sketches of biographies in my second book. I agreed but it will certainly need a lot of work.

He first went to see a friend who is skilled in writing scripts for staging Malay drama, only Malay drama, not English drama. This man is also a USM staff. He usually stages very good Malay dramas. I have no idea where he stages them but I believe for the university.

Now, this friend can get a professional playwrite or script writer to make professional dramas and stage them at USM. Since I am based in USM, we may try out and stage the dramas in Kelantan. Since it will be the first time we stage a medical Malay drama (of course with some English dialogues since the early Malay doctors probably dealt in English for a major part of their work). The stage, props, music, etc will reflect the time of British Malaya. The costumes are varied but should reflect that bygone era.

My husband also suggested that I piece together each early doctors' biography separately. He also mentioned it would be great if I could talk to Datuk Lat and get him to draw cartoons to accompany each biography & drama. I added I could do that - compile biography + Lat's cartoon + images of memorabilia of each doctor + scenes from drama. Among the biographies we can try to stage (just a suggestion from my husband) are Tan Sri Dr Abdul Majid bin Ismail (Coco Majid, 2nd DG), Tan Sri Dr Raja Ahmad Noordin (3rd DG), Datuk Dr Ariffin Ngah Marzuki, Tun Dr Ismail. I added we can also try and do the same for the Singapore doctors in addition to Tan Sri Dr Mohamed Din (1st DG), Dr Abdul Wahab Mohd Ariff, the lady doctors - Dr Latifah Bee Ghows, Tan Sri Dr Salmah Ismail, and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali. My husband said Panggung Negara already staged Tun Dr Siti Hasmah so there is no need to duplicate that.

The big job is to go round and obtain rights to stage the drama. I will need to obtain agreements from the doctors' families, find a producer for the dramas, and get copyrighted music approved. I will also need to check with Arkib if they have filmed these early doctors and whether we can be allowed to make clips out of the existing ones. It is a lot of work and I wish someone can take this up since I still have another 6 years of lecturing before I can call it quits and help out. Otherwise I can only do this part time after office hours.

As for actors and actresses, that will certainly need a lot of auditions for the various roles of the early Malay doctors. I offered my youngest daughter and she shrieked! I must have scared her stiff. LOL

So that's what is on my mind right now.

I'm listening to Maple Leaf Rag (since 9 am, it's 3.37 pm now) because I'm also updating the story about my mum at another of my many blogs when the suggestion to do the drama above came at lunch time. I can't think straight if I don't listen to bkgr music or noise. I cannot work in a silent room. I can work in any noisy environment except traffic noise. K-pop is playing on ASTRO, ustaz is speaking on IKIM FM, they don't disturb me at all, I can still work good and fast. Of course I can't hear calls on my phone with all the bkgr noise. It has to be very noisy so the blood flows out from the heart and up to the brain and back down. Otherwise the brain has stale blood. No scientific theory can prove that music as bkgr noise makes a person happy, helps memory and keeps one young, healthy and alert. That's my unscientific theory.

Technical Note - Image Resolution and Formats

This post is about images for the 2 books. I will let you know the difficulties I was faced with while working with some of the images and how I tackled them so that they were of print-quality as required by the publisher. I will only cover some of the photos which I edited.

Image Resolution and Formats

There are 47 MB of (JPEG) images for the first book (Research on the Early Malay Doctors).

There was 1.30 GB of images recorded in 3 formats (JPEG, PNG, TIFF) which I submitted for the second book (Biography of the Early Malay Doctors).

Research on the Early Malay Doctors

Photo set 1: King Edward VII School, Taiping

ACQUISITION: The photos for King Edward VII School, Taiping were taken off from many school magazines. 

PROBLEMS: The images were of low quality. Some images were too dark and the structures were not visible. They were B/W and coloured images. 

RESOLUTION: I cut out the images from the magazine pages and stuck them in PowerPoint. In PowerPoint, I was able to adjust lighting and contrast. I then saved the images from PowerPoint as separate free images in JPEG format. 

PUBLISHING: All the images were published as B/W images.

JPEG images of King Edward VII School, Taiping after editing.

Photo set 2: Hospital Melaka

ACQUISITION: The photos for Hospital Melaka were obtained from Facebook.

PROBLEMS: Even though the images looked clear in Facebook, they were of low resolution for printing.

RESOLUTION: I didn't have a program to increase the photo resolution. What I did was to arrange the images as several series of smaller images than those I had received in Facebook. 

PUBLISHING: The photos were printed as B/W images and were smaller than those in Facebook. Since the photos were printed smaller, the resolution turned up alright. 

Properties of images in Facebook

JPEG images of Hospital Melaka from Facebook.

Biography of the Early Malay Doctors

Photo set 1: Dr Abbas 

ACQUISITION: Several images were submitted by the family members. Some were coloured photos.

PROBLEMS: Many good old photos were of low resolution. One photo had plenty of empty white spaces. One photo was very dark with tiny people figures.

RESOLUTION: Each photo had to be tackled individually. The one with lots of white spaces was easy but the kain sampin worn by Dr Abbas had to be re-drawn and re-shaded as the lines appeared broken.

PUBLISHING: The photos came out alright but they are clearer in the ebook compared to printed books.

Edited images for Dr Abbas's biography.

Photo set 2: Dr HS Moonshi portrait

ACQUISITION: Image was submitted as a JPEG B/W image.

PROBLEMS: The image had plenty of cracked lines.

RESOLUTION: I edited the photo in Zoner Photo Studio 14. I first upgraded the resolution to a maximum of 600 dpi and saved the images as 2 separate images. I then worked on one of the images to attempt to minimise or clear up all the cracked lines. The badges had to be outlined so they stood clear against the background. Some of the stripes on the jacket had to be re-drawn and the colours matched. The beard had to be touched up.

PUBLISHING: The portrait is alright but it does look "soft" to me. I don't think sharpening the image will help.

Original B/W image submitted at 200 dpi.

Properties of the upgraded image (600 dpi) before editing.

Portraits of Dr HS Moonshi - edited above, unedited below.

Photo set 3: Sri Kenangan

ACQUISITION: Image was submitted as a 2.45 MB JPEG B/W image.

PROBLEMS: This was a large image but of low resolution. There were plenty of white spaces in various places of the old photo.

RESOLUTION: I edited the image in Zoner Photo Studio 14 (obtained free from Give Away of the Day). I filled the empty white spaces with background colour density, working under 250X image blowup. For lines to fill the missing wooden roof facade, I had to draw in "wooden panels" based on what I know a Malay house looks like. I then coloured in the "wooden panels" to match the roof "bits" in the image. The thatched roof was also done the same way by picking up colour density and patching white empty spaces. The rattan lines had to be re-drawn to match the other rattan pieces elsewhere in the images. I also patched some of the clothes and cleaned up some of the greyed-in spot on the white jackets. I outlined some of the people to make them stand out against the dark background. I outlined some of the shoes so they appeared clearer in the final image.

PUBLISHING: The photo turns up alright. I don't know how to make it a bit darker without losing resolution for the people figures.

Sri Kenangan images - before editing at right, and after editing at left.

Properties of submitted image. No resolution was recorded.

Resolution of submitted image based on a replicate made in Zoner Photo Studio 14.

Final improved resolution of Sri Kenangan image after editing.

Photo set 4: Wanita UMNO

ACQUISITION: Images were captured off a framed photo on the wall of a home gallery.

PROBLEMS: The precious images were unfortunately dark and fuzzy. The fireball from the flash spoiled the images. 

RESOLUTION: I first removed the fireball in PowerPoint by layering with a dark rectangle. I then free-cut the figures and pasted on a white slide. I then adjusted contrast and sharpness. I then used Zoner Photo Studio 14 to turn the dark figures to brighter tones. I saved 2 bright tones. I cleared the fuzzy areas (noise) in the background by using a wavy fill design. I cleared some of the little blur spots on the clothes of the ladies by patching with similar tone and density using a brush function.

PUBLISHING:  (no feedback yet)

Wanita UMNO images

Other software available for increasing image resolution:
http://en.softonic.com/s/image-resolution-increaser

Obituary: Hajah Wan Rohani Wan Husin

My stepmother-in-law, HAJAH WAN ROHANI BT WAN HUSIN (Wae) , passed away this morning at her home in Tanah Merah, Kelantan. She never went to school and could not write her own name. She could not read romanised text but she could read the Quran. She had cared for her 5 stepchildren, her own 7 children and about 50 stray kids who have nowhere to go from entire Malaysia. This was the lady who taught me Malay values, life skills and how to cook good Malay dishes. She will be dearly missed by all. May her soul be blessed. Inna lilla hi wa inna ilai hirojiuun. Al-Fatihah.

HAJAH WAN ROHANI BT WAN HUSIN (Wae)

24 May 1948-26 November 2012

Malay Ghosts

The Malay World as I know it is plagued with ghosts. The first time I heard about ghosts was when I was a teenager living in Malacca. You wouldn't believe it if I said that Malacca is haunted.

After I was born till I was 4 or 5 years old, I lived in a haunted house in Banda Hilir. I didn't know it was a haunted house till I had left the house and returned to visit it as a teenager and then heard the stories about the old house which was possibly more than 100 years old (it was built by my great grandfather).  As a teenager, I also lived in a haunted government bungalow left unoccupied for 27 years after the Japanese war. Most Malays would tell me that double-storey bungalows are often haunted if left uninhabited for long. Similarly with single-storey houses if left unattended for long. It is because ghostly myths are high on the Malay agenda, I decided not to buy a second home but thought to take up the topic of Malay ghosts and myths under research, especially those that have to do with health and living.

I posted earlier about the ocean liner Kunak in this blog, entitled "Kunak and the Black Dragon". To my surprise, the hits to that post was rather high. It further alerted me into thinking that readers could be triggered by either the ship itself or the dragon. Dragons don't exist in real life nor in Malay beliefs or life but they are a big part of the beliefs and lives of the Chinese people. I therefore got the idea that maybe the readers that read that post were possibly mainly Chinese.

I posted two words about ghosts in Facebook on 17 November 2012 to see what the responses would be. It was rather unexpected that many FB-kians responded to "banyak hantu" (lots of ghosts).

Tonight I watched National Geographic Haunted Fridays Ghosts Ships. I then Googled "ghost ships" and read about all the phantom ships ever known in history. Then I saw a link at the bottom of the page that says "Malay" and I clicked that and got here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_ghost_myths

I then returned to my Facebook and copied the responses into this blog:

Faridah Abdul Rashid
17 November
banyak hantu
Aainaa Abdullah, Raudhah Jalilah and Daeng Andak Al Habrah like this.

Ana Abdul Razak hantu galah
17 November at 18:13 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid hantu = ?
17 November at 18:16 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid I've heard of hantu kopek
17 November at 18:16 · Like · 1

Ana Abdul Razak hahaha hantu kopek yang best tu....sexy :P
17 November at 18:17 · Unlike · 2

Faridah Abdul Rashid hahahaha.....!!
17 November at 18:17 · Like · 1

Faridah Abdul Rashid all hantoos are female?
17 November at 18:18 · Like · 1

Faridah Abdul Rashid there's also hantu lompat on tv
17 November at 18:19 · Like · 1

Faridah Abdul Rashid hantu lompat is always a male and chinese (very creative)
17 November at 18:20 · Like · 1

Ana Abdul Razak pocong you mean - bertahun dok depan jerat cina ngan kubur melayu tak pernah jumpa hantu kak, balik campfire selamba jek kami adik beradik hehehehe
17 November at 18:20 · Edited · Like · 1

Faridah Abdul Rashid it takes a hantu to see a hantu...
17 November at 18:20 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid I don't even know what a pocong is .... hahaha!
17 November at 18:21 ·

Ana Abdul Razak antu lompat le kak, hop hop hopping hantu hehehe
17 November at 18:25 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid I think Malays are superstitious and they have a lot of trust in the unseen. I'm learning about Malay beliefs and why they believe in hantu, etc.
17 November at 18:29 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid There is no definition for the Malay word "hantu". Try define that?
17 November at 18:29 ·

Ana Abdul Razak postive thinking kak.... syaitan jin memang ada menyerupai dan suka pada orang yang lemah...hantu memang takde.
17 November at 18:30 · Edited ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid The Qur'an mentions syaitan.
17 November at 18:31 ·

Ana Abdul Razak yes exactly...manusia yang bertuankan syaitan is the hantu....
17 November at 18:31 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid Pontianak (vampire) feeds on human blood. In the West, vampires were humans who had a blood disorder and there was no transfusion then, so they invented the term "vampire". In another case, they exhumed corpses of those who died "a strange" disease; today that disease is called TB. For the Malays, there must be a reason why we use the term "hantu".
17 November at 18:35 ·

Ana Abdul Razak tu kena tanya seekers kak hehehehe
17 November at 18:36 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid Seekers bertauliah or what?
17 November at 18:40 ·

Ana Abdul Razak hehehehe yg kat tv hari tu dah pencen kot.... sure there must be someone who can explain this.
17 November at 18:42 ·

Ana Abdul Razak the only way is to be near ALLAH, by reading Alquran and follow Rasullullah sunnah In Shaa ALLAH no such thing as hantu.... kan kak.
17 November at 18:44 · Unlike · 1

Faridah Abdul Rashid Seekers are specific for each community. One cannot be a Malay seeker and try to solve a Mat Salleh mystery. it won't work. Same with Malay saka (jin), it won't work in a Mat Salleh body. Mat Salleh are more superstitious than orang Melayu.
17 November at 18:45 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid A hantu has no physical dimensions but has a shadow or cast.
17 November at 18:47 · Like · 1

Ana Abdul Razak saka... is due to what actually
17 November at 18:47 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid A hantu can manifest (show itself) and usually this occurs when alone and in dim light (eg toilet).
17 November at 18:47 ·

Ana Abdul Razak teringat citer hantu askar jepun hehehe yang di citer oleh hostelite dulu
17 November at 18:49 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid Saka is an inherited jinn (jin). It is a slave of the human who acts as its master. it must be fed (sambal belacan, cili, etc). When the master dies, a new master needs to take over or inherit the slave (jin). The inherited jinn is called saka.
17 November at 18:50 · Edited ·

Ana Abdul Razak scary nye
17 November at 18:51 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid Most sites of Japanese beheadings are known to be haunted.
17 November at 18:51 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid Saka is unknowingly inherited by a person. When a person inherits a saka, she becomes insane (gila, mental) and appears crazy to those around her. When she dies, another person needs to inherit her saka. It is usually inherited by the prettiest child among her kids. Some saka are ancient, thousand years old, etc.
17 November at 18:53 · Edited ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid Depression is closely related to saka which is inherited. Depression is a big problem among Malay women.
17 November at 18:55 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid maghrib
17 November at 18:55 · Like · 1

Ana Abdul Razak orang dulu2 banyak menuntut konon untuk jaga keturunan mereka, in this moden world masih ada ek bebenda ni
17 November at 18:55 ·

Ana Abdul Razak yes
17 November at 18:56 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid Di Kelantan, mmg banyak benda mcm ni.
17 November at 20:57 ·

Abdul Rahim Abdul Ramzy mereka juga hamba allah seperti kita
19 November at 12:48 ·

Faridah Abdul Rashid This is a link for Malay ghosts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_ghost_myths

Kelantan

Book title: Kelantan: A state of the Malay peninsula (1908)

Download from Open Archive:
http://ia700401.us.archive.org/19/items/kelantanstateofm00grah/kelantanstateofm00grah.pdf

Haji Zul Tiger

The alumni of the King Edward VII School in Taiping, Perak call themselves Tigers. They also use Tiger as a prefix or suffix for their names when addressing their alumni members.

One Tiger who helped me to obtain photos of the historic school is Haji Zulkifli bin Zahari, better known as Haji Zul Tiger in Facebook. I have included those photos in Appendix 9 (pages 287-8). I recently mailed him a copy of my book. Here is a photo he posted to Facebook.

Haji Zulkifli Zahari @ Haji Zul Tiger (from his Facebook, 20 November 2012)
http://www.facebook.com/zultiger

Haji Zul Tiger is well-connected to his relatives and friends. He is also linked to the descendants of Datuk Jenaton who are mainly from Perak. One interesting lady in the Datuk Jenaton group is Insun Sony Mustapha Fenner, who wrote many books about her father.

Insun Sony responded to Haji Zul Tiger's photo above in Facebook. An interesting clue came forth about two Tigers who were the early Malay doctors - Dr IM Ghows and Dr Abbas Alias.

According to Dr Abbas's daughter Dr Siti Fathimah, her father had joined the British administration just prior to the Japanese war. He followed the British till they surrendered in Singapore. Insun Sony informed that her father Mustpha Hussain had provided protection to Dr Abbas when the British surrendered in Singapore.

Insun Sony also informed that she had invited Dr Abbas to her book launch about her father in 1999 but Dr Abbas was frail and could not make it. Dr Stiti Fathimah had informed me and I wrote in my book that Dr Abbas had passed away in 2004. Dr Siti Fathimah also sent me a last photo of her father with Tan Sri Dol Ramli. Dr Abbas was in a wheelchair in that photo.

Dr Abbas is survived by his third wife and 12 children. She is a resident in PJ. Dr Siti Fathimah had retired from Hospital Melaka but continues to offer her services as a consultant radiologist. She is based in Malacca.

New info update:

1. I asked Haji Zul Tiger to help locate Dr Burhanudin al-Helmy's family. He replied Dr Burhanudin al-Helmy's youngest brother is Drs. Norbit Mohd Noor, an active politician. Will try to obtain the whereabouts of Dr Burhanudin al-Helmy family. 

Greater India

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianized_kingdom

I feel we are more Indian today than before but our forefathers practised more Indian ways than they knew.

Today, young and old like to watch Indian movies, in particular, Hindi movies, even though the preference has shifted to Korean movies.

Today, we listen to more Indian songs and know a few more Indian words than 50 years ago.

Today, young men prefer the Indian way of dress, with hair made to stand using a hair cream made from coconut oil.

Today, with problems of hair fall from various life and work pressures, women have turned to olive oil (minyak zaitun) to rub olive oil into their scalps to reduce hair fall.

Today, we all prefer to eat nasi briyani as opposed to plain white rice.

We prefer brightly coloured clothers and bangles and decorations that make a sound (bells, beads, etc) as accessories.

We don't realise that maruku/meruku is an Indian delicacy and can be found at the time of Depavali. There is gulap jamun, vade, coconut candy, etc to name a few.

We may not realise it but we are becoming more and more Indian.

1915 Singapore Mutiny

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_Singapore_Mutiny

Indians in Singapore

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indians_in_Singapore

Early History of Singapore

This site has many useful links on the history of Singapore:
http://worldblog.mitrasites.com/early-history-of-singapore.html

Foyles

One book is also available at Foyles. It is classified under history-politics. However, my name is not quite correct as I am listed by half my father's name - Rashid, and my name now becomes Faridah Abdul (just like Paula Abdul). I am not Faridah Abdul.
http://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/history-politics/research-on-the-early-malay-doctors,rashid-faridah-abdul-9781469172439

Restoran Seri Melayu

RESTORAN SERI MELAYU
No. 1 Jalan Conlay,
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Reservations: 03 - 2145 1833
Fax: 03-2145 1755
Email: enquiries@serimelayu.com
Website: http://www.serimelayu.com/restaurants/rsm/index.html
Map: http://www.serimelayu.com/images/map2.jpg


This is a good Malay restaurant. I first went there in the 1990s when we had a conference dinner hosted by one of the drug companies. I didn't expect to see a Malay restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. When I first walked in I was really thrilled as it reminded me of my home in Malacca. The interior featured real Malay decor. I think it was more of a royal Malay decor. I ate at one of the tables up on the rear deck opposite the stage. We had to remove our shoes to be seated there. The front side deck was for VIPs. There were dances that night, and the music was too loud (blasting). The roof was very high. The central hall area was packed with dining tables and diners. There was hardly any free floor space. The left hall area was where food was served, among the columns. One thing interesting was that they served delicious tiny Malay desserts on small plates - which I particularly liked. Even kuih lapis was 2cm x 2cm x 2cm (something like that). I remember talam kacang merah (I think it is called that). I had the Malay desserts first and then had some rice for the night.

I'm still amazed that there is a Malay restaurant in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Fatimah bt Hamid Don; Fatimah bt Hamidon

There are two ladies with almost similar names, Fatimah bt Hamidon and Fatimah bt Hamid Don. Both are related to Badariah Baba Ahmad (in Facebook).

Puan Sri Prof Fatimah bt Hamid Don (Prof Hamiddon in Facebook)
b. 10 July 1933 Batu Gajah
- married to Ishak bin Haji Pateh Akhir
- educated at Anglo-Chinese Girls' School (ACGS), Ipoh
- attended University of Malaya (UM)
- attended School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London
- attended UCLA 1971
- career: worked as a lecturer at the Language Institute in Kuala Lumpur; Head of Phonetics Dept
- contributions to society: Member, Central Council Women's Institute; AJK Istilah Pendidikan (DBP)
- first Malay woman to have obtained a PhD degree
- recipient of the Eminent Woman Award 2012
   http://www.nst.com.my/latest/fatimah-hamid-don-given-eminent-woman-award-1.151551
- recreation: represented SOAS (London) in inter-collegiate sports (badminton & table-tennis)
- recreation: cooking, reading, badminton, table-tennis, gardening
- address: 1247 Jalan Changkat, Petaling Jaya
- her daughter is Fawziah Ishak, whose daughters are Dr Dima Marlina (houseman) and Dima Naquira Mohd Rafi

- she is an aunt of Badariah Baba Ahmad (she calls her Aunty Onn)

Biodata of Fatimah bt Hamid Don

Prof Hamiddon in Facebook

Hjh Fatimah bt Hamidon
b.1925-d.11 August 2005 (4 Jamadil Awal 1426 Hijrah)

I had mentioned earlier about a lady named Hjh Fatimah bt Hamidon in my previous post about the graves at Jelutong Timur in Penang. She was a relative of Badariah Baba Ahmad.

.

Pusara Hjh Fatimah bt Hamidon (refer caption below).

Pusara Hjh Fatimah bt Hamidon, a descendant of Ismail @ Nakhoda Kecil.

Contact Badariah Baba Ahmad in Facebook for family tree and info in Geni.

Tun Tan Sri Dr Fatimah bt Haji Hashim

There are two elite Malay girls' schools in Malaysia, Kolej Tunku Kurshiah and Sekolah Tun Fatimah.

Kolej Tunku Kurshiah 
Tunku Kurshiah College (TKC)
Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

This college was named after Tunku Kurshiah. It accepts girls from families of the upper class. It also accepted girls from the poorer classes. Many who went there later joined the Malaysian work force as the country's top rung women, if not leaders.

The school moved from its old site in Seremban to its new site in Nilai in 2012.

Sekolah Tun Fatimah
Tun Fatimah School
Johor Bahru, Johor

This school was named after Tun Fatimah, Malaysia's most noted female leader at the time Malaya gained its independence. She was much respected as a Malay woman, the epitome of Malay civilisation.

A graduate of Sekolah Tun Fatimah is Prof Muhaya bt Mohamad, an eye surgeon and Islamic speaker.


BIOGRAPHY OF TUN FATIMAH BINTI HAJI HASHIM

She was born in Kampung Parit Kurma, Muar in Johor on 25 December 1924 to Haji Hashim bin Haji Ahmad.

She was educated at both Malay and religious schools. She was a housewife but was actively involved in politics. Her recreation included gardening. Her last known address was No. 36, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur.

She became the first female to become a Malaysian minister; she was a member of the Parliament for Jitra-Padang Terap in Kedah. She was President of Kaum Ibu UMNO Malaya since 1956. She was a Member of Council, University of Malaya, Chairman Hari Wanita, Committee Member of Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya, Committee Member of Women's Training School in Ipoh, Member of UMNO Executive Committee, Member of Supreme Alliance Council and Social Welfare Lotteries Board.

She married to Tan Sri Abdul Kadir bin Yusoff, PJK a former Malaysian lawyer and Minister of Laws. She passed away of old age on Saturday, 10 January 2009 at 11.35 pm and is laid to rest at Masjid Negara in Kuala Lumpur.

From Who's Who

Text and pic from another blogspot

Panglima Awang (2)

This is my understanding and opinions about Panglima Awang based on my reading of the links given in the first post by Ahmad Fuad on Panglima Awang.

1. Panglima Awang was a Malay warrior at the time of the Malacca Sultanate when Sultan Mahmud was the ruler (sultan). This was around 1509-1511, before the Portuguese attack on Malacca.
2. When the Portuguese attacked Malacca in 1511, they also attacked the palace of Sultan Mahmud and captured the court officials (hamba raja = hambarajas/hambarajes/ambarajes).
3. One of the captured court officials was Panglima Awang. If he was very dark, then he would be known as Panglima Awang Hitam. If he was slightly darker than the Portuguese Caucasians, then he would be just Panglima Awang. Awang is a common call name but it is uncommon to call a youth Awang in Malacca. Awang is used in Kelantan dialect to call a young boy, a youth, or a young man.
4. Even though Panglima Awang was a Malay court official of the Sultan Mahmud's palace, as with many court officials, they could come from any of the nearby regions surrounding Malacca. Most Malay warriors were Bugis if they came from the east (Borneo, Moluccas/Celebes, Papua New Guinea side). Otherwise they would be Minangkabau from Paya Kumbuh, a popular origin of the Malays of Malaysia. However, the Muslim warriors of the Minangkabau palace of Paya Kumboh, Sumatra only arrived in Malaya after the Dutch forces attacked Malacca; ie, circa 1641. So it is most likely that Panglima Awang was a local man from Malacca, and who worked for the court of the Malacca Sultanate under Sultan Mahmud at the time of the Portuguese attack on Malaccca.
5. The Portuguese forces defeated the Malacca Sultanate and captured Malacca and its people, including court officials, eg Panglima Awang. There maybe other court officials who were captured by the Portuguese but we may not have the entire history about the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese under Alfonso d'Albuquerque.
6. European captors such as the Portuguese in Malacca made their captives accept their religion. In the case with Panglima Awang, he was either forced or freely accepted into a new faith, the faith of his Christian conquerors. If he was a slave, he would have been forced and that could be for his own protection and/or safety. If he was not a slave and treated just like a friend, he probably merely followed the 'religion' of his non Muslim masters but never converted to Christianity. Even though Muslims do not convert to any religion, in those times and in times of battle or after losing battles, captives have no choice and follow the instructions of their captors with a heavy heart.
7. Did Panglima Awang accept Christianity and converted to Christianity? No. A Muslim remains a Muslim. Once a Muslim, always a Muslim. A apostate (murtad) would suffer grievous punishment.
8. What language(s) did Panglima Awang speak? He definitely spoke Malay (Bahasa Orang Melayu).
9. Why wasn't Panglima Awang able to communicate with the people in Cebu, Philippines? Cebuans speak their own language or dialect which is different from Malay. Tagalog contains common Malay words but Tagalog is a more recent language, arising from Malay.
10. If Panglima Awang was a Malay Muslim, and if he had died after arriving in the Philippines or Malacca, or anywhere in the Malay Archipelago, where were his siblings? Where is his grave today? If he was a Hindu and not a Muslim, what was his Hindu name?
11. Is it possible to have a small Filipino community in Malacca? Yes. There are Malacca Malay-Filipino marriages. One which I attended in Malacca was that of Mahani Mahabob's eldest brother who married a Filipino lady. She spoke English to us (Malacca children and teenagers).
12. Is it possible to have a small Portuguese community in Malacca? Yes. There is Portuguese Settlement in Malacca today. This is some distance from my village in Banda Hilir. People form that Settlement have assimilated into the larger Malacca mixed society today. These Portuguese descendants appear more Indian than Europeans but they have Portuguese surnames and British first names.
13. Could Panglima Awang come from any of the small communitites? Yes, indicating he was from overseas, most probably Sumatra, a large island in close proximity to Malacca. The passage from Sumatra to Malay is usually from Batu Bara to any of the ports on the Malayan western coastline. In this case Malacca, a popular seaport and famous trade centre.
14. Panglima Awang was said to be derived from a Sumatran lineage and his descendants resided in Rembau, even today. Panglima Awang himself married a Pahang lady. This is common knowledge for people who are descended from the royal household of the Minangkabau princes of Paya Kumboh. There should be approximately the 10th generation or more today in Rembau itself and proximity.
15. Panglima Awang was nicknamed Datuk Laut Dalam (Master of the Deep Seas) to avoid being found by the European captors. Much later, Mat Kilau did the same and used the nickname Mat Siam.
16. Why did his captors name him Enrique or Henry the Black? He was made their affiliate and he worked for them.
17. Was Palingma Awang a loyal servant to his Portuguese captain? Yes. Malay men, especially warriors, are loyal to their masters. They don't defect or they will die as traitors. 
18. Was Panglima Awang a traitor to his Portuguese master and his crew? No idea.
19. Was Panglima Awang murdered in Mactan? No idea. Probably not. He was not an enemy of the locals so they wouldn't kill him. He did no harm to them. Malay communities do not kill unless it was a  feud or battle or something they would stick their neck & life for. Malay men (warriors) are known to be loyal, rational and civilised.
20. Was Panglima Awang the sole survivor of the Mactan Massacre where Magellan died of wounds from (poisoned) arrows? No idea. He was probably the sole survivor of that massacre.
21. Did Panglima Awang plot Magellan's death? No idea. Usually no. It is a yes if the murder was for ransom.
22. Did Panglima Awang collude with Raja Humabon to kill or murder Magellan? No idea. A Malay warrior knows whom to side with, and usually he is loyal to his Malay fellows or countrymen.
23. Was Raja Humabon a Malay? Probably a Bugis and therefore the language was Bugis Malay. Humabon itself sounds like 2 words = Huma (tanah or land) + bon (a place or land called Bone in Sulawesi). I think this is old Malay.
24. Did Panglima Awang meet any Sulu ruler while in the Philippines? No idea. The British Queen was said to have married a Sulu ruler. This could mean that the issues and descendants are all related to the British Crown and nobility. They could pass as locals with black hair or other hair colours, and with black (iris) eyes or with colourful irises (blue, brown, dirty green or hazel).
25. Did Panglima Awang return to Malacca or his village (Rembau in Negeri Sembilan) to take revenge on his captors? No idea.
26. Is Panglima Awang a hero? No idea. He was the first to circumnavigate the globe but this is controversial from the European quarters who contend that Magellan was the first to do so. 
27. Which nation shall claim the famous Panglima Awang as its national hero? No idea. He was a Malay hero shared by 3 nations - Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. He was a hero of the Malay World or the Malay Nation.

Panglima Awang (1)

The search for the real identity of Panglima Awang who accompanied Magellan on his first journey to circumnavigate the globe continues till today. Did Magallen circumnavigate the globe at all? No, he died in the Philippines before the last leg of circumnavigation was completed; someone else completed it. Was he the first person to circumnavigate the globe? No, he did not complete his mission. He died before his misison was completed. If no, who then was the first to do so? It is a mystery till today. There maybe a few names but only one shall concern us. He was known as Panglima Awang in the Malay World (Dunia Melayu). He was known as Enrique or Henry the Black in world history. He was probably of Sumatran origin. Black here may mean he had dark skin and hair; he was probably a dark Malay, a dark Indian or a Black African. We don't know. He was definitely Asian or African, not Caucasian.


I started writing about the Mayans and Malayans in Facebook, and the similarity of the plants they shared. The discussion then moved to Panglima Awang.
http://www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/yucatan-flora.htm

Help on this big maritime mystery was provided by Ahmad Fuad, Dr Abdul Ghani (Pak Din) and Abidin Hussin in the Medicinal Plant Interest Group in Facebook. Here is a re-post of the discussion thread:

Abidin Hussin Maybe Ulam is a Mayan word. Our language is a mixture of many languages. Or it can be by chance.

Faridah Abdul Rashid I don't think it is by chance. A lot of the Mayan fruits are the same fruits we have in Malaysia. Even the flowers are the same ones. Only the people are different. I think the Arabs came to Malaya, and then went to Spain, and then the Spaniards went to Yucatan peninsula, and the Mayan people learned from us in that way. There must be something that we did in the past that we are now in Mayan territory.

Pak Din Prof., my take on this is that the Malays are seaferers by nature and we colonised the tropical belts and build communities along the places we stop over. I study the distribution of plants and found that the Periwinkle is one important plant in our society in the past. The distribution is widespread throughout the tropics from Madagascar to Hawaii and probably across the Panama strip into the Carebbean Islands. The features of the people along this belt is very strikingly similar and the language too contains words almost similar to each other with similar meaning. We were once a great nation and our language was the language of trade through out the tropical belt.

Faridah Abdul Rashid > Pak Din, Yes, the Malays have always been the greatest seafarers and shipbuilders since time immemorial. The Malays have always had the greatest civilisation and an exhaustive materia medica. So most probably, they sailed the equatorial belt and brought along their medicinal plants. Even the Chinese respected the Malays for their skills working with wood, esp intricate carvings of flora. That is how important and great the Malays were and are even today.

Ahmad Fuad Haji Morad The distributional range of the Malayo-Polynesian race stretches from Madagascar to Easter Islands on the western coast of South America. Ain't that far to have some influence.

Pak Din But Che Mat, I think we went further than that, to cross over Panama and into the Caribbean Islands too.

Ahmad Fuad Haji Morad The Malays seafaring adventures definitely more extensive. Thot' Henry The Black atau Enrique (Panglima Awang) played a pivotal role navigating after Magellan's death to complete circumnavigating the globe.

Faridah Abdul Rashid I don't have the full biography of Panglima Awang to be able to appreciate his panglima role in our naval maritime history.

Ahmad Fuad Haji Morad Google the keywords Panglima Awang, Enrique or Henry the Black and you will find some lead about him. In fact there's a novel, Panglima Awang (1957) written by Harun Aminurrashid. "Historians and trivia buffs have often speculated that Enrique was the first to circumnavigate the world" not Sebastián Elcano after Magellan's death in the Philippines.
Here's some links to appreciate him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_of_Malacca
http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/port3.htm
http://tulahan.blogspot.com/2011/09/sejarah-panglima-awang-atau-henry-black.html ;
http://ulasbuku.blogspot.com/2007/04/panglima-awang-1957-harun-aminurrashid.html .

Faridah Abdul Rashid Thanks. Will follow the links. He maybe a Sulu Malay.

Ahmad Fuad Haji Morad Claimed from Sumatra, and if you run thru the Malay Annals the whole Malay archipelago were interconnected w' many Sultanates and regarded all alike.

Faridah Abdul Rashid Yes, I saw the illustration where the sea level was lower than that today, and one could walk throughout the Malay lands. Sailing & boat-building came much later when the water level rose.

New Bedford, MA, USA (photo by Alan Tan, 13 Oct 2012, Facebook)