SEARCH 75
19 November 2006
Sunday, 19 November 2006, 12:16 pm.
See Searches 2, 15, 42, 43, 48 concerning Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail @ "Coco Majid".
In Search 2, Tan Sri Abdul Majid was one of the names listed at the 80th reunion gala dinner held by the Alumni Association of the KEVII College of Medicine, Universities of Malaya and Singapore in Mariott Putrajaya Malaysia on 29 November 2003.
In Search 15, Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail, ex-Chief Director of Health Malaysia noted that he had received treatment from Dr. Abdul Latiff in GHKL in 1937. If Coco Majid was born in 1921, then he was only 16 when he met Dr. Abdul Latiff in GHKL in 1937. Is this correct?
Dr. M. Bakri Musa had e-mailed on 20 November 2005 about Coco Majid with the subject "Re: hari raya". He asked to send his regard to Prof. Dato' Dr. Roslani Majid. He corrected Coco Majid's son is Jeffrey Majid. In another e-mail on 21 November 2005, Dr. Bakri Musa mentioned about a top USM medical student obtaining a royal award and asked if USM had any special programme for its top graduates.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norsidah A. Manap e-mailed that Dato' Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail had written about Dr. Abdul Latiff bin Abdul Razak, her grandfather.
Susan Tam wrote about Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail in TheStar Online.
This is the update of Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail @ "Coco Majid":
Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail @ "Coco Majid" (1921-; retired 1976?; Class of 1951?)
- TheStar Online wrote quite detailed about his life
- He was born in 1921 in his grandfather's house in Kampung Baru
- He is the eldest of 10 brothers and sisters
- The house spot is at the junction of Jalan Raja Abdullah and Jalan Sultan Ismail. The spot is now a busy intersection
- There were no asphalt roads in Kampung Baru then
- People travelled in rickshaws (beca) or bullock carts (kereta lembu)
- He recalled only his school master had a car with a licence plate marked 963
- He recalled life for KL people was simpler than now
- He led an authentic unrushed peaceful Malay village life in KL then
- His bathroom was at Sungai Batu, a river behind the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)
- The river was an important source of fish, prawns and edible fern shoots (pucuk paku) for the family's daily meals
- He planted tapioca (ubi kayu) in Taman Duta for his family and in Kampung Pandan
- He had watched a single rocket firework display in 1930 where hundreds of people gathered at Selangor Padang to wait for a man to light the rocket
- There were no TV or radio sets
- There were silent movies at the cinemas
- He watched his first Charlie Chaplin movie at the Coliseum Cinema
- As a teenager, he hung out in Bukit Bintang Park and Eastern Park
- He first learnt to dance in Eastern Park which had cabaret girls and Malay joget dancers. Four dances had cost RM1
- He recalled his aunt who used to make barut for newborns and also sold barut to Chinese
- He recalled the great floods (as high as the chest) hit KL in 1926 and he had to take a rickshaw to a house in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
- At age 16, he received treatment from Dr. Abdul Latiff in GHKL in 1937
- He grew up in KL through British rule, the Japanese Occupation, Malaysia's Independence
- When did he enter KEVII? Did he enter KEVII after the Japanese Occupation?
- TheStar Online writes he has stories to tell about the Japanese Occupation during WW2
- When did he graduate from KEVII?
- He was the first Malay Queen scholar in medicine to do postgraduate work in Orthopaedics in the United Kingdom (UK)
- ex-Chief Director of Health Malaysia
- When did he become Director-General (DG)?
- He had communicated with Dr. Mohd. Bakri Musa while he was DG
- He personally interviewed and placed Dr. Mohd. Bakri Musa in KL instead of Kuala Lipis where there was no anaesthesiologist
- He had just retired as DG at the time of the intern walkout in UM in 1976
- Was he 55 in 1976?
- He now lives in Taman Duta
- He is an avid golfer and the golf course is in Kampung Pandan
- He can be seen at the old Coliseum and at his favourite watering hole, the Majestic Hotel
- Who was his wife?
- How many children did he have?
- His son is Dr. Jeffrey Majid in Cardiology, UM
Dato' Anwar Fazal
- Ex-UNDP
- Told me to contact Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid (former DG of Health)
- According to Dato' Anwar Fazal, Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid has the best memory and energy of anyone his age, and wrote on the history of the medical services of more than 30 years ago (before 1975?)
- He asked to look in the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) journal
- He asked to visit the MMA library in Kuala Lumpur
- Dato' Anwar Fazal said that the Who's Who of Malaya/Malaysia series is a treasure of information. USM or Perpustakaan Negara may have it.
Dr. Aljafri Majid, Prof
- He is the son of Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail @ "Coco Majid"
- He is a cardiac surgeon
- Head of Department, in University Malaya (UM)
- Dr. Aljafri led the first intern walkout in UM in 1976
Dr. Mohd. Bakri Musa
- He is the cousin of Prof. Dato' Dr. Roslani bin Abdul Majid
- He served GHKL from 1976 to 1977
- He recalled reading about Dr. Majid being the first Malay Queen scholar in medicine to do postgraduate work in Orthopaedics in the United Kingdom (UK).
- He also came across Dr. Majid's paper on the destructive effect on tendon with local steroid injection when he (Dr. Bakri) was doing his residency in Canada.
- He wrote that he came across Coco Majid's paper in the British Journal of Surgery on liver surgery but never got a reprint from him
- He has very high regards for Coco Majid
- He had passed on some of his ideas to Coco Majid when Coco Majid was Director General (DG) of Health Malaysia
- He did not seek the advice of Coco Majid anymore when Coco Majid retired as DG
- He mentioned he wrote favourably about Coco Majid in his book "The Malay Dilemma Revisited"
- He wrote about his proposed specialist training programme:
- He wrote that when he was in KL 25 years ago (1980s), he met many bright young Malay doctors who were keen to be specialists
- But when he approached the Ministry of Health (MOH) about having a special programme for their training in the USA at no cost to the Malaysian Government, nobody was interested (Deans and VCs included)
- This proposed special programme for top medical students was to help prepare them in English for the USMLE which could qualify them for US residency training programmes
- He asked if I could interest my Dean (Prof. Abdul Aziz Baba) on this proposal. I had communicated this to my Dean
Prof. Dato' Dr. Roslani bin Abdul Majid
- He is not the son of Coco Majid
- He is the cousin of Dr. Mohd. Bakri Musa. They were together in KL at UKM in 1976
- He is a pathologist and was a lecturer with UKM before coming to USM
- Founding Dean, School of Medical Sciences, USM, Penang along with Prof. Dr. Syed Mohsin Jamalullail, Prof. Dr. Ong Kok Hai and Assoc. Prof. Dr Mohd Saidi Hashim Tahir
- The School of Medical Sciences was established in 1979 in USM, Penang but then moved to Kelantan in 1990
- ex-Director of Campus, USM Health Campus, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan
- Retired as Campus Director, USM Health Campus, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan
- Director, private college in KL
Acknowledgement
Dr. M. Bakri Musa
Columnist with Malaysiakini
bakrimusa@juno.com
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norsidah A. Manap
She is the granddaughter of Dr. Abdul Latiff bin Abdul Razak, the first Malay doctor to graduate from the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School.
Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
E-mail: nmanap@mail.hukm.ukm.my
Susan Tam
TheStar Online
Accessed website on 25 May 2005
Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail @ "Coco Majid" (1921-; Class of 1951?)
He was born in 1921
Retired in 1976?
ex-Chief Director of Health Malaysia
His son is Dr. Jeffrey Majid in Cardiology, UM
Dr. Jeffrey Majid
He is the son of Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail @ "Coco Majid"
He is a cardiac surgeon
Head of Department, in University Malaya (UM)
Dr. Jeffrey led the first intern walkout in UM in 1976
Prof. Dato' Dr. Roslani bin Abdul Majid
He is not the son of Coco Majid
He is the cousin of Dr. Mohd. Bakri Musa. They were together in KL at UKM in 1976
He is a pathologist and was a lecturer with UKM before coming to USM
Founding Dean, School of Medical Sciences, USM
Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL)
Uncertain if the original building still exists today
Uncertain if it is the oldest hospital in Malaya previously or Malaysia today
Dr. Abdul Latiff had treated Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Majid Ismail @ "Coco Majid" in GHKL in 1937
Telehealth Research Group
http://www.medic.usm.my/rnd/telehealth
School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia
http://www.medic.usm.my/rnd/telehealth
School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia
