British Doctors in Kelantan

British Malaya

Muzium Kelantan has kindly provided 4 b/w photos of the British doctors in Kelantan, British Malaya. Here are some highlights of those photos:

1. The British doctors wore white uniforms and had hard hats much like Bismark's helmet (topi keras). 
2. One photo showed a carriage during dry weather and another had a cart during the flood season.
3. The photos indicate that the carriage and cart were used by the British doctors in Kelantan from 1914/15 to 1927.
4. Flood was an important feature in Malaya's history. 
5. Three photos featured the doctors while on duty during the flood in Kota Bharu in 1927. 
6. Sampan and cart were used in Kota Bharu during the flood in 1927.

Questions

1. Did the early Malay doctors also use the same vehicles (carriage, cart and sampan) for their work as the British doctors?
2. Who were the Malay doctors in British Malaya between 1914 and 1927?
3. Did the early Malay doctors work side by side with the British doctors?
4. If the early Malay doctors had worked side by side with their British counterparts from 1914 to 1927, do we have that evidence?
5. Was there any Malay or were Malay doctors featured in any of the photos provided by Muzium Kelantan?
6. Where can we obtain evidence that the early Malay doctors had indeed worked alongside their British counterparts?
7. If the early Malay doctors had worked together with the British doctors, were they treated as equal?
8. Did the early Malay doctors have the same qualifications as the British doctors who served in British Malaya?
9. Were the early Malay doctors paid the same as their British counterparts?
10. If no, why were the early Malay doctors not as well paid as their British counterparts?
11. Where were the early Malay doctors trained? 
12. Where were the British doctors who served British Malaya trained?

Photo #1

"The Doctor's carriage in Kelantan circa 1914-1915."

Photo from Muzium Kelantan.

Photo #2

British officers during the 1927 flood in Kelantan.
Photo from Muzium Kelantan.

"Terkenang Bah Merah" by Mona Ahmad & Nasron Sira Rahm. Dimensi, Berita Harian, Malaysia. Sunday, 21 January 2007. page 4. The article showed the photo above during the great flood which hit Kota Bharu in 1927 with this caption: "British officers ... Mr Ferrier, Dr Tailor, Mr Kemp & Mr Worham ...". Courtesy of Muzium Kelantan.

(Another British doctor in Kuala Krai, Kelantan at the time was Dr J. D. Gimlette.)

British officers and doctors in Kelantan 1900-1957. In this list, William Langham-Carter already left; William Kerr had also left.

1. Mr Ferrier
2. Dr Tailor/Taylor
3. Mr Kemp
4. Mr Worham

Newspapers and articles which mentioned the British men above:

BATAVIA GOLF CLUB.

The Straits Times, 25 August 1902, Page 5

- Mr Ferrier

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19020825-1.2.59

A.B.M. FOURSOMES.

The Straits Times, 16 June 1933, Page 13

- British Malaya's golf tournament

- J. Straton Ferrier

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19330616-1.2.92

The Territory Remembers - 75 Years.

- 58. Len Harris to John Ferrier, CMS, 14 May 1943. Copy in Harris’s papers

http://www.territoryremembers.nt.gov.au/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/collection%20of%20stories/the_territory_at_war_ebook_-_full.pdf

Photo #3

British doctors with a horse-driven cart in flood water in Kota Bharu, undated (1927?).

Photo from Muzium Kelantan.

Photo #4

British doctors wading in less than knee-deep flood water in Kota Bharu, undated (1927?).
Photo from Muzium Kelantan.

There is a wooden carriage (very different from photo #1) at the outdoor display of the War Memorial in Kota Bharu. Other modes of transportation in early British Kelantan were also on display.

Malay Poisons and Charm Cures

Malay Poisons and Charm Cures (Oxford in Asia Paperbacks)

John Desmond Gimlette

Oxford University Press,South East Asia (1972), Edition: 3rd Revised edition, Paperback, 314 pages

ISBN 0196381509

Reading this currently... loaded with information, have to read real slowly and use my diary and laptop to take down notes. Here's what I have on the author off-hand, deep in my memory.

USM Library Call Number:

WB50
JM2 G491
1971

Here are the details of the book:

JOHN D. GIMLETTE
MALAY POISONS AND CHARM CURES.
OXFORD IN ASIA PAPERBACKS
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1971
FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1915
REPRINTED IN 'OXFORD IN ASIA PAPERBACKS' 1971
THIRD IMPRESSION 1981
ISBN 019 638 150 9

PRINTED IN MALAYSIA BY AMPANG PRESS SDN BHD
AMPANG JAYA, SELANGOR

PUBLISHED BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 3, JALAN 13/3
PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

Update 21-22 August 2012:
There are many versions of the book Malay Poisons and Charm Cures:

1. First published 1915
2. Third edition, 1929
3. Reprinted 1971
4. Third Revised edition, 1972
5. Third Impression 1981
6. There is a 2011 version of the book by Thailand available from Select Books: http://www.selectbooks.com.sg

Dr John Desmond Gimlette

Dr John Desmond Gimlette (Dr J. D. Gimlette) was a British doctor in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Non Federated Malay States, British Malaya.

I haven't got a date yet on his services rendered. There is Padang Gimlette in Kuala Krai named after him. There may be many more as he was a famous British doctor in Kelantan and British Malaya.

The British Association of Malaya and Singapore (BAM) has a photo of Dr J. D. Gimlette and a description of his departure. http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk

A group photograph of European officials, medical staff and orderlies gathered to say farewell to J. D. Gimlette. Others present were Mr and Mrs William Langham-Carter. The precise date of Gimlettes departure has not been determined, but this photograph must have been taken prior to August 1915, when Langham-Carter departed on furlough (long leave). Dr L.H. Taylor took over from Gimlette.

The British Association of Malaya and Singapore has a photo of Dr J. D. Gimlette and a description of his contact with the Kelantan royal family, with whom he had contact with the royal Malay traditional doctor (tabib sultan) and then wrote his book, Malay Poisons and Charm Cures. The sultan at the time was Sultan Muhammad IV.

The photos shows a group of the Kelantan royal family and British officials posed at an unidentified function. From left to right (first figure unidentified): Dr John Desmond GIMLETTE (1867-); Medical Officer, Malaya 1896-circa 1922; served in Kelantan 1909-circa 1916; Sultan MUHAMMAD IV; William LANGHAM-CARTER; The Raja Kelantan, Later Sultan ISMAIL; Tuanku Seri Indra, later Sultan IBRAHIM. http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk

Important names to note in Kelantan History:

1. Dr John Desmond Gimlette (b.1867-d.1934), Medical Officer, Malaya 1896-c.1922; served in Kelantan 1909-c.1916
2. Sultan Muhammad IV of Kelantan (r.1900-1920) (link to Sultan Kelantan)
3. William Langham-Carter, British Adviser in Kelantan 1913-1916
4. Tengku Ismail, later Raja Kelantan, later Sultan Ismail (r.1920-1943)
5. Tuanku Seri Indra, later Sultan Ibrahim (r.1945-1960)

Muzium Kelantan

According to Muzium Kelantan, Carter had given his photo albums to the Sultan of Kelantan for safekeeping - this was before/after/close to the flood of 1913. The Sultan of Kelantan then gave the photo albums to the Muzium.

Dr J. D. Gimlette, Mr Carter and Dr L. H. Taylor were photographed together during a flood - probably their last moments experiencing the flood before they all left Kelantan for good.

"Doctor's carriage" before 1915. Photo from Muzium Kelantan.
Could this be Dr J. D. Gimlette, wife and daughter?

British doctors in a flood in Kelantan. Photo from Muzium Kelantan.

Same flood as above in Kelantan. Photo from Muzium Kelantan.

There was a newspaper article on Bah Merah (the big flood). It featured the British doctors during the flood (as shown above). 

"Terkenang Bah Merah" was an article written by Mona Ahmad and Nasron Sira Rahm in Dimensi, Berita Harian, Malaysia on Sunday, 21 January 2007, page 4 (link to article). There were about 8 photos in the article, including one photo of the British officers and a doctor. They were Mr Ferrier, Dr Taylor, Mr Kemp, and Mr Worham.