Kobo Books

Research on the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is available at Kobo Books for £2.92 £2.63  (ebook edition).
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Research on the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore

Conversion rate:
£1 = MYR4.963

£2.63 = MYR13.05 (ebook)

HotBookSale

HotBookSale.com based in Florida offers reduced membership prices for one of the books:

Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore:
Hardcover:
Your Price: $38.41
Member Price: $28.70
Paperback:
List Price: $23.99
You Save: $9.73 (41%)
Your Price: $21.95
Member Price: $14.26
http://www.hotbooksale.com/store/productslist.aspx?searchAuthor=Rashid+Faridah+Abdul

Contact info:
HotBookSale.com
PO Box 810365
Boca Raton, FL 33481 - 0365
Phone: 1-888-646-1662

Conversion rate:

USD$1 = MYR3.065

USD$21.95 = MYR67.28   (paperback Biography of TEMD, non member)

USD$14.26 = MYR43.71   (paperback Biography of TEMD, member price)

USD$38.41 = MYR117.73 (hardcover Biography of TEMD, non member)

USD$28.70 = MYR87.97   (hardcover Biography of TEMD, member price)

Note:
Research on the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is not currently available at the website:
http://www.hotbooksale.com/p10005048/Research-on-the-Early-Malay-Doctors-1900-1957-Malaya-and-Singapore.html

ebay

Research on the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is available at ebay for AU$41.99. International air courier from New York, USA to Australia. Delivery within Australia via Australia Post.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Research-Early-Malay-Doctors-1900-1957-Malaya-Singapore

Conversion rate:
AU$1 = MYR3.198

AU$41.99 = RM134.28 (paperback)

Tower Books

Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is available at Tower Books for $23.99 (paperback):
http://www.tower.com/biography-early-malay-doctors-1900-1957-malaya-singapore-faridah-abdul-rashid-paperback

Research on the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is available at Tower Books for $34.99 (hardcover).

Both books are displayed here:
http://www.tower.com/faridah%20abdul%20rashid/quick-search/

Tower Books is an affiliate of Amazon.com. The book prices follow those at Amazon.com.

Conversion rate:
USD$1 = MYR3.065

USD$23.99 = MYR73.53 (paperback Biography of TEMD)
USD$34.99 = MYR107.24 (hardcover Research on TEMD)

Xlibris

Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is available at Xlibris website.

Paperback is AU$39.99 and hardback is AU$59.99.

http://www.xlibris.com.au/bookstore/bookdisplay.aspx?bookid=501451

Conversion rate:

AU$1 = MYR3.198

AU$39.99 = MYR127 (paperback)

AU$59.99 = MYR191.85 (hardback)

Google Books & Amazon

Information about Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is available at Google Books. You can preview 8 consecutive pages, some of the contents, common terms and phrases.
http://books.google.com.my/books/about/Biography_Of_The_Early_Malay_Doctors

It is available at Amazon.com.uk. Kindle edition is £2.63; paperback is £18.00; hardcover is £27.00:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Biography-Doctors-1900-1957-Malaya-Singapore

Conversion rate:
£1 = MYR4.963

£2.63   = MYR13.05   (kindle)
£18.00 = MYR89.33   (paperback)
£27.00 = MYR134.00 (hardcover)

Amazon

Research on the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore (Kindle edition) is available at Amazon.com. However, the kindle edition is not for Asia & Pacific region. Hardcover edition is USD$34.99. Paperback edition is USD$30.39.
http://www.amazon.com/Research-Doctors-1900-1957-Singapore-ebook/dp/B009319J5Y

Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is available at Amazon.com. Hardcover edition is USD$26.62. Paperback edition is USD$23.99.
Book ranking: #2,002,899
http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Doctors-1900-1957-Malaya-Singapore/dp/1477159940

Both books are displayed here for price comparison:
http://www.amazon.com/book relevance rank

Paperback of the 2 titles:
http://www.amazon.com/paperbacks

Hardcover of the 2 titles:
http://www.amazon.com/hardcovers

Conversion rate:
1 USD = MYR3.065

USD$34.99 = RM107.24 (new hardcover, Research on TEMD)
USD$30.39 = RM97.19 (new paperback, Research on TEMD)

USD$26.62 = RM81.59 (hardcover, Biography of TEMD)
USD$23.99 = RM73.53 (paperback, Biography of TEMD)

WHSmith

Research on the Early Malay Doctors is also available at WHSmith in the UK. The paperback edition is selling for £18.00
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/

Conversion rate:
£1 = MYR4.963

£18.00 = MYR89.33 (paperback)

Visit to SMO

My husband and I left campus at 11.30 am to go to the insurance company and visit Syarikat Muda Osman (SMO) manager for Kota Bharu. After going round and round in circle, we managed to get in touch with the man on the phone. He was also out visiting the branches in Kelantan and was returning to SMO HQ in 7/44, Pengakalan Chepa Industrial Park. We were told to wait at the "pintu gerbang junction 3" so we could meet up. We arrived at the said place and saw the blue-white SMO signboard by the roadside, at the junction. We turned into that junction and waited for him to show up. After waiting for quite some time, we called him. He was already in his office at SMO HQ. We followed his instruction and went past a lot of premises and missed the SMO HQ which was on the right. Its view was blocked by leaves on the tall trees that grew on the premise. After driving past all the landmarks, we called him again and asked where SMO HQ was. We quickly made a U-turn and went the direction we came. I saw a faded blue-white SMO HQ and we turned left in front of an ugly place on the left. We called him again to inform we have arrived on site. We parked and went through security hut. We went inside and were told by the receptionist that he had other customers. We waited. It was a long wait and we decided not to meet him. We called him to inform we wanted to leave. He quickly called us upstairs and up we went up a narrow staircase. At the top of the staircase were 3 men who were ready to go down the same narrow staircase. They waited till I was upstairs and then they went down. Upstairs was a busy open office with a lot of ladies working. On the left I could see a bird's eyeview of the huge warehouse interior. I saw images of it through the dark glass panels while waiting downstairs earlier. I was curious what they were doing behind closed doors in the warehouse - I saw little cranes moving stuff about and dark shadows of men working (very interesting to me). Now I could see a lot of stuff at SMO outlets which were stocked at SMO HQ warehouse. I was attracted to the brightly coloured luminous paper - yellow, green, etc. There were shelves and people working far down below. There was some lighting but it was not so bright as in my office. However, the lighting was very bright near the boxes on the shelves. I thought the place would be good to shoot a movie. Then we were called in to see the manager. He was standing behind his desk, clearing up after the last 3 men left. We showed him the 2 books on TEMD. The minute he saw the English titles, I think he almost fainted! He explained to us, that English books don't sell well in Kelantan; the readership is decreasing. I took that as a positive clue that our community is not the "reading type" and don't like to read. He said even with fiction books, SMO has a hard time trying to sell books. We explained to him it was ok and informed him where to get the 2 books if customers asked about them. We informed him to find the books at Xlibris (I gave him the tiny business card for Research on the Early Malay Doctors). He was happy. We also talked about how much SMO profits from book sales. He said SMO takes approx. 30% of retail price of books at SMO outlets. We thanked him and headed home for lunch.

Professor Rahmatullah Khan

Prof Rahmatullah Khan is the youngest son of Dr Abdul Wahab Khan, an early Malay doctor whose work contributed significantly to the health of the populace in early Perlis, Pattani and Kelantan.

Prof Rahmatullah Khan visited Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan today, 9 December 2012. He has a viva to attend at the School of Health Sciences (Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan, PPSK) in the afternoon.

We were lazing at home after lunch, waiting for azan Zohor when my husband received Prof Rahmatullah's call to meet him at PPSK. We rushed to meet him outside Pejabat Pentadbiran PPSK. He was happy to meet us again. After some quick photos we accompanied him downstairs for lunch. We talked about my 2 books and what next. Of course I told him to write his own book after this.

A book that details the meaning of the word "Malay" and has all the names of the 55 early Malay doctors between 1900 and 1957.

Another book that details the lives of 43 of the 55 early Malay doctors. Prof Rahmatullah contributed information for his father's biography on pages 277 to 292. He was only 4 years old when his father passed away. Now his daughter Dr Nuur Iman has followed the footsteps of her grandfather.

My husband Affandi (left) with colleague Prof Rahmatullah Khan at PPSK.

Tok Kenali (1)

The MAIK expo at Istana in Kubang Kerian ends on 6 December 2012. I have not been there yet. Tomorrow is the last day. What I did earlier today after work was to visit one of the founders on MAIK. I did not visit a live person but I visited his grave Kubang Kerian. This is Kubur Makam Tok Kenali, a famous Malay man who devoted his life to the cause of his religion and his people. Reputed as a kind man, and quiet in his ways, he was one of Kelantan's powerful man. Along with four others, they set up MAIK, a first government of a free state of Kelantan following its freedom after the Bangkok Treaty where the state of Kelantan became the free state of Kelantan Darul Naim, a name that has withstood peace, war, reoccupation and Merdeka. Without his support, Kubang Kerian would never be this famous nor would we have set up our university here. Thanks to him, his people and the people of Kubang Kerian, we have managed to safely set up our university here. We are indebted to this man, a great man, whom we know today as Tok Kenali. His name appears everywhere in Kubang Kerian, at little chicken slaughter huts, pondok, wakaf, roads, lanes, mosque, madrasah, etc. Almost all structures in Kubang Kerian bear his name. Why?

Real name: Muhammad Yusuf bin Ahmad (1868-1933)

Contributions to Kelantan: religious teacher, thinker, intelligent holy man, sage

Tok Kenali was born Muhammad Yusuf bin Ahmad in 1868. He grew up and married and had family in Kubang Kerian. I couldn't make out which one was his house when I visited his grave today (5 December 2012). Tok Kenali walked from Kubang Kerian to the Muhammadi Mosque in Kota Bharu where he taught the religion. He walked barefoot. From accounts I have heard and read, he walked fast and there sightings of him in Kubang Kerian and he had arrived in Kota Bharu soon after that. These sightings were typically of people close to god, the Muslim god Allah SWT.

After assisting to make Islam a state religion and to focus life around its tenets, Tok Kenali finally died in 1933 at age 65. From the accounts and descriptions I read, I figured had died of diabetic complications. There was one account which mentioned he didn't feel an injury on the sole of his foot, which points to a diabetic foot. This was probably advanced diabetic neuropathy.

Tok Kenali was finally laid to rest at the Muslim graveyard in Kubang Kerian, close to the water storage towers in Kubang Kerian. The graveyard probably occupies a corner lot of a few houses and with a perimater road on 2 sides, a forest on one side and some house on the fourth side. A bright yellow graveyard board says its name. My husband and I entered the graveyard to explore it. We went right up to Tok Kenali's shed/makam and saw two graves and a whiteboard that explains his grave. We then explored the east, west and behind his shed. We then left as dusk approached.

Books on Tok Kenali:

Amin's On9 Bookshop
http://aminon9bookshop.blogspot.com/2012/12/tok-kenali-pembangun-pemikiran-umat.html

Prof Asma Ismail

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA (USM)

Prof Asma Ismail (USM photos)

UNIVERSITI SAINS ISLAM MALAYSIA (USIM)

Prof Asma Ismail is now VC of USIM, effective 1 December 2012 till 30 November 2015. She is related to the first Malay doctor via her mother. You can search this blog by typing "asma" or click "Prof Asma Ismail" under Index.

USIM = Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia

In the news:
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Kampus/USIM-perlu-teruskan-kecemerlangan---Muhamad

Jawatan Muhamad akan diganti oleh Timbalan Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan dan Inovasi) Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Prof. Dr. Asma Ismail berkuat kuasa 1 Disember sehingga 30 November 2015.

Amanat 2013

External links:
http://penangmonthly.com/16-women/9/
http://www.usim.edu.my/
http://www.usim.edu.my/aluan-naib-canselor
http://www.usim.edu.my/files/amanat-nc/amanat2013/

-------

YBhg Dato' Prof Dr Asma bt Ismail
Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan Tinggi
Jabatan Pengajian Tinggi
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia
1 Jun 2014 - present

501451 Biography of the Early Malay Doctors

The second book is out now. It was released on 21 November 2012.

I have just received my paperback copies today, 3 December 2012.

Please check at Amazon. At Amazon, the price is in US Dollars.
http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Doctors-1900-1957-Malaya-Singapore

Please inform your friends and organisations about this book.

TQ if you have placed your order for this book.

Happy December 2012.

Happy reading!

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/EarlyMalayDoctors

 

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