19. Dr Mohamed Said bin Mohamed (1907-1996)

Dr Mohamed Said bin Mohamed (1907-1996)
LMS 1932 KEVII

Date of birth: 31 October 1907
Place of birth: At home in Kampung Tengah, Linggi, Negeri Sembilan
Date of death: 22 July 1996
Place of death: -
Place of burial: -

Family Background:
Ancestry: Bugis
Customs: Adhered to Adat Temenggong
Father: Mohamed (deceased in 1912, aged 30)
Mother: Hajjah Majidah (widowed at age 26)
Position: second of 6 siblings
Raised in Linggi, Negeri Sembilan
Schooled at Sekolah Melayu Kg Linggi till Std 5
Secondary school at MCKK 1919-24; passed Senior Cambridge 1924

Undergraduate Medical Education:
Enrolled into the Straits and Federated Malay States Govt Medical School, Singapore, June 1925
Graduated from the King Edward VII College of Medicine with Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery (LMS) in March 1932

Work:

1. Assistant Medical Officer (AMO) Taiping General Hospital 1 July 1932 (1 week)
2. Sg Buloh Settlement July-October 1932 (3 months), under Dr Ryne (British Med Sptt)
3. AMO Pekan District Hospital November 1932-35 (>2 years); replaced Dr Pandak Ahmad
4. Kuala Lumpur District Hospital 1935-37 (2 years)
5. Pekan District Hospital and Kuantan District Hospital, Pahang 1937-46 (9 years)
6. Contributed to elephantiasis survey of Sg Pahang riverine settlements
7. Royal physician to Sultan Sir Abu Bakar of Pahang (his former classmate at MCKK)
8. - followed the royal family to Mentakab and Kerdau in Pahang
9. - served the royal family in Pahang during Japanese occupation (1941-45)

Postgraduate Studies:
Won Queen's Scholarship 1941
LSHTM, University of London 1947
O&G, Rotunda Lying-in Hospital, Dublin; obtained Licentiate in Midwifery 1948
Inspired by Prof. O'Donel Browne

Resumed Work:
MO and then Clinical Specialist (O&G) 1949-55 (6 years)
Also attended to pediatric cases - gangrene in infancy and childhood
Problems of malnutrition (kwashiorkor) with high infant mortality
Published papers on malnutrition

Publications:

1. MS Mohamed (1952). Gangrene of unknown aetiology in the foot. British Medical Journal. January issue.
2. MS Mohamed (1954). Bilateral pedal gangrene of unknown aetiology. The Medical Journal of Malaya. March issue.
3. MS Mohamed (1955). Kwashiorkor in Negeri Sembilan. The Medical Journal of Malaya. September issue.
4. MS Mohamed, translator (undated). In: Malay translation of Wilkinson’s Sungai Ujong. 
5. MS Mohamed, translator (undated). In: A partial Malay translation of Parr and McRay’s Rembau. Published in Majallah Guru. 
6. MS Mohamed, translator (undated). In: Translation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Unpublished.
7. The Straits Times published ten articles of his schooldays at MCKK in 1973-74.
8. MS Mohamed (1982). Memoirs of a Menteri Besar. Early Days. Heinemann Asia.
9. MS Mohamed. Memoirs of a Menteri Besar. The Medical Student and the Doctor. Published (post-humously) November 2011.

Reflections: Dr Mohd Said
by Halimah Mohd Said
Published by UPSI, Tanjong Malim, Perak. 2021
Hardcover, 298 pages
ISBN 978-967-2908-55-5

Book is available online from Shopee
https://shopee.com.my/REFLECTIONS-DR-MOHD-SAID-i.238273030.11923703157

Retirement: 

Retired early at age 48 in 1955, to do private practice, and entered into politics.

Private Practice:

Private practice 1955-70s?

Initially practised at home in Hose Road

Later practised at Said Clinic, Cameron Street, Seremban (The Straits Times, 7 June 1969, p9)

Cameron Street became Jalan Dato Lee Fong Yee

Political Involvement:

1. Political life 1959-69 (10 years)
2. He was the first elected Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan after Merdeka and served as Menteri Besar for two terms (1959-64 and 1964-69). 
3. His cousins in Linggi (Za’ba and Mohd Yusof) supported his fight for a better socio-economic status of the Malays. 
4. He was the advisor to the Yang Di Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan despite intentions to oust him since he had observed Adat Temenggong. 
5. He steadfastly refused a federal cabinet post as Health Minister under YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.
6. He also refused the post of Finance Minister under YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj; Tun Tan Siew Sin became the Finance Minister instead.
7. Retired as MB in 1969

Residence:
His old wooden kampung bungalow houses a kindergarten (taman asuhan kanak-kanak, TASKA) while the house itself is now a gallery. Galeri Jasa Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Mohamed Said bin Mohamed was named in his honour and was launched by his daughter (Datin Halimah) in Gedung Lalang, Ampangan, Negeri Sembilan on 18 October 2008. The launch was officiated by Tun Dato’ Seri Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid (deceased 2021).

Relatives:

Pendeta Za'ba

Relationship: Cousin of Dr Mohamed Said

Tan Sri Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad @ Za’ba was born at Kg Bukit Kerdas, Batu Kikir, Negeri Sembilan on 16 September 1895. He was a renowned Malay scholar (pendeta) who was popularly known as Pendeta Za’ba. Za'ba was a Bugis and not a Minangkabau as cited in Wikipedia.

Mohd Yusof

Relationship: Cousin of Dr Mohamed Said

Captain Yusof Ahmad

Relationship: Nephew of Dr Mohamed Said. Deceased.

He was a captain at Port Swettenham (now Port Klang).

Prof. Dr Fauziah bt Abdul Aziz
Relationship: Niece of Dr Mohamed Said
Workplace: Universiti Pertahanan Negara Malaysia (UPNM)
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/fauziah-aziz/31/2b0/a99

Assoc. Prof. Dr Mustafa Fadzil bin Farid Wajidi
Relationship: Grandson of Dr Mohamed Said, son of Maznah (Dr Mohamed Said's eldest daughter)
Workplace: PPJJ, USM, Penang
http://www.pppjj.usm.my/mustafa/

USM pic

External links:
http://afyassin.blogspot.com/2008/03/mohamed-said-bin-haji-mohammad-tan-sri.html