The Early Malay Doctors: Muzium Kelantan

Thursday, 27 December 2012

Muzium Kelantan

We visited Muzium Kelantan today after we last set foot here. We entered the main office and asked for Encik Sabki Ibrahim, Muzium Kelantan's famed photographer. But the receptionist said he was busy. A lady approached us to assist. We told her we wanted to see Sabki. She said he was busy in the back office photocopying stuff for a meeting in the afternoon. She asked us to see another person instead. I took her photo before she disappeared. I don't have her name.

Receptionist at Muzium Kelantan, 27 December 2012.

We were asked to see another officer, Haji Abustarim bin Yaacob. He is Penolong Pengarah (Kurator), Konservasi & Penyelidikan. I didn't see his name on his doorplate which was set high above his office door (above the door frame). I managed to quickly glimpse the doorplate above my head as we walked into his room. I only saw the word Yaacob on the doorplate. Affandi said his name is "Abu or something". We forgot to ask for his business card. We were warmly invited in and asked to be seated. Affandi salam and we both sat down to talk. Affandi gave Haji Abustarim my 2 books, and said thanks for Muzium Kelantan's help with the old photos that went into my books.

Muzium Kelantan was very helpful. It kept a lot of photos of British Kelantan and willingly assisted me from the outset of my research on The Early Malay Doctors. When I first approached Muzium Kelantan, it was a cold welcome but that slowly became good over time. I was not used to working with the Muzium and my language style had to be fine tuned to match the fine Malay language used at Muzium Kelantan. The staff were courteous and they spoke very softly, unlike the noisy staff I am used to at my workplace.

Haji Abu was very happy to receive us. Affandi did all the talking and I butted in once in a while. I took 2 photos of Haji Abu. He said nobody had written about the Malays and more so on doctors. He said my effort in writing on the early Malay doctors was a worthwhile effort in the right direction in helping to increase knowledge about the Malay people. He was very happy. He said people should be happy about the 2 books I wrote. I told him that whatever I wrote was to the best of my ability, given the published materials which I used as reference. I told him there were limited information on Kelantan for my reference. He mentioned there is Sejarah Kelantan which was written in English. He also mentioned Dr Gimlette. I reiterated Dr John Gimlette who wrote Malay Poisons and Charm Cures, and he instantly recalled that book.

I told Haji Abu that I had faced problems when trying to identify people in some of the photos as either I knew them but only as a child or I had never heard of them and did not know them by face and name. I said to him to let me know if he spots inconsistencies and mistakes. I could correct them in future, In sya Allah.

He said now that the 2 books are available, people can now read and if they find errors, they can make note of them and let me know. I said they can email me. He said it was unfair if critics bombard me after my hard work in trying to publish the 2 books; they should appreciate that the books are published. He said I must have spent a great amount of time to write the books and got them published. He said it was a great contribution to the Malay world. He was pleased that I had done a good job of publishing my 2 books. I thanked him and felt blessed. Alhamdulillah.

I said to Haji Abustarim that I hoped Muzium Kelantan would continue to assist me in my future book writing activities, In sya Allah. He agreed that Muzium Kelantan would be happy to assist me. It made me very happy to know that Muzium Kelantan is agreeable to assist me. Alhamdulillah. I took some photos while the men were talking. We then left to catch up with Encik Sabki on our way out.

Affandi with Haji Abustarim bin Yaacob, Muzium Kelantan, 27 December 2012.

Encik Sabki bin Ibrahim (Pembantu Muzium, Muzium Negeri). He is the muzium photographer, He remembered us and was happy to know that the books are ready. He said he would take a look at the books later as he had a meeting to attend to. I took a photo of him with Affandi. He then asked us to see Muzium Kelantan's current display - The Red Warriors! I thought he was joking but he was not. He led us to the display section and then had to leave for his meeting. We went round to see all the displayed items including a photo of Apek, a lot of red jerseys, a lot of gigantic trophies, a wall of newspaper clippings, photos of football coaches, including Boyan Hodak! There were personal paraphenalia & memorabilia belonging to Dali Omar and Hisham ... (can't recall his name). I still marvel at the trophies - I would love to hold one up high - for what? I don't know. The 2 big trophies I saw had intricate designs and relief, that I think they must have been made by Kelantanese craftsmen or some British counterparts. I don't know where they make such huge trophies - I could put my head in the 2 large trophies! Awesome!

GOMO KLATE GOMO!!