Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar

Here is some update for Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar, an early Malay doctor.
29 March 2013

I have managed to trace and contacted his eldest son's family in KL. I have sent a copy of my book Biography of the Early Malay Doctors to one of his granddaughters, Idora bt Abdul Rashid. Idora will get her father, Abdul Rashid bin Abdul Aziz, to check his father's biography which I have written before I knew the family and had any family contact.

There is a younger daughter, Hjh Rashidah bt Abdul Aziz who lives in the family home at 3955 Jalan Telipot in Kelantan. I have the address as provided by Idora's mother but I haven't had the time to visit the house. I checked my photos of Telipot homes, and I have in my collection a 2011 photo of the entrance (opened gates) to the home. I will wait till I get corrections from Idora's parents and then try and make a visit to Telipot and also (in sya Allah) to KL to meet with Idora and her parents. Idora has not met her grandfather as he passed away before she was born.

A reader also wrote comments about Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar's Penang relatives somewhere in this blog. The reader knew the family members.

I hope to be able to correct and edit the biography of Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar and also insert better photos once I get them from his son and family, in sya Allah. I visited Hjh Rashidah at home on Telipot in 2018, and got a few photos of Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar.

Please write to me if you know Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar or know him.

Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar was with Rotary Club in Kota Bharu, Kelantan in 1962/63. He was the immediate past president (in 1962).

Dr. TINKER: DISRUPTIVE FORCES NO WORRY
The Straits Times, 22 January 1963, Page 7
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes1963
Dr Hugh Russell Tinker, Reader in Politics and Government in the University of London, said here that territories wishing to join Malaysia should not worry too much about forces trying to disrupt the move. He was speaking at a weekly Rotary Club luncheon on the common ties of South-East Asia. Good move. The immediate past president of the club, Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar, asked what he thought of Malaysia. Dr Tinker said: "I feel it is a good move that the countries proposing to join Malaysia can stand as a solid body. Countries joining Malaysia should not worry too much on outside forces aiming to stop the formation of Malaysia. These forces will get nowhere if you unite and achieve your aims."

Medical History of Kelantan 1900-1957

INTRODUCTION

It seems that from reading many history pages, travelling to many places in Kelantan, and after much asking around, that there is much we do not know about Malay history. There were so many sultanates and families that it leaves the impression, the Malay peninsula had so many fractal kingdoms, some limited by hills, sandy beaches and rivers. The names of many places have a history and some have links to the sultans or sultanates. There are still Malay people who have name prefixes that indicate their royal descent. The problem now is there are so many and there is no effort to computerise and present all these ancient kingdoms and sultanates as a multimedia production of some means where they can become useful learning objects for schools, universities and further research. Alongside sultanates and kingdoms, there are people and staff who were hired for work by rank. Ranks and files change with times and after treaties were signed. Keeping track of one hierarchy is fine but when there are so many kingdoms and each is managed separately, I think the administrative systems used in the past were complex and we will need computers to help map them properly. I would like to pull your attention to Dato Perdana. I wrote about Dato Perdana in an earlier post. Why I have chosen Dato Perdana is because I have a photo which I downloaded from a family in Genie.com. The family members identified only 3 men in the photograph but I can identify most people in the first row, just based on my TEMD research that I have done so far. 

Eight early Malay doctors have connections with Kelantan. They are, Dr Ali Othman Merican, Dr Abdul Wahab bin Muhammad Lal Khan, Dr Che Lah bin Md Joonos, Dr Abdul Wahab bin Mohd Ariff, Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar, Dr Ezanee Merican, Dr Mohamed bin Taib (dentist) and Dr Raja Ahmad Noordin bin Raja Shahbuddin. Some worked as royal physicians.

This post highlights the Sultans, Dato' Perdana and his descendants who were instrumental for our Merdeka, and Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar.


KESULTANAN KELANTAN
Raja and Sultans of Kelantan (names, style, reign)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_of_Kelantan

The Kelantan sultans are derived from the Terengganu prince, and from the Bugis Malay lineage.

A Raja assumes the Sultan title when he ascends to the Kelantan throne. The Raja name is no longer used once a Raja becomes a Sultan; the sultan's name remains for life. Another name replaces his sultan name when he dies - usually name of a place where he died or a description of how he died. All sultans and their families are buried at royal cemeteries, separate from the common folks.


MAKAM DIRAJA DI LANGGAR, KOTA BHARU, KELANTAN
http://artmelayu.blogspot.com/2011/07/makam-sultan-sultan-kelantan-abad-ke-19.html

Makam DiRaja Langgar, Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Many of the Kelantan Sultans are buried here. Dr Ali Othman Merican and his wife are buried here. The royal graves are quite close to Billion Shopping Centre and Renaissance Hotel Kota Bharu.


DATO' DR ABDUL AZIZ BIN OMAR
These 3 biographies of him were obtained from 3 different volumes of The Who's Who.

Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar's biography in The Who's Who 1963: 30 (has no pic).

Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar's biography in The Who's Who 1965 (his first published portrait).

Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar's biography in The Who's Who in 1971-1972 (his second published portrait).

He was born in 1919 and grew up in Penang. He studied at the Chowrasta Malay School in Hutton Lane (now renamed to Jalan Hutton) in George Town. He then studied at Penang Free School in Green Lane (now Jalan Masjid Negeri) and passed Senior Cambridge. He went on to read Medicine at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore. He returned to Malaya but went to work in Kelantan. His close friend in Kelantan was Dr Ezanee Merican. Dr Ezanee Merican operated Merican Dispensary in front of Pasar Besar Kota Bharu (demolished in June-July 2011) while Dr Abdul Aziz operated Aziz Dispensary in front of the Kota Bharu bus station. They were probably good friends as when I went to interview the relatives of Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Aziz in Jalan Pintu Pong, they were asking about Dr Ezanee Merican and his wife. Dr Abdul Aziz married Wan Sharifah Ash'aari and they have six children.


CHOWRASTA MARKET, GEORGE TOWN

Chowrasta is an Indian/Sanskrit word for a crossroad (4-junction). There is a big old brick market block that has a 4-junction on the right and a 5-junction on the left (near KOMTAR side). Pasar Chowrasta (Chowrasta market) is in Penang Road (Jalan Penang).

Penang's landmarks - Pasar Chowrasta (brown building at left) and KOMTAR (Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak) (tower), Georgetown, Penang.

SEKOLAH MELAYU CHOWRASTA / SEKOLAH KEBANGSAAN SRI TANJONG, GEORGETOWN, PENANG
The school was at a previous spot (between Transfer Road and Phee Choon Road) which now houses the Penang Police Contingent. I have not seen the police venue after 2 visits to George Town. KOMTAR is in Penang Road (now renamed to Jalan Penang). Jalan Hutton opens into Jalan Penang. The Chowrasta Malay School has been renamed to Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Tanjong. The big double/triple story old Malay-styled school is painted beige with a blue roof. From a distance it looks like an unused godown (store house).

Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Tanjong, Jalan Hutton, Georgetown, Penang.

Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Tanjung was formerly Sekolah Melayu Chowrasta.

Group photo with Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar and his 2 male siblings. The date for this photograph was not stated. I worked it out to be a round 1965, based on two things - Tunku as first PM and the photo of Dr Abdul Aziz here matches his photo in The Who's Who 1965. So I have chosen to mark this photo as a 1965 production. Dr Abdul Aziz's family and relatives, my uncle Anwar of Singapore and myself, managed to identify some of the men in this photo.

I can take the photo above and go directly to Muzium Kelantan to ask and quickly get help with identification of the men in the photo with Tunku. 

Dr Abdul Aziz's two brothers are Abdul Rahim bin Omar (standing extreme left) and Abdullah bin Omar (standing extreme right). Seated from left are: unknown man, Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar, unknown, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Aziz bin Ishak (Minister of Agriculture, brother of Tun Yusof bin Ishak, first President of Singapore), Dr Mohamed bin Taib (Pahang dentist) and unknown.

Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar.

Abdullah bin Omar.

Abdul Rahim bin Omar.

If you take a close look at the man seated on Tunku's left, the face looks familiar but I don't know who he is. I think he also appears in another photo I found on the Internet. My uncle Anwar identified the man as Abdul Aziz bin Ishak, Minister of Agriculture when Tunku was Prime Minister.

Abdul Aziz bin Ishak, Minister of Agriculture.

TAN SRI DATUK HJ NIK AHMAD KAMIL BIN NIK MAHMUD

I had contacted Muzium Kelantan very early on in this research and Muzium Kelantan staff mentioned a name to me. They had asked me whether I knew Nik Ahmad Kamil and I replied no. They went on to describe his role (importance) in Kelantan history. I listened but I didn't know where to fit the information I had received from Muzium Kelantan. After meeting with Muzium Kelantan, I came across Nik Ahmad Kamil's name (or similar) many times. I thought to myself, maybe this is an important person after all.

 

Kelantan State Council 1935.

Tan Sri Datuk Hj Nik Ahmad Kamil bin Nik Mahmud, Yang di Pertua Dewan Rakyat 1974-1977. 

Nik Ahmad Kamil bin Nik Mahmud was a Malay lawyer from Kelantan, who was in the Working Committee that prepared the draft of the Constitution Proposal for formation of the Federation of Malaya (FoM).

He had authored a lot of books about Kelantan.

MENTERI BESAR KELANTAN (MB Kelantan)
http://newpaces.com/forum/topic/837

There are altogether 17 Menteri Besar (MB) Kelantan. MB used to be called Dato' Perdana Menteri. When Malaya gained Independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj became the first Prime Minister. He was photographed (I think) in Kelantan around that time.

DATO' NIK MAHMUD BIN NIK ISMAIL @ DATO' PERDANA
http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nik_Mahmud_bin_Nik_Ismail

Dato' Nik Mahmud bin Nik Ismail merupakan seorang pembesar Negeri Kelantan yang mashor. Belau telah dilantik sebagai Menteri Besar Kelantan pada masa Sultan Ibrahim. Beliau adalah satu-satunya yang telah dianugerahkan darjah kebesaran negeri iaitu Dato' Perdana Menteri. Dato' Nik Mahmud bin Ismail ialah Dato' Perdana di Kelantan.

• http://www.geocities.com/smkdmpr2/profail-bio.htm
• http://pgssajkm.blogspot.com/2007/12/dato-perdana-menteri-paduka-raja.html
• http://members.tripod.com/~rostam97/tgmb/tgmb05.htm

DATO' PERDANA

Tonight, I came across a student's MSc thesis on Menteri Besar Kelantan. I read through the online executive summary. It mentioned Dato' Perdana.

Dato' Nik Mahmud bin Nik Ismail as Dato' Perdana, Kelantan.

 

Who was Dato' Perdana? He was Dato' Nik Mahmud bin Nik Ismail. He was one of the earliest Perdana Menteri in Kelantan. Kelantan abolished the Perdana Menteri title and replaced it with Menteri Besar. Dato' Perdana was the first Menteri Besar of Kelantan. Dato' Perdana was taught Islam by his father. He became a knowledgeable man on Islam as he had studied in Makkah. He then worked at Istana Balai Besar. 

Istana Balai Besar, Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

What is interesting is Dato' Perdana died all of a sudden. It was suspected that black magic (sihir) was used to kill him mysteriously. Dato' Perdana died a mysterious death. There were a lot of speculations about how Dato' Perdana died. Dato' Perdana was buried at Kubur Banggol in a big graveyard, across from the grave plot belonging to Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar.

How did I come to know of Dato' Perdana's grave? The person who guided us to the grave of Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz pointed out Dato' Perdana's grave and asked my husband and I whether we knew who he was. We said no.

The graveyard guide (Raja Sulaiman) told us about Dato' Perdana and pointed to his grave. Kubur Dato' Perdana is across the road from the family graves of Dato' Hj Ab Aziz bin Omar. Dato' Perdana was sohor (well-known, famous). He is the people of Nik Ahmad Kamil Nik Mahmood.- from Raja Sulaiman

Dato' Perdana's grave and the graveyard of his clan at Kubor Banggol, Kg Banggol, Mukim Banggol, Kelantan.

SHEIKH ABDULLAH YAHYA FATHANI
I don't know who he was but his grave lies within that of Dr Abdul Aziz's plot. Either Dr Abdul Aziz was buried in Sheikh Abdullah's plot or Dr Abdul Aziz bought over the plot for his family. I know that one of the Fathani ulama' was a teacher to Dato' Perdana in Makkah.

Sheikh Abdullah's grave and his wife's grave in Dr Abdul Aziz's burial plot.

Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Aziz bin Omar

My husband and I went to search for some old graves today, under the scorching sun. We went to search for Kubur Banggol or better known as Kubur Che Siti. Che Siti Wan Kembang was a princess in early Kelantan.

We asked a lot of people before we finally found the graves. We drove into Jalan Pos Ofis Lama by Muzium Perang Dunia Kedua in Kota Bharu. We passed by Padang Merdeka in Kota Bharu, which is bordered by old shophouses, Ridel Hotel Kota Bharu, vantage tower by Sungai Kelantan, Tambatan DiRaja, Jabatan Kastam DiRaja Malaysia and Muzium Perang Dunia Kedua and then turned into Jalan Pos Ofis Lama, passed Masjid Zainab/Zaiton?, and exit at a small roundabout. We proceeded to a grocery store to ask for directions.

We asked Irfan (serban) in front of the grocery store. He was very friendly and gave us 2 locations of Bongor which is the short for Padang Bogor. This was the wrong information we gave him. We did not know whether it was Bongor or Banggol. I quickly checked my notes which says Kubur Banggol and not Bongor. We asked him for directions to Kubur Banggol. He said to proceed straight to masjid (no mention of its name). 

Before we proceeded, we met Ariffin who stopped to ask us whether he could offer help. We told him we wanted to search for Kubur Banggol. He said there is Kubur Che Siti. We got confused as we have never heard of Kubur Che Siti nor did we know which "Che Siti" was meant. I thought it was Siti Nurhaliza and I panicked. We had to ask him again in case he heard us wrong or we heard him wrong. Affandi explained we wanted to see a particular person's grave and that is located at Kubur Banggol near PCB. he said Kubur Banggol is better known as Kubur Che Siti in the area and by the Kelantan populace. He gave us directions to a masjid further down the road. He said the graveyard is very long, more than a kilometre long and asked us to go to a coffee shop by the graveyard and ask there. We thanked him and left in the direction of the masjid. 

We arrived and parked our car outside the main entrance to the masjid Masjid Sultan Ismail Petra, Mukim Banggol. I remember praying in this masjid when we visited the area many years ago on the way to the beach and campsite. We had thought the graves were just behind the masjid. Ariffin caught up with us and pointed to a small lane by the masjid. He said it is better to take the car and drive to the graveyard. We were lucky to have Ariffin helping us. We went down the lane and turned right passed the school, Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Redang, and parked at a wooden wakaf by the graves. There were many graves within view. Little did we know that the graves we saw were just the tip of the iceberg - there were other graves behind them for miles (more than a kilometre) and they go right up to Kampung Uda in Pengkalan Chepa. This is the longest Muslim graveyard I have ever seen, miles and miles of Muslim graves.

We stopped at the coffeeshop to ask some elderly men who knew the deceased person whose grave we were looking for. Affandi introduced ourselves in Kota Bharu Kelantan dialect which sounded good. The men understood and decided to help us. Affandi grew up in the Kelantan royal court and he knew the correct language to use. At once they knew him even without telling who he was. It seems that the people here are very warm and friendly. They speak softly in a quiant Kota Bharu dialect which I think people outside Kelantan may have never heard. I enjoyed the conversation. I gave them 2 of my business card for keeps. The men were happy but I felt sad as my business card was typed with romanised letters. In Kelantan, the Jawi script is preferred and the lay people can read that. That I think it a weak point of the universities today and I am at fault too. Anyway, one of the elderly man called on the phone to the gravestone mason. He asked us to see him. The grave keeper had died and the gravestone mason was standing in.

Affandi was talking to Nasir, a staff of Pejabat Sultan Kelantan, at the coffeeshop when Raja Sulaiman @ Semail called (I think the Arabic name is Ismail and in Kelantanese it becomes Semail). Raja Sulaiman is the gravestone mason. Ariffin said we should go to see Raja Sulaiman immediately.

We left the coffeeshop and followed Ariffin down the dusty tiny road to Raja Sulaiman's gravestone shed. His 3 sons work with TV3 but help him with the gravestone masonry. Raja Sulaiman came out from his office to meet us. He looked like Megat Khas and I almost fainted! Raja Sulaiman asked us whom we were looking for and we explained to him. I showed him a portrait of Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Aziz and he jumped! He has met the doctor at his clinic! We were happy that Raja Sulaiman knew Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Aziz. I mentioned to him the wife's name and some of his sibs and son who have died and were buried in Kubur Banggol. He said he knew the man and his family and asked us to follow him to the family graves. Arffin and Nasir followed on Ariffin's bike. Raja Sulaiman went with us in our car. 

We drove a long distance before arriving at the family graves. We parked the car and I was overjoyed that at last we found the graves.

Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Aziz bin Omar has a family burial plot, about an acre long piece of sloping sandy burial land with chain-linked fence, a wakaf (shed), a coconut tree, and a well. There were 16 graves in this family plot. Only 6 of the 16 graves belonged to the family:

Haji Che Abdullah bin Omar (died 9 July 1982),
Dato' Hj Ab Aziz bin Omar (died 12 June 1985),
Che Abdul Rahim bin Omar (died 2 Dec 1986),
Hjh Siah bt Omar (died 3 Sept 1991),
Abdul Hamid bin Abdul Aziz (died 10 Sept 2004),
Hajjah Wan Sharehah binti Hj Ash'ari (died 23 Sept 2007)

Family graves of Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Aziz bin Omar (died 12 June 1985/ 23 Ramadhan 1405), Kubur Banggol @ Kubur Che Siti, Mukim Banggol, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Taken with permission of Raja Sulaiman. I visited the graves with Affandi, Raja Sulaiman (tukang buat batu nisan & belindan kubur), Ariffin and Nasir on 15 Oct 2011, from 10.52am - 11.15am. It was a hot and sunny day.

There are about 5 'reject' or previously used old black belindan (enclosure) and batu nisan which are no longer in use near the wakaf and by the fence. There are others buried at this family plot. I don't know the others who are buried here.


External link
https://theearlymalaydoctors.blogspot.my/2012/11/100-years-maik-1912-2012.html

37. Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar (1919-1985)

Dr Abdul Aziz bin Omar (1919-1985)
LMS 1949 KE VII

Date of birth: 20 January 1919
Place of birth: Penang

Early education: Sekolah Melayu Chowrasta, Penang (Where is this place? Penang Street, George Town?)

Date of death: 12 June 1985 (23 Ramadhan 1405)
Place of death: Kota Bharu, Kelantan
Place of burial: Kubur Banggol or Kubur Che Siti, Mukim Banggol, on the way to Pantai Cahaya Bulan (PCB), near Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Author's notes:
-

Sources of information:

1. Aniza bt Mohd Nor, Restoran Cari Cari Lauk, Jalan Pintu Pong, Kota Bharu, Kelantan
2. Sellene
3. The Who's Who in Malaysia 1963; 1965; 1971-2 (available in USM main library in Penang)
4. Raja Sulaiman @ Raja Semail bin Raja Soh, Lot 291, Kg Banggol Badang, Jalan PCB, 15350 Kota Bharu, Kelantan

The Who's Who in Malaysia 1963

The Who's Who in Malaysia 1965

The Who's Who in Malaysia 1971-1972

Berita Harian, 20 November 1970, Page 8
Persatuan B'ton Kelantan giat membimbing bakat2 baharu
http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article.aspx?articleid=beritaharian19701120-1.2.50&sessionid=1158fb1b4c72409c8619a22b573c962e&keyword=dr+che+lah&token=lah%2cche%2cdr

His eldest son Abdul Rashid bin Abdul Aziz is married and lives with his family in Kuala Lumpur.
His granddaughter Idora Abdul Rashid is in Facebook (4th daughter of Abdul Rashid).

His son Abdul Rashid has passed away.

The family burial plot at Banggol is near that of Dato Perdana:
https://theearlymalaydoctors.blogspot.my/2012/11/100-years-maik-1912-2012.html