Haji Abdul Rani bin Haji Hassan is my maternal grandfather. When I was small I have 2 grandfathers, one is my step-grandfather, Hassan and the other one is my maternal grandfather Tok Haji Derani. I have never seen my paternal grandfather. He died in 1950s, long before I was born.
Haji Abdul Rani was born in Jitra, Kedah in the early 20th. century to Haji Hassan bin Md. Arif and Hajah Ramlah binti Abdul Wahab. He died in the year 2000. Haji Abdul Rani was more oriental in appearance rather than Middle Eastern though he claimed to have a direct lineage to a Hadhrami Arab (Yemenite). He was skinny and yellow, easily mistaken for an old Chinese man. His father, Haji Hassan was a Boundary Officer and his mother, Ramlah was a homemaker. His paternal grandfather Md. Arif bin Abdullah was a religious man from Kota Kuala Muda in Kedah. His paternal grandmother whose name my grandfather cannot recall, came from Permatang Janggus off Penaga in Penang State. Nothing is known about Abdullah. He could be an Arab or half Arab but Abdullah's father, Nafa' al-Jazar was a Yemenite. From his name, there is an indication that he was a butcher or came from a family of butchers. I do not know how the Yemenites acquire their second name.
My grandfather married three times. My grandmother was his first wife. My grandmother, Maimunah binti Abdul Hamid, came from Kuala Kedah. His third wife is my step-grandmother, Che Mah binti Awang Kechik was from Bukit Selambau, Kedah. My step-grandmother is a kampung (village) woman who is strong and independent. She became a widow at a very young age. She left her kampung and moved to Sungai Petani in order to look for a better life. Her life was difficult then. Determined to change her destiny, she agreed to marry my grandfather who was much senior than her. The matchmaker told my step-grandmother that my grandfather was a rich man. Much to her disappointment, my grandfather was far from being rich but needed to support himself as a petition writer.
My step-grandmother has a great impact on me. My biological grandmother died when I was 11. My step-grandmother has taught me certain values that I would not be able to learn from my parents. She is very particular about cleanliness and an organised lady. When I was younger she used to make Malay-style 'roti canai'. In the olden days, the preparation of roti canai is not as what you can see in the mamak stalls. They used a big tray to flatten and stretch the dough. Unfortunately it is a dying art. Her roti canai was flaky and crispy. Her fish curry was also unusual.
I rarely see my step-grandmother now. As you grow older, your needs and life philosophy have changed. People who used to be close to you have now become distant. I think now she is busy with her grandchildren and religious activities. I heard from her son-in-law that she is quite weak now not as physically strong as she used to be.
According to my grandfather, my step-grandmother reminded him a lot of his mother, Hajah Ramlah. Both of the women are skinny and hardworking. Time was never wasted. Hajah Ramlah binti Abdul Wahab was born to Abdul Wahab, an Arabian and Hawa, a lady from Pumpong, Kedah. Abdul Wahab came to the Malay Archipelago as a boy with his father from Arabia. I do not know from which part of Arabia that he came from. If I am not mistaken he grew up in Sumatra and moved to Malaya when he was a young adult. First he married a woman from Bukit Mertajam, Penang and then he moved to Alor Setar. He was famous for his Koran recital and zanji (religious hymns). The Sultan of Kedah then heard of his talent and summoned him to Alor Setar. In Alor Setar, he met Hawa, a lady of Indonesian ancestry. I do not know much about her background. But Hajah Ramlah is said to be very good in identifying the plants for medicinal purposes and making frankincence. If she is still alive now, she might fit to become a botanist. I suspect that they might have Javanese background since making jamu is part of every Javanese's life.
Apart from my grandfather, she had several children who died in their infancy except for Zainab, Md. Zain, Hajah Puteh and Shaari. Zainab died when she was a teenager. Shaari is a son begotten from her first marriage.
My grandfather was a talented person but he was born at the wrong time. He could play musical instruments and was a 'qualified' (in traditional term) martial art practitioner. He learnt the art of silat. In fact the late Tan Sri Mubin Sheppard, a Malaysian historian of British birth approached him for some information on the Malay martial art of silat. When he was younger he joined the bangsawan (Malay stage show of the early and mid-20th century) orchestra as a flutist. But his involvement in the bangsawan was short-lived as the idea of him becoming a musician was opposed by his authoritarian father.
None of us inherit his talents either as a martial art practitioner or a musician. He could also speak fluent Hokkien and Arabic. He used to tell me about a period of time where he spent his years in Mecca to accompany his father. In Mecca he befriended a man by the name of Ahmad Badawi who later has a son that become the Prime Minister of Malaysia. He always referred to this friend of his simply as "Bedui". There were many adventures that they shared together in Mecca. Ahmad Badawi came back to Malaya and later became a respectable man. He was involved in politics. According to my grandfather, Bedui was a very handsome man. He got many admirers, among them is a girl of Arab-Turkish parentage who was very pretty. But Bedui was destined to marry the late Datin Kailan binti Haji Hassan, whom I managed to meet by chance a few times. She came to a legal firm I used to work for as a client.
My grandfather died of old age. Probably he was 90 when he died. He always claim to be older than his age. There were a lot of stories I got from my grandfather, mostly stories from the pre- and post-War era. My late grandfather was a man of adventures.
