A Life of Many Journeys (2E4 Harisan's great-granddad)

Blue= Females

Red=males

This is the story of my great grandfather and his family. His name is Abdul Kadir and he lived in Bengkalis, Indonesia. He was born in 1900.  He traveled to Thailand where he got married to Esah Bte Sarman, my great grandmother. There, they were blessed with 3 children, Sakyah Bte Abdul Kadir, my grandfather’s older sister, Shamsuddin bin Abdul Kadir, my grandfather and Subri bin Abdul Kadir my grandfather’s younger brother. They were a happy family.

In 1941, before the Japanese entered/conquered Indonesia, tragedy struck, the family received news that my great great grandfather Atan Jambul had fallen very ill. Thus, the family went to Bengkalis where Atan Jambul was. By the time they reached their destination, it was too late, Atan  had already passed away. They stayed for the funeral and while they were there, Esah gave birth to another child named Jariah bte Abdul Kadir By that time, the Japanese had taken Indonesia therefore the family could not return to Thailand as the passports they had were invalid.

They moved to Siak Sri Indrapura, Indonesia and my grandfather continued school there learning both Indonesian and Japanese. Life under Japanese rule was harsh for the family. Another member of the family then came , his name was Sarip Abdul Kadir. My grandfather always had to sell curry puffs, cake and other food during recess in order to buy rice which was very very expensive during the Japanese occupation in Indonesia. My grandfather said that the Japanese were very cruel and killed many people. They killed burglars, robbers but mostly they killed the Chinese as they had much hatred for them. My great grandfather worked as a pilot of a ship to cope with the rise in prices of food and many other things.

One day in 1947 while he and he crewmen were sailing near Singapore waters, the ship sunk due to a hole in the ship caused by a special tree that grew underwater which scraped on the underside of the boat. He sent out an SOS, hoping that help would arrive. Luckily Abdul Majid a cousin of Esah, my great grandmother, was nearby and got the message. By the time Majid’s ship reached the site where the ship sunk, Kadir was not there but the other crewman had survived.

Instead of telling the family Kadir died or was lost at sea, Majid told the rest of the family that Kadir was in Singapore thus the family packed their bags and moved to Singapore and lived at 15 Burma Rd. Majid thought that it was a possibility that Kadir was brought to Singapore by the waves or a ship may have rescued him and brought him there as Singapore was the place closest to the place where the ship sunk. Kadir was a very lucky man, he was found by a ship which was sending wooden logs to Singapore. The ship was using sails instead engines therefore, they moved very slowly and it took 7 more days to reach Singapore from where they found Kadir. Three days after the family had moved to Singapore, coincidentally, Kadir turned up at their house and when he saw his family both parties were very shocked but happy at the unexpected reunion. 

In their time in Singapore three more blessings were laid upon the family. There was Rukiah bte Abdul Kadir, Kamisah bte Abdul Kadir and Maimunah bte Abdul Kadir. From Burma Rd, they moved to 72 St. Francis Rd then 6 Chay Yan Street where my Grandfather met my Grandmother Kusriah. After they got married, my grandfather and grandmother moved to Commonwealth Crescent and to Blk 19 Teban Gardens Rd in 1979, unfortunately, that building was demolished and thus they moved to Blk 31 Teban Gardens Rd, which is where they are currently living. My great grandfather died in 1975 at the age of 75.

Harisan Unais Nasir

2E4 (24)