To
my father’s people,
Bismillah
hirrahma nir rahiim.
I am my father’s surviving daughter. I am named Faridah bt Abdul Rashid, which means, Unique Daughter of the Bright Slave of Allah SWT.
I am writing on his behalf, about himself and his people. He
asked me to write before he passed away, but I was busy then. And to ‘show my
respect for him and his people’, I therefore write this Father’s Page. The
other pages to make the book will be compiled later from selected pages of a
blog I had set up for him and his people - 262 Banda Hilir.
In 2007, when my father asked me to write, I was
researching on The Early Malay Doctors and was too busy. That research produced two
books, Research on The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore, and
Biography of The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore. Those books
were published by Xlibris Inc.
In this book, I have focused on how my father’s
people came to be and how they have survived to this day. I have collected
stories narrated and characters described of his people whom I have met, and
some of whom I had never met, for reason only known to my father and myself.
Writing about my father’s people is not at all easy.
It has taken me many years to locate his people, and many more years to try and
piece together pieces of a big jig-saw puzzle, in order to get a clearer picture of his
people.
Many narrations have contributed to this worthwhile
effort. I hope a forthcoming book will hold its place in the hearts of his
people.
In
sya Allah.
Faridah Abdul Rashid
Hotel Yue (Hotel Riverside,
Qingshuiwan Convention Center)
1305 Kaixuan N Rd, Putuo Province,
Shanghai, China
3
June 2015
