The Musical Genes In Me

Friends have often asked where the musical genes came from in my family. Well, to start with, mum‘s family has roots in the town of Kota Rajo in the Rao (or Rawo) region of Sumatra, and hers was a musically-inclined family.

It is a well-known fact that people from Rao (known locally as "orang Rawo") are musically-inclined. Some well-known personalities include actress/singer Azean Irdawaty, former Radio Malaysia announcer, Nor Azah Aziz and Mazuin Hamzah, who was once a member of the band Quinary M. In my family, they include my mum, son (Nash), youngest sister (Nor Azian), aunt (Zainah Zain) and my nephew (Ismail Hj Yusof). Among my friends, one example is the late Sirajuddin Mahmud, who was married to my friend Zawiyah Hashim. Siraj and Nor Azah Aziz were cousins.

As historical background, settlers from Rao migrated to the then Malay Peninsula from as early as the 18th century. They settled mostly in Perak (Gopeng, Tapah, Tanjung Malim) and also in Penang and Pahang. Some noted Rao personalities in Malaysia today include Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz, Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji and the late Haji Yusuf Rawa (the first President of PAS).

Rao region of Sumatra

As a teenager growing up in Selama, Perak, mum played the accordion and also the piano; picking up the skills merely by listening. Her late aunt (Wo Tupin; wo = aunt) had piano lessons at home. It was a ploy by her then philandering husband to get her distracted so that he could carry out his dalliances. He was a playboy of sorts. His name was Alwee Bin Hussain and we called him Atwok Luwi (Atwok = grandpa or, sometimes, grandma). After his family suffered a downturn in fortune, they moved from Sumatra to Penang where they set up business selling the quran and other religious materials at Acheen Street.

Atwok Luwi went to Penang Free School with the late Tunku Abdul Rahman who moved on to study at Cambridge on a scholarship. Tunku would later become the first Malayan Prime Minister when Malaya gain independence from Great Britain in 1957. Atwok Luwi lived a colourful life and he was one of the first Malays in Penang to own a red sports car! In his heydays, Atwok Luwi was a dapper gentleman, with his hair parted in the middle in the style of King George V. Atwok Luwi went on to marry a lady whom we called Tok Jah and in his old age, Atwok Luwi retired and died in Kuala Ketil, Kedah.

King George V

A grand-uncle of mine, Mokhtar, known to mum as Mamak Muntak (mamak = uncle), played the clarinet, trumpet, saxophone and violin. I remember the good old days when I would watch him wide eyed tuning up his musical instruments in the light provided by a kerosene lamp. Mamak Muntak was a spoilt child and he never married; earning his living playing in travelling fun fairs and even at Chinese funeral processions!

So, I guess it is not surprising that Nash and I inherited the musical genes. My youngest sister has a lovely singing voice too but my eldest sister has a poor sense of music!

My favourite joke - “I come from a family of singers, even my sewing machine is a SINGER”!