Kulup Lembang, Panjang Osman, and Harun were some of Tambun’s and Tanjung Rambutan’s well-known mining landlords or entrepreneurs during the heyday of Kinta tin mining. They were the real deal, real-life local Malay mining icons.
But why in the world did Abdul Rahim bin Abu Bakar not mention Kulup Lembang’s mining endeavours in his 1977 thesis?
How could Abdul Rahim bin Abu Bakar mention Panjang Osman’s and Harun’s mining endeavours in his thesis but not Kulup Lembang’s?
Abu Hassan Ashaari’s unacceptable ignorance
“Panjang Osman di Tanjong Rambutan adalah seorang yang telah mendapat kekayaanya dengan cara melampan ini. Dia telah menggunakan tenaga kerja orang Melayu, Sakai dan Cina tempatnya ketika itu. Setelah ia meninggal, seorang anaknya yang bernama Harun bin Osman telah menyambung kerja ini tetapi oleh kerana tanah disitu sudah habis bijihnya, Harun terpaksa mencari tanah lain dan ia berpindah di Tambun Hilir mengerjakan perusahaan itu bersama orang Cina.”1
It is all because of Abu Hassan Ashaari bin Haji Ahmad. When he was interviewed by Abdul Rahim bin Abu Bakar on May 29, 1976, he only mentioned Panjang Osman's and Harun's mining endeavors, and I find that very disturbing.
Grandson of Panjang Osman
Going by the family tree charts made by my late uncle, Abu Hassan Shaari (Ashaari or Shaari?) was actually the grandson of Panjang Osman, a contemporary of the man who hid behind the alias we know today as Kulup Lembang. If Abu Hassan Shaari was aware of the mining endeavours of his grandfather, Panjang Osman, then he would have known all about Kulup Lembang’s mining properties too! And yet, he never bothered to mention it to Abdul Rahim bin Abu Bakar!
Why?
Panjang Seman bin Haji Massin
There is something about Panjang Osman that needs to be pointed out. Panjang Osman often appeared on various government records as Panjang Seman bin Haji Massin, believed to have died circa 1901.2
His spouse is believed to be Long Rasmi3, and they had a number of children: Kulop Noman, Alang Tuah or Alang Mat Tuah, Haji Mohd Ali or Uda Mat Ali, Pandak Ishak, Itam Harun, and Che Uteh.4
Itam Harun bin Panjang Seman
Upon the death of Panjang Seman, his son, Itam Harun bin Panjang Seman, became the administrator of his late father's estate.5
Itam Harun’s sibling, Haji Mohd Ali6, also happened to be the grandfather of Toh Sedewa Raja Dato’ Tak. Itam Harun, through his mother, Long Rasmi (spouse of Panjang Seman), appears to be a direct descendant of Tun Kelalang.7 I believe Itam Harun bin Panjang Seman had a grandson who became one of the most distinguished sons of Ipoh, and his name was Ahmad Azizuddin.
Ahmad Azizuddin bin Haji Zainal Abidin
Oh yes, Ahmad Azizuddin bin Haji Zainal Abidin was certainly his name, and it is almost similar to my late uncle’s.
He was a former student of Anderson School who was offered a Perak Malays Higher Studies scholarship back in 1950.8 The scholarship enabled him to pursue his studies at the Otago School of Mines at the age of 23 in 1951.9
Upon graduation, Ahmad Azizuddin returned to Malaya and worked for a while as a Junior Engineer for Malayan Tin Dredging Limited over at Batu Gajah. He later joined the civil service in 1957 and put his mining expertise to good use at the Perak Mines Department, where he kickstarted his career as the Inspector of Mines. He quickly rose through the ranks and became a respectable and well-known Senior Inspector of Mines soon after.10
Haji Ahmad Azizuddin bin Haji Zainal Abidin was appointed as a Senator of the Dewan Rakyat in 1976, marking his first step into Malaysia's turbulent political landscape. He was later appointed as the Speaker of the Perak State Legislative Assembly and elected as the State Assemblyman for Belanja.11 In the lead-up to the 1978 general election, Haji Ahmad Azizuddin served as the Secretary of Perak Barisan Nasional, while Dr. Mahathir Mohamad acted as the Perak Barisan Nasional election director.12
“Your second cousins are the children of your parents’ first cousins. You and your second cousins have the same great-grandparents! You typically share 3.125 percent of your second cousin’s DNA.”13
My research so far indicates that Ahmad Azizuddin has a nephew whose spouse happens to be the second cousin of my sister-in-law. The connection was discovered by me quite recently, and I'm still reeling from the shock of it all. I know that the late Haji Shaari bin Mohd Noh was a very, very sneaky man, but I don't think he had foreseen this connection many years ago.
Gang and highway robbers of Tambun
“Tambun has always borne an evil reputation in Kinta for gang and highway robberies, but at present it is no worse than any other part of the district. Crimes of this sort are of almost daily occurrence in Kinta now, and the police seem utterly unable to discover or break up the gangs of robbers.”14
How and why in the world did Tambun become infamous for all the wrong reasons long ago? What or who was the magnet that attracted all these crooks and criminals to reign supreme at Tambun? Did it have anything to do with Larut and Orang Kaya Menteri Ngah Ibrahim?
We can only imagine just how difficult it was for the man who hid behind the alias Kulup Lembang and his children to carry on with their daily lives back then. They had to live in fear, knowing full well that some, if not all, local Chinese and Malays openly supported gang robbers. It is indeed shocking and appalling to hear that such support had indeed taken place, as witnessed by J.B.M. Leech himself back in 1892.15
Kulop Noman, a gang robber?
“One serious case of gang robbery was tried, and a Malay, Kulop Noman, an influential person living out at Tambun, was tried by the Datoh and myself, and sentenced to three years’ hard labour. Many robberies have taken place during the month, and I am afraid few of the perpetrators arrested.”16
It came as a big shock to me when I first learned about it a few years ago. In 1888, Kulop Noman, an influential Tambun Malay, got into trouble with the law. It took me a while to see it, but now I am beginning to understand why a few descendants of Kulup Lembang kept mentioning past crimes and nasty crooks terrorizing Tambun during the heydays of tin mining in Kinta. Gang and highway robbers obviously do not “work” alone. So, who were Kulop Noman’s accomplices and associates back then?
What did they hope to achieve by hiding Kulup Lembang’s mining endeavours?
I couldn't help noticing that Abdul Rahim bin Abu Bakar's thesis was conveniently submitted in 1977, just a few years after the total demise of Kulup Lembang's widows and children. For the record, Haji Abdul Rahman, the last surviving child of Kulup Lembang, passed away in 1973.
Ahmad Azizuddin was the first cousin once removed of Abu Hassan Ashaari. In his capacity as the Senior Inspector of Mines of the Perak Mines Department, Ahmad Azizuddin would have been very well aware of the existence of Kulup Lembang's hundreds of acres of mining properties that were inherited by his widows and children. I simply could not fathom why Abu Hassan Shaari chose not to mention their existence or mining endeavours to Abdul Rahim bin Abu Bakar when the latter interviewed the former in 1976.
A disturbing thought comes to mind whenever I think about this peculiarity. By hiding Kulup Lembang's mining endeavours and mining properties, anybody could have swooped in and taken possession of Kulup Lembang's hundreds of acres of mining properties that had been inherited by his widows and children.
Perhaps that was exactly what had happened!
The revelations that I have shared here today were acquired only recently. Imagine what one could learn or accomplish if they had known about these juicy details regarding Tambun thirty or forty years ago.
Now, it was not Ahmad Azizuddin but Mohamad Azizuddin who created an interesting family tree chart that includes the family of Bujang Othman (Panjang Seman) on March 21st, 1993. That was a long time ago. What had he learned and benefited from all these?
1Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar, “Perkembangan Penduduk Melayu di Daerah Kinta (Perak), 1880-1930an” (Thesis, Kuala Lumpur, Universiti Malaya, 1977), 58–59.
2Perak Government, The Perak Government Gazette for the Year 1901, vol. XIV (Taiping: Perak Government Printing Office, 1901), 659, https://archive.org/details/perak-govt-gazette-1907v20.
3Waris Long Rasmi, “Salasilah keturunan Long Rasmi” (Waris Long Rasmi, 2022).
4Waris Long Rasmi; Mohamad Azizuddin Abdul Aziz, “SALASILAH AYAHANDA ABDUL AZIZ SEBELAH IBUNYA” (Mohamad Azizuddin bin Abdul Aziz, 1993), http://smktambun2066.blogspot.com/2017/04/sejarah-pekan-tambun.html.
5Perak Government, The Perak Government Gazette for the Year 1901, XIV:659.
6Abdul Aziz, “SALASILAH AYAHANDA ABDUL AZIZ SEBELAH IBUNYA.”
7Waris Long Rasmi, “Salasilah keturunan Long Rasmi.”
8Malaya Tribune, “STUDY GIFT FOR MALAY SCHOOLBOY,” Malaya Tribune, May 10, 1950, 2, https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19500510-1.2.38.
9Rebecca Tansley, “Bonds of Friendship,” University of Otago Magazine, October 2012, 12, https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/277326/download-issue-33-038775.pdf.
10Ahmad Azizuddin Zainal Abidin, “Ahmad Azizuddin B Haji Zainal Abidin,” Website, Blogger, January 2011, https://www.blogger.com/profile/05348226088855525044.
11Tansley, “Bonds of Friendship,” 12.
12Berita Harian, “P-raya: Barisan Nasional atur langkah hadapi parti bangkang,” Berita Harian, June 14, 1978, 1, https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/beritaharian19780614-1.2.4.
13Diane Haddad, “What Is a Second Cousin? Calculate Your Cousin Relationships,” Website, ALMANAC, November 14, 2024, https://www.almanac.com/what-second-cousin-calculate-your-cousin-relationships.
14Perak Government, The Perak Government Gazette for the Year 1893, January to December, vol. VI (Taiping: Perak Government Printing Office, n.d.), 11, https://archive.org/details/perak-govt-gazette-1893v6/page/11/mode/2up.
15Perak Government, VI:11–12.
16Perak Government, The Perak Government Gazette for the Year 1888, August to December, vol. I (Taiping: Perak Government Printing Office, 1889), 119, https://www.google.com.my/books/edition/Government_Gazette/FJVEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=kulop%20noman&pg=PA120&printsec=frontcover.
Bibliography
Abdul Aziz, Mohamad Azizuddin. “SALASILAH AYAHANDA ABDUL AZIZ SEBELAH IBUNYA.” Mohamad Azizuddin bin Abdul Aziz, 1993. http://smktambun2066.blogspot.com/2017/04/sejarah-pekan-tambun.html.
Abu Bakar, Abdul Rahim. “Perkembangan Penduduk Melayu di Daerah Kinta (Perak), 1880-1930an.” Thesis, Universiti Malaya, 1977.
Berita Harian. “P-raya: Barisan Nasional atur langkah hadapi parti bangkang.” Berita Harian, June 14, 1978. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/beritaharian19780614-1.2.4.
Haddad, Diane. “What Is a Second Cousin? Calculate Your Cousin Relationships.” Website. ALMANAC, November 14, 2024. https://www.almanac.com/what-second-cousin-calculate-your-cousin-relationships.
Malaya Tribune. “STUDY GIFT FOR MALAY SCHOOLBOY.” Malaya Tribune, May 10, 1950. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19500510-1.2.38.
Perak Government. The Perak Government Gazette for the Year 1888. August to December. Vol. I. Taiping: Perak Government Printing Office, 1889. https://www.google.com.my/books/edition/Government_Gazette/FJVEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=kulop%20noman&pg=PA120&printsec=frontcover.
———. The Perak Government Gazette for the Year 1893. January to December. Vol. VI. Taiping: Perak Government Printing Office, n.d. https://archive.org/details/perak-govt-gazette-1893v6/page/11/mode/2up.
———. The Perak Government Gazette for the Year 1901. Vol. XIV. Taiping: Perak Government Printing Office, 1901. https://archive.org/details/perak-govt-gazette-1907v20.
Tansley, Rebecca. “Bonds of Friendship.” University of Otago Magazine, October 2012. https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/277326/download-issue-33-038775.pdf.
Waris Long Rasmi. “Salasilah keturunan Long Rasmi.” Waris Long Rasmi, 2022.
Zainal Abidin, Ahmad Azizuddin. “Ahmad Azizuddin B Haji Zainal Abidin.” Website. Blogger, January 2011. https://www.blogger.com/profile/05348226088855525044.
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