Zainal Abidin was probably the greatest Panglima Kinta, or territorial chief of Kinta, in the history of Perak before he was deposed from office by the British. He witnessed everything: the blissful tranquility, the turmoils of war, and the sudden growth of Kinta. He saw it all in Kinta, from before and after the mass arrival of Europeans, or white men, that was bound to happen right after the conclusion of the Perak War. He was not known to be fabulously rich like other Kinta territorial chiefs, but nobody can deny that he led Kinta through her finest and darkest hours right before his unfortunate deposition.
I often wonder what he actually looks like.