Philip @ Mohd Noor

Some people asked me about Philip in my Facebook. Here's my long answer. I'm not Philip's sister. Philip was my step-uncle.

Who was Philip?

Some of you may still remember Philip @ Mohd Noor, the adopted Singaporean son of Dr Che Lah. We called him Philip but he always loved being called Mohd Noor.

According to my mother, he was adopted as a baby from an orphanage in Singapore just before the war (WWII) (we don't know which orphanage).

According to my late mother, Philip's mother was Chinese and father a Dane. At the time, Dr Che Lah was doing his posting at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore. His two elder daughters (Tulip and Esther) went to school in Singapore.

Dr Che Lah's children visiting his eldest sister Mak Besar Bee in Penang, circa 1952. The location is Kg Sg Glugor, a Malay village in front of Minden Heights residential area. Philip is at left most wearing a white cap. Dr Che Lah is up on the verandah. The 2 girls are Mak Besar Bee's daughters, Wan Tam and Wan Chik (Khala Wan Chik).

Philip kneeling on the grass at their home at 35 Maxwell Road, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. This Maxwell Road home had an expansive garden (a vast garden). Maxwell Road was named after Sir George E. Maxwell. Tulip is standing at right most.

Tulip with her arms around Philip (she loved him dearly, dunia akhirat). The rest are her siblings and Mak Besar Bee's daughters.

Philip climbed high above his sisters, circa 1952. The sisters are (from left) Daisy, Esther, Tulip and June. I think this was inside a train or ship cabin.

Dr Che Lah's family in Pahang circa 1955. Standing in the doorway are (from left) Matron Maria, Philip, and June. The lady in white uniform is Matron Mariah @ Chong Nyet Lin of Bangsar/Bangsar Hospital, Dr Che Lah's second wife. Their son is Kamaruddin (baby at right) carried by Esther. His youngest daughter Daisy Yvette is seated with a child on her lap. Tulip is seated next to another child. The 2 children are unknown. We don't know who they are.

I knew Philip when I was a child and later as a teenager. He was my Uncle Philip. We nicknamed him "Elvis Presley" as he played the guitar just like Elvis did. We all loved him very much. He was quite a jovial person and very charming too.

With my family watching out for an Indian procession in Glugor Road, Penang, circa 1960s. I'm the little girl at left (behind the pointing hand). Philip is at right most, holding my sister's hand (Rabi'ah). The other people in the photo were probably Glugor villagers in the vicinity. From left: An Indian man with hands behind his back, an Indian lady with cloth covering her tummy, a Malay lady with a scarf hanging down her neck, myself facing my mother, Kamariah (Dr Che Lah's adopted daughter), my mother holding my youngest brother's (Amin) hands, another brother (Farid), my eldest sister Sharifah, and my younger sister Rabiah - holding Philip's right hand. Glugor Road is now renamed to Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah. It was named after Sultan Azlan Shah when he was the Agong (king).

As I recall Philip got married to Harissah, a former beauty queen of Terengganu. He got married in Terengganu some time in the early 1970s. We all went to Terengganu for Philip's wedding. I remember I helped him put on his baju Melayu and kain sampin as he didn't know how to put them on properly. I also tied the flower out of his kain sampin and also put on his songkok for him and tilted it a bit. I remember I said to him that he was going to get married and it was serious matter (tak boleh main-main, of course he laughed). We dressed up Philip in a wooden house but I have no recall of the address of that Malay village. We also prepared the hantaran and checked that everything was in order. Philip was very excited, he was on cloud nine! We all hugged him and led him to the akad nikah venue in a nearby house. The house was packed with villagers who came to know of Philip's wedding. I was scared that the wooden house would fall apart under so much weight!

According to my late mother, Philip was visiting his step-father (Dr Che Lah) in Penang when he complained of a slight headache that was intractable (didn't seem to go away). They had him examined at the General Hospital Penang and found a tumour in his brain. Philip underwent brain tumour surgery at GH Penang and was cared for by Dr Che Lah's nephew, Jalaluddin bin Ali Baba (Jalal), and a close friend - Hashim's father. Unfortunately, he died of post-op complications. Dr Che Lah, Tulip, Uncle Din (Kamaruddin bin Dr Che Lah) and everyone else was shattered by Philip's  sudden death. I was too.

Years after Philip died, I visited GH Penang and met a few people who remembered Philip. Mr Tan Hock Chuan said Uncle Philip underwent surgery at GH Penang and was looked after by Encik Hashim's father and a relative named Jalal.

We made kenduri arwah after the customary 40 days and that was held in Sentul, in my Uncle Pak Saleh's house. All of Dr Che Lah's families were present and that was the first time too that I met my maternal aunts (Esther and June; I think Daisy was already in Perth) and grandmother (Daisy Catherine). I don't have any photos of that moment (haven't found any so far). I only have vivid memories of whom I met and my conversation with my grandmother. Uncle Pak Saleh and his relatives prepared our meals for the occasion. We parted close to maghrib and my parents sent my grandmother to hospital (I can't recall which one). That was the last time I saw my own grandmother. Then I went overseas.

Philip divorced Harissah and they had no children. Both remarried to others. He remarried another Malay lady and lived in Shah Alam. They had no issue too. His second widow later remarried and had children. Philip did not have any issue from any of his wives.

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