Bugis roots and books

Once upon a time in 1850, Abdul Jamak Majok of the Bugis tribe of Wajo was born on the island of Sulawesi. He came to the Malay Peninsular with his father and later married Aminah Derima @ Dirwa, also a Bugis and descendant of Raja Chempa and Daeng Pabitah of the Royal Bugis Council of Johor. Living in Parit Bakar, Muar, Johor, Jamak and Aminah brought up a family of ten children, two of whom died in infancy. The remaining eight, one of whom was my great-grandfather Andak, eventually married and gave their parents 52 grandchildren (the second generation). By 2008, the Jamak clan was down to its sixth generation with 1,550 direct descendants.

The story of the Jamak clan is told in The Jamak Family - Continuation of a Bugis Heritage by Shadida Ibrahim, a third generation Jamak, who had the help of members of other branches of the clan to produce it, including yours truly as chief editor.

The book begins with an overview of the clan's Bugis heritage before relating the story of Abdul Jamak Majok. It then goes on to cover the first and second generation Jamaks, some prominent members of the clan and those of the greater Jamak family. The book even shares a few Bugis recipes...

... and ends with charts of the eight branches of the Jamak clan up to the third generation, an example of which is:

My great-grandfather Andak Jamak and his wife Marjilah Yusof were a bit more productive, with nine children who then went on to add 45 of their own to the clan.

The uniqueness of this book is that it was produced for the First Jamak Family Reunion held on 20 December 2008, when about 800 members of the clan, ranging from those in their 80s to just a few months old, congregated at Puspanitapuri, Putrajaya. Organising the reunion was no easy feat - it took a committee comprising members of the Andak and Abdul Majid branches a whole year to put together. But even that would not have been possible without the detailed family tree drawn up by second-generation Jaffar @ Mohamed Abdul Majid, a man with a priceless sense of humour. After he passed away, the responsibility of documenting the family tree was taken up by his son Jalaluddin Jaffar. 

Jalaluddin, or Pes as we call him, is the undisputed penghulu (chief) of the Jamak clan - he knows everyone and everyone knows him. In conjunction with the Family Reunion, he produced a comprehensive directory of the clan as at December 2008.

The directory is remarkable in that, for each branch of the Jamak clan, the members are listed by generation, together with the names of their spouses and children, marital status, years of birth and passing away, and even house telephone numbers, mobile numbers and e-mail addresses (if provided). Each is also assigned a reference number.

The reunion was a brilliant family team effort, with my graphic designer brother Zaid roped in as well to design and produce the programme booklet. Guess who took the photos for the booklet?

Co-Chairpersons Siti Zainab and Datin Kalsom.

Joint Secretaries Zawiyah and Zuraidah, Treasurer Roslina, and, clockwise from left, 

Mohd Amir, Ungku Shereen, Jamaludin, Ungku Balkis and Noridah 

of the F&B Committee.

Faridah, Hashimuddin and Ungku Marsila of the Activities & Exhibition Committee.

Jalaluddin (Pes), Jalaludin and Hanafi of the Protocol & Invitations 

(+ Pes - Family Directory) Committee.

Clockwise standing left, Normah, Alina, Rafeah and Puan Sri Azizah 

of the Sponsorships & Gifts Committee, and Shadida and Sharifuddin 

of the Publication, Video & Photography Committee.

Hood, Hashimuddin and Pes of the IT & Website Committee.

It was a professionally-run event, which shouldn't be a surprise given the backgrounds of the committee members. Everyone wore colour-coded name tags identifying his/her family branch and generation. And MC extraordinaire Dato' Mahadzir Lokman, also part of the family, ensured the day's programme proceeded smoothly (the pictures below are from the commemorative album produced after the reunion). A highlight was the soft launch of Datin Kalsom Taib's biography of her father, Taib Andak - In a Class of His Own.

Registration desk.

Souvenir tee-shirts for sale.

Lots of food for everyone.

Fun activities for the kids.

Poco-poco, a form of line dancing.

Giving respect to the elders and ending the event with Geylang Sipaku Geylang, 

a Malay folk song of goodbye with the hope of meeting up again someday.

An event this big was bound to find its way into the newspapers, but the committee made sure it happened by preparing a press kit. It worked!

The best remembrance of the Jamak Reunion is the group photograph of those who came (almost all; some were too shy while others were outside busy doing other things). The photograph had to be shot in three sections and then put together into one panoramic image. It could be ordered in different sizes and we opted for the six-foot-long version, which hangs proudly on the wall leading to the dining room of our home.