Wan Abu Bakar a loving husband, father, say children
KUCHING: The late Dato Sri Wan Abu Bakar Tuanku Mohammad will always be remembered by his children as a very strict and quiet person who showered his family with love.
Wan Abu Bakar, who was the third Sarawakian to head the then Royal Malaysian Customs and Excise, Sarawak from 1975 until 1979 as its director, died from pneumonia at Normah Medical Specialist Centre (NMSC) at the age of 91 at 6.25am on Tuesday (Jan 7).
His remains were then brought to his house at Sri Embun, Jalan Tun Datuk Patinggi Abdul Rahman Yaakub in Petra Jaya. He was laid to rest beside his wife at the Old State Mosque here after ‘Zohor’ prayers yesterday.
“We miss him because we were so used to having him around every day and for every meal, he was always here. If he didn’t see me around, he would ask why. I am very close to my dad. After my mom died, he was a loner, so that was why we the children were always here at his house, even watching TV with him, and his favourite TV drama was the police story ‘Gerak Khas’,” said Sharifah Mahani.
Born in Sibu on Aug 28, 1929 and married to Sharifah Aishah
We miss him because we were so used to having him around every day and for every meal, he was always here. Sharifah Mahani.
Tuanku Junaidi, they were blessed with four children – Sharifah Mahani (60), Wan Mohamad (58), Siti Huzaimah (46) and Zakiah Wan Abu Bakar (40) – 12 grandchildren and one great granddaughter.
“My father was a very strict man, all of us were afraid of him. When he was older, he was quiet. When we were younger, he made sure that all of us must have education and he would see to it that we did well in our studies, and he was also a loving husband to my mother.
“Even at work, I know my father was a very honest person, and even though he was the director, there was no exemption for him not to pay tax, even for furniture that he ordered from overseas, he paid his taxes. He was also a very honest man, people may not be honest to him, but he practised honesty,” said Sharifah Mahani, the eldest daughter of the late Wan Abu Bakar.
The late Wan Abu Bakar took early retirement after serving three years as the director of the Royal Malaysian Customs and Excise, Sarawak. Prior to assuming his post as director, he was the assistant director of the department.
After Merdeka, the Royal Malaysian Customs and Excise, Sarawak then was headed by locals or those from Peninsular
Malaysia, among them were Datuk Rakawi Nur (1966), Hassim Ahmad (1972), Dato Sri Wan Abu Bakar Tuanku Muhammad (1975), Madehi Kolek (1980), Sani Hassan (1989), Dato Ibrahim Mat (1993), Frankie Jurem Nyombui (1997) and Mohamed Khalid Yusuf (2000).
Among the dignitaries who paid their last respects to him were Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun
Openg and his wife Datin Patinggi Datuk Amar Juma’ani Tuanku Bujang, acting Head of State Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, former Head of State Tun Muhammad Salahuddin, Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali and former Sarawak State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Ghani.