Tulip bt Che Lah (3) Brief

Hajah Jumabee Tulip bt Che Lah (Wednesday, 4 November 1931-Saturday, 5 June 2004) married to Haji Abdul Rashid bin Mohd Yusope (Saturday, 28 November 1931-Sunday, 8 March 2009). They both aspired to be doctors but had obstacles and had to abandon their dreams. They both opted for teaching and attended the Malayan Teachers’ Training College at Kirkby, near Liverpool, England. They were in 2 different batches. Abdul Rashid was in the first batch 1951-1953, and Tulip was in the second batch. After completing their studies, they both taught at Jasin English Primary School, Malacca before they married in Bandar Hilir, Malacca on Saturday, 24 December 1955.

Tulip grew up in Kuala Lumpur and had completed Grade 5 of her piano lessons. She completed her Grade 8 piano lessons in England. She had a flair for languages, loved art and craft, sewing plus outdoor activities. She was a good debater, sprinter, swimmer and played field hockey as well as ice hockey. She became a teacher and taught English, Civics and Geography for 33 years. She was in charge of the Girl Guides and the St John Ambulance at the schools where she taught in Malaya and Borneo. A trusted person, she was placed in charge of the handover of the Cambridge Examinations to the Malaysian Examination Syndicate for the Home Science component while living in Kedah (early to mid-1960s). She taught at Sabah College in Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu), Sultan Ismail Secondary School and Sultan Ismail College (SIC) in Telipot in Kelantan, Malacca Girls’ High School at Durian Daun and Penang Chinese Girls’ School in Gottlieb Road, near Pulau Tikus, Penang.

Her husband, Abdul Rashid loved carpentry, house building and electrical wiring besides scouting activities, fishing and swimming. He attended the Malay College Kuala Kangsar and did a year of Medicine at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore before he quit to study in England. He worked as a Simultaneous Interpreter in the Malaysian Parliament for the first Malaysian Cabinet before he quit and returned to teaching. He was a lecturer for the Malay Language, Mathematics and Physics. He taught for more than 20 years.

The couple has seven children – Mohd Sharif, Sharifah, Faridah (that's me), Rabi’ah, Mohd Farid, Mohd Amin and Aminah.

Tulip passed away in 2004 and is interred at Tanah Perkuburan Islam Selayang Baru in Selayang. This is an old and expansive graveyard, but it is fast filling up, and almost full in 2012. Her grave # is A433.

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