KATHERINE DAISY DECOURSEY BULNER (5 March 1911-9 April 1981)
Daisy Katherine came to Malaya as a child. Her father Frederick William Bulner (FW Bulner) brought his wife and their first child from Ceylon to Malaya. I don't have their date of migration.
Frederick William Bulner worked as a clerk at a rubber plantation somewhere in Klang area in Selangor. In 1920, FW Bulner & family lived at Sungai Renggam Estate.
Frederick William Bulner worked as a clerk at a rubber plantation somewhere in Klang area in Selangor. In 1920, FW Bulner & family lived at Sungai Renggam Estate.
Most rubber plantations belonged to the British. Rubber was only recently planted in Malaya in the late 1880s, the rubber clone was brought from the Kew Gardens in England. I visited Kew Gardens with my parents to see the plants there. I can't recall much of the plants I saw at the Kew Gardens but there were rubber trees, maybe of that first clone.
In Malaya in those days, such a job (clerk) meant that the family had good earning and was in the middle or middle upper class within the society. So, I gather that since Frederick William Bulner was in full employment by the British colonial government after arrival in Malaya, his family was doing alright and was well-off. From the clothes they wore and their appearance at Aunty Daisy's wedding in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1950s, I gather Frederick William Bulner's family belonged to the upper middle class.
Daisy Katherine married to Dr Che Lah bin Mohamed Joonos. They had 4 daughters and adopted a Eurasian baby boy:
- Jumabee Tulip Che Lah (born 4 Nov 1931-deceased 5 June 2004)
- Jaleha Esther Che Lah @ Esther Schokman (born 10 March 1933-deceased)
- Jamaliah June Che Lah @ June Nathaniel (born 29 June 1934-deceased 12 May 1990)
- Daisy Yvette Che Lah @ Daisy Yvette Jansz (born 17 July 1935, lives in Mandurah, Western Australia)
- Philip @ Mohd Noor bin Abdullah (adopted; deceased)
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| Daisy Katherine (left) and her eldest daughter Tulip (my mother) 1952. I only met my grandmother Daisy Catherine once circa 1975. She was of small built then and wore glasses but she spoke very good English. She had a lovely voice for a grandmother her age. |
MILESTONES
Daisy Katherine Decoursey Bulner is my maternal grandmother. Her parents are Frederick William Bulner and Emma Frances Krasse. Aunty Esther said Decoursey could be Daisy Katherine's father. Daisy Katherine was the eldest of 6 siblings.
Daisy Katherine Decoursey Bulner (Frederick William, Lawrence Peter John, Jacob) was born on 5 March 1911 in Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). She passed away in 1981 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Her origin
Daisy Katherine Decoursey Bulner was born in Kandy, Ceylon on 5 March 1911. Family accounts said she came to Malaya with her family when she was a teenager, but a check on her sibling's birth date and birthplace indicates she came to Malaya as a primary schoolgirl, probably in 1918 (when she was 7) or 1919 (when she was 8). Her sister Sheila was born in Malaya in 1920.
- FW Bulner's daughter Isabel @ Sheila Bulner was born on 18 May 1920.
Decoursey is her godfather's name. Her surname is Bulner. The godfather is a male family friend or relative who is present at the baby's christening in the Catholic religion. He presents the baby for christening. He is responsible for the religious education of the child in case the father/parents die before the baby reaches adulthood. However, Aunty Esther said Decoursey could be Daisy Katherine's father.
https://edukalife.blogspot.my/2013/01/concepts-and-definition-of-godfather.html
Her nurses training
Daisy Katherine was enrolled in the two-year Malayan nursing program at a hospital, either in Kuala Lumpur or Klang, before she quit and married. There are two versions of her career.
Version 1:
Her eldest daughter (Tulip) informed my eldest daughter (Nuraishah) that her mother had worked as a nurse at Klang Hospital.
Version 2:
Her second daughter (Esther) informed that her mother never completed her nursing course, but instead got married and stayed at home. She was a housewife. She did not complete her nursing course after marriage.
Her husband
Daisy Katherine married to Dr Che Lah bin Mohamed Joonos (Penang). He was a medical doctor. He graduated from the King Edward VII (KE VII) College of Medicine based in Singapore in March 1930, where he obtained a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery (LMS), which was a diploma equivalent.
Her marriage
Daisy Katherine married to Dr MJ Che Lah of Penang, Malaysia. Evidence and details of their Muslim marriage are still lacking at the time of this writing. Her Muslim full name was Maimunah Daisy Katherine bt Abdullah. Her name in her eldest child's (Tulip) birth certificate was Maimunah Daisy, and she was noted as a Ceylon Burgher. The birth was registered by W. H. Amour. Their English marriage ceremony was formally held at the St Mary's Church in Kuala Lumpur in March 1931. The English marriage certificate is with Jeffrey and his mother.
Her daughters
The couple had 4 daughters and also adopted a Eurasian baby boy from a Singapore orphanage (according to my mother, but Aunty Esther said adopted from the hospital). Their first three daughters had both Muslim first names and English second names. Their youngest daughter had both English names. Their daughters are: Jumabee Tulip (eldest daughter, born 1931 Tanglin Hospital in Kuala Lumpur), Jaleha Esther (second daughter, born 1933 Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Singapore), Jamaliah June (third daughter, born 1934) and Daisy Yvette (youngest daughter, born 1937).
World War 2
Daisy Katherine was still living with her husband, 4 daughters, their adopted son and her siblings throughout the war. They lived at the Leper Settlement in Sungai Buloh where her husband was Superintendent, after British doctors were interned in Singapore by the Japanese Administration. There are stories from the war narrated by their eldest and second daughters.
Her divorce
The couple divorced after the Second World War (WW2), when the daughters were big girls - sometime between 1948 and 1952. The exact date of divorce is unknown. Under British law in Malaya at the time (circa 1948), the custody of the children was with the mother, regardless of her religion or faith. However, the eldest unmarried daughter (Tulip) chose to follow her father instead. The other three daughters followed their mother back to her village in Kuala Lumpur, and also followed her initial religion - Orthodox Catholic (that's what my mother told me).
Her eldest daughter
The eldest daughter Tulip chose to follow her father and underwent two years teachers training at the Malayan Teachers' Training College at Kirkby near Liverpool in England (Kirkby College 1952-1954 second batch, Geography option). When in London, she met up with her father and his new Hokkien wife. There are picture postcards (ppc) of their communication and photos of the 3 of them during this time in 1953. Her father and his new wife then toured continental Europe. Dr Che Lah had completed his postgraduate studies by 1951 and carried the MRCP in his name. He married in May 1953 and they visited Europe later in 1953.
Her second & third daughters
The second and third daughters (Esther and June) followed their mother to her village. Later, they each got married. Esther married to Aelian Cantlay Schokman. June married to Devdass Kingsley Nathaniel.
Her youngest daughter
The youngest daughter (Daisy Yvette) got married in 1953, at a young age (either 17 or 18). She was the first of the 4 sisters to get married. Daisy Yvette married to Robert Betram Jansz, a civil engineering clerk. The family migrated to Western Australia. According to Lisa Jansz, "Dad said that they migrated to Western Australia 7th December 1968."
Her ex-husband remarried
Following his divorce, Dr Che Lah remarried to a Hokkien lady who converted to Islam. Dr Che Lah was working with the Malayan Railway Administration in Kuala Lumpur at the time. He then pursued his studies for the Membership of the Royal College of Pathology (MRCP) in 1949-1951. He obtained the MRCP by 1951. There are details of his postgraduate studies and MRCP.
She joined family reunions
Daisy Katherine never remarried after her divorce. However, Dr Che Lah had organised family reunions on his birthdays and invited his former wife and their daughters and their families to Penang where he resided after his retirement from the Malayan Government Medical Service in June 1958. There are many family photos of these family reunions and eat-outs.
At Philip @ Mohd Noor's kenduri arwah in Sentul
When I met my grandmother for the first time in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, I was a teenager and she was already old and frail, but her voice was good, strong, and lovely. She wore a blouse and skirt. She spoke English to me and I addressed her as "Aunty" as advised by my mother.
Her health
My mother said that her mother was unwell. Daisy Katherine had suffered from diabetes. We sent her to hospital after the kenduri arwah event in Sentul. I can't recall which hospital - could be Assunta Hospital in PJ?
Her demise
I later heard that she had passed away. She died in Kuala Lumpur in 1981 (I was studying overseas in California). From my cousin Jeffrey, I learned that our grandmother Daisy Katherine is interred at a Christian cemetery in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (ie Cheras Christian Cemetery). Her three daughters are Christians except for her eldest daughter Tulip who lived as a Muslim till she passed away in 2004.
