ADDRESS
BY
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS
SULTAN NAZRIN MUIZZUDDIN SHAH
AT THE
BOOK LAUNCH
OF
TWO LIVES REMEMBERED: A FAMILY MEMOIR
BY
DATO’ DR. MAHMOOD OSMAN MERICAN
AND
DATIN RAGAYAH EUSOFF
DATE: TUESDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2025
TIME: 3.00 PM
VENUE: FACULTY OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITI MALAYA, KUALA LUMPUR.
‘Two Lives and Many, Many More in a Globalizing Malaysia’
1. It is truly a pleasure to be here today to launch this joint memoir by Dato’ Dr. Mahmood Merican and Datin Ragayah Eusoff. On reading this memoir, it occurred to me that this family’s many admirable qualities may indeed mirror some of the very best attributes found in Malaysia more broadly. The strength, even unity, that we find in our diversity. The rich fecundity of our multicultural society. And our winning combination of an unwavering dedication to public service, and a notable flair in private enterprise. Just as these characteristics are intrinsic to the life-stories recounted in this book, they are also part of what makes our country so special: part of our uniqueness in the family of nations.
2. These very Malaysian qualities are amply demonstrated in this touching account of two very full lives – in the careers and busy extra-curricular activities of the couple themselves, as well as in those of their children and many other relatives. Within these pages, readers may learn about everything from the couple’s long and illustrious careers in medicine and in Bank Negara, to their love of sports and travel, and their wide-ranging hobbies and interests. Golf, of course, plays a prominent role, and so does writing: this is, after all, Datin Ragayah’s third book so far, and Dato’ Dr Mahmood’s first, perhaps of many! And as the book ranges across these many topics and themes, it is always family which remains right at the heart of the couple’s lives, and right at the centre of the text.
3. This wonderful memoir conveys many rich and vivid details of a whole tapestry of lives; for it is not only about the couple themselves, not at all. It enlightens us about their forebears. Datin Ragayah’s hail from closer to home – from my own Perak – while Dato’ Dr. Mahmood’s roots reach right back to Central Asia. As he tells us in the book’s opening, his family, like those of many Malaysians, came here to seek their fortune, with his father’s great grandfather originating from exotic Samarkand, and the family passing through Arabia and India before arriving on our own shores at Penang.
4. These stories of the couple’s ancestors and childhoods offer tantalizing glimpses into Malaysia’s past – something I particularly enjoy in these memoirs of our elders. At times, the subjects’ lives come to represent something bigger than themselves: a window into our collective past. We are invited to remember the street food of old – especially evocative for me, of course, are the references to Ipoh, where Datin Ragayah spent some of her childhood. We are even reminded of the old man-powered rickshaws, the physics of which Datin Ragayah usefully explains. Sights that we only see rarely today – captured in murals, perhaps – are brought back to life in vivid detail, in this re-telling by those who lived through this bygone time.
5. This was a time when traveling for school to Singapore – where the couple’s four children were boldly sent many decades ago – really did mean entering into a different, modern world. Indeed, something that the book captures with particular sensitivity is the contrast between the action of international hubs like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and the continuing haven of the family home in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, recalled very fondly by so many in the memories collected here. Yet we are also reminded in these pages that Kota Bharu was a sophisticated and multi-cultural city in its own right. This much is evident from the very presence of this vibrant family there, who chose to make it their home, and bring their colour, culture, and service to it.
6. Yet this book is not just a reflection on the family’s past; far from it. We also learn about the rich lives of the couple’s children and grandchildren, as well as those of their highly accomplished siblings, their many nieces and nephews, and their own children in turn. The book paints a picture of a flourishing and growing family, always venturing out into the world to make their mark, while remaining very much rooted right here in KL and Malaysia. These stories traverse the globe, from childhoods spent in Kota Bharu and Melaka, to medical school studies in Ireland. While some members of the family settled abroad, in Yorkshire and Surrey, others have returned to Malaysia, or else always remained in the serene hills of Damansara Heights and Mont Kiara. We read of members of the newer generations spreading their talents, having their own families, and contributing themselves, beyond the medical field favoured by their older relatives. At the same time, some younger members of the family are still following in these respected footsteps, with the recent qualification of two fourth-generation doctors being celebrated in the book.
7. Far from being a memoir of just two lives, then, this book is really a remarkable tribute to the Merican-Eusoffs as a ‘clan’. This, as we learn towards the end of the book, is how they now think of themselves: a term they feel describes well their extended family ethos. And indeed, it’s an ethos that is very much in line with our multicultural spirit as a country – the adoption of useful ideas from each other. This new Malaysian ‘clan’ certainly has something of great value to offer its members, partners, and descendants.
8. The Merican-Eusoff Foundation is an especially brilliant means of serving this end. For not only have this couple set the finest example through their own lives of service and dedication to family, but they are also helping their descendants very directly. By providing access to education and healthcare for all, their Foundation will ensure that none are held back by ill health or a lack of access to education. And this opportunity for family members to thrive personally, in whatever direction they choose, is also an opportunity for them to give back: to contribute through public service, just as their elders have done. It is, therefore, a very fitting tribute to the centrality of family for this couple, the rightly-proud patriarch and matriarch.
9. And beyond family, this Malaysian clan is also making a highly valuable contribution to broader society. For Dato’ Dr. Mahmood and Datin Ragayah, this contribution has comprised their work in their long careers; the leadership roles they have assumed throughout their lives; and the charitable ventures they have supported ever since they were fortunate enough to be able to do so. Their work has been motivated by a moral commitment to sharing their own good fortune, as well as by the innate sense of duty to help others that is imparted by Islam. Particularly notable among their many efforts is the society for the rehabilitation of the disabled, with its centre in Selangor, which has provided invaluable support to this under-served section of our community.
10. The couple’s children, siblings and wider family have also followed in these footsteps of public service and giving back to the community. Indeed, we can see the family’s contributions being made right across Malaysia: from their beginnings in Penang and Perak, to their deep links with Kelantan and the East Coast, where the Merican Dispensary has improved local access to healthcare, and also to Melaka, where an important and vibrant branch of the family was also established, again dedicated to public service through medical provision. Along the way, in all these places, the family has become further enriched by local connections made through residence and service provision, and cemented by marriage, business, and friendship.
11. These connections and contributions also reach beyond our borders – especially to Singapore and the United Kingdom, where many generations of the family have been educated. While a few members have planted their roots overseas, enriching the family further, many are still based right here, including in the wonderful new multi-family homestead their elders have created. Expansive enough to accommodate this ever-growing family, this multi-generational home is yet another fitting testament to the Merican-Eusoff’s lives and values. To the importance they place on family, and to their conception of this as an open-hearted and welcoming institution. This enthusiastic welcoming of newcomers from all corners is another very Malaysian quality, and one which I think we would do well to recognize and celebrate.
12. This book, then, reflects a real tapestry of voices, stories and experiences. As in the history of our wonderful country as a whole, what we find is a mélange, a mixing. Above all else, this book is perhaps a testament to the fruitfulness of such mixing. This family’s many and varied achievements are a demonstration of just how rich their philosophy can turn out to be. This, truly, is a clan of deeply connected individuals leading fulfilled and fulfilling lives: lives that are often of service, sometimes great service, in medicine and beyond.
13. By now, I hope it is clear that this wide-ranging book is a truly wonderful read. It offers real insight into the Malaysia of the past through its vivid accounts of the long and varied lives of its authors and their family. And these same diverse voices that illuminate our nation’s past also convey a flourishing Malaysia of the present and the future. A Malaysia that is determinedly multi-cultural. A Malaysia that is proud of its singular and complex roots and branches; proud of all the mixing that has happened so far, and of the riches that this has and will continue to produce, both in this family and beyond.
14. And on that note, it gives me great pleasure to launch this book, Two Lives Remembered, by Dato’ Dr. Mahmood Merican and Datin Ragayah Eusoff.