Biography
Yeop Mahidin was born on 20 February 1918 in Parit, Perak to a Customs officer. He was educated at the Anderson School and a keen boxer who was a bantam weight champion. He was a keen footballer, and was active in field hockey and cricket, in which he was once given the “Batsman Of The Year” award.
According to his family, Yeop Mahidin came from a long line of silat exponents who served as protectors to the Perak Sultanate. His children,both the men and the women in the family are known as efficient fighters with a style of fighting handed down over generations. One of his sons, named Mokhtar, nicknamed Apin, went on to establish the largest silat schools in the United Kingdom.He is known as the Mahaguru Silat Gayong or Grand Master of Silat Gayong.
He aspired to join the Malay Regiment but was discouraged to do so by his headmaster L.D Whitfield who wanted him to join the Malayan Civil Service. In 1937, Yeop Mahidin went to the Malay College to prepare him for life in the Civil Service.
In 1938, Yeop Mahidin was appointed a magistrate in Telok Anson (now Teluk Intan) before transferring to Kajang in 1939. In 1940 he again transferred, this time to Kuala Lipis as Assistant District Officer. He joined the local Malay State Volunteer Rifles Reserve and commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.
World War II
When World War II broke out, Yeop Mahidin formed a resistance group called the Pahang Wataniah. The unit had a strength of 254 men and was assisted by Force 136, which assigned Major Richardson to help train the unit. His bravery and exploits earned him the nickname “Singa Melayu” (Malay Lion)
In 1945, Yeop Mahidin was made Commander of local resistance forces and made a Major. He was offered by the British to undergo military training in Britain but he refused. Captain Abdul Razak bin Hussein (later Malaysia’s Second Prime Minister) and Lieutenant Ghazali bin Shafie (a renowned Malaysian Foreign Minister) was sent instead.
Read more about this topic: Yeop Mahidin Bin Mohamed Shafiff
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