Heart and Soul: Exemplary inspector's position and posting to Kampar

Sir Edward Gent congratulating Sher Mohamed (left) with a firm handshake in 1948. Photos: Rafique Sher Mohamed

Milestones are significant markers in one's life. For my late father, Sher Mohamed Allah Baksh, a new chapter began when he was promoted to the rank of inspector in 1946 and could proudly wear his police peak cap.

His journey to this position started over a decade earlier, in 1934, when he applied for the position with great enthusiasm and anticipation. He did not realise that it would be a journey fraught with setbacks and that it would take him more than a decade to finally earn the coveted inspector's rank that he so badly desired.