One Malaysian man's 483 descendants attend family reunion

One Malaysian man's 483 descendants attend family reunion

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 483 descendants of one Malaysian man gathered for a first family reunion during the Muslim celebration of Idul Fitri at the weekend, local media reported on Monday.

The patriarch, the late Mohamad Yassin Muhammad who died 27 years ago, had 47 sons and daughters with four wives, the Bernama news agency reported.

They in turn produced 168 grandchildren, 251 great- grandchildren and 17 great-great-grandchildren, now aged between eight months and 71 years.

All of them gathered in the town of Muar in Malaysia's southern Johor state on Sunday for a reunion hosted by Domestic Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the eighth child of the second wife, Khadijah Kassim.

Yassin's first wife had eight children, his second had 10, the third 21 and the fourth eight.

Muhyiddin said his father had tried to organize a gathering of all family members but did not succeed during his lifetime.

"The reason for this gathering is to meet the extended family of 47 brothers and sisters from our four mothers. It's also to commemorate our father's good deeds not only to his family but to the community as well," Muhyiddin said.

Born in Muar in 1899, Mohamad Yassin was a religious teacher in 20 mosques in Johor.

Muhyiddin said his father was a strict disciplinarian. His children feared him and would not touch the food at mealtimes until their father distributed it to them himself.

Only one of the mothers, the fourth wife, survives and she is in hospital, Bernama reported. -- AFP