Al Fatihah -- Rustam A Sani

Academician, scholar and political activist Rustam A Sani passed away suddenly at about 2.30am at his home in Gombak. He was 63.

He is survived by his wife, Rohani, his children (Azrani and Ariani) and grandaughter, Arissa.

He will be buried at the Taman Ibukota Muslim Cemetery in Gombak after Zuhur prayers.

Rustam was a newspaper columnist and a poet. He was also involved in a multitude of political, social and literary activities.

M Bakri Musa, describing Rustam, said this:

"The nationalist’s blood runs too deep in Rustam’s veins. His father, the late Ahmad Boestaman, was a firebrand nationalist and an early leader in the movement for Merdeka." More here.

Rustam was a blogger - Suara Rakyat (Vox Populi) and Suara Ku. (See here and here. )

Here's a bit about him (which I got from his blog):

"As an academician and scholar he has served at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and ISIS Malaysia. His anthology of poems – Riak-riak Kecil (1977) – was published by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. In 1988/89 he was awarded the prestigious ‘Hadiah Sastera Negara’ (National Literary Award) in the category of essays and literary criticism.

In politics, he was formerly the Deputy President of Parti Rakyat Malaysia, which have since merged with the Parti Keadilan Nasional to form the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice Party).

Rustam obtained his first degree from Universiti Malaya, and later furthered his studies at the University of Reading, University of Kent at Canterbury (both in UK) and Yale University (US).

He is a prolific writer, both in Bahasa Malaysia and English, covering a wide range of areas that include politics, social issues, history, culture, statistics and literature.

Besides, he has produced translation of literary and non-literary works (from English to Bahasa Malaysia and vice versa)."

For more about Rustam, click here.)

My deepest condolences to his family.

Al-Fatihah.