I was briefly awakened this morning at around 4.30am when I received a text message via SMS from Sdr Faisal Mustaffa, a long time comrade from Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) days and currently the Secretary for the Kelana Jaya division of Parti KeADILan Rakyat. It was unhappy news as I was informed that a good comrade, Sdr Rustam Sani, passed away suddenly at 2.30 am today in his Gombak home due to a heart attack. He was 64.
Sdr Rustam; born on August 12, 1944 in Tanjung Malim, Perak of Minangkabau heritage; was both a literary figure as well as a political analyst. He was also known as a public intellectual who commented extensively and critically on Malaysian nationalism, Malay society, Malay intellectual tradition, and the importance of cultural literacy, also undertook studies and commented on the various aspects of nationbuilding, including such areas as ethnic relations, nationalism and national ideology.
What is perhaps less known is that Sdr Rustam is also the son of the late Ahmad Boestamam, the nationalist leader and a standard bearer for the Malay left who fought for Malaya's independence from the British and paid for it dearly. Sdr Rustam himself shared a poignant piece in conjunction with Father's Day last year in a tribute to his father and how, despite being the only son, most of what he knew about his own father was what others have said about him.
This relationship with his own father was perhaps what was on his mind when his own child was born and might have resulted in this piece :
A Poem for Azrani RustamSdr Rustam who initially graduated from the University of Malaya with a degree in Malay Studies was also an alumni of the University of Reading (UK), University of Kent (UK), Yale University (US) and Uppsala Universitet (Sweden) where he obtained his postgraduate qualifications in Sociology, Southeast Asian Studies, Political Sociology and Conflict Resolution.Forgive your dad
for at the moment of your birth
he did not build you a palace of dreams
of cold bricks and stones
eerily fashioned out of chants of praiseHe was on a journey
when you arrived
looking for illusive shadows
of the dreams he has destroyed
but yet to buryThe misty darkness of London
promised an unending pasture of mystery
at your first cry
the autumn wind did not subside
but incessantly rocked
to the rhythm of the dance of the mirage
tormenting the lone traveller.London,
1974
A prolific writer and recipient of the National Literary Award (Hadiah Sastera Negara) in the essay and literary criticism category, Sdr Rustam authored quite a few books in both Bahasa Malaysia and English on socio-political topics, focussing especially on the development of the Malay left-wing nationalist movement, as well as authoring a few blogs; Suaraku, Suara Rakyat / Vox Populi, Karya Semasa, Arkib Karya and Keluarga Rohani-Rustam. He even had his CV in the form of a blog; Tentang Rustam. In fact it was just on Monday evening that I read his latest post; Mahathir lagi: Bilakah semua ini akan reda?.
He also was a long time columnist in Dewan Masyarakat, Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times, The Edge, Detik, Harakah, Suara PRM, Suara Keadilan, Siasah, Nanyang Siang Pau, Oriental Daily and a member of the Editorial Board of Tenggara: Journal of Southeast Asian Literature. He had also served as an Editor at the Oxford University Press (Kuala Lumpur Branch).
The online news portal, KL Pos, had recently given him a column where his last piece entitled Parti-parti lawan diperalatkan lagi 'demi kepentingan Melayu'? was published.
His long academic career saw him serving as an Associate Professor in the Political Science department of the National University of Malaysia where he was also Head of the university's Anthropology and Sociology Department. He was also a senior fellow of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and taught Translation at the Language Centre of the University of Malaya.
I first got to know Sdr Rustam when I joined PRM circa 1997/98 after having left the DAP (and by extension, active politics) for about two years. PRM was an organisation where a lot of the names that we once read in our history books; Ahmad Boestamam, Hamid Tuah, Shamsiah Fakeh, Karam Singh, et al; came alive through the presence of so many people who either bore this legacy in their names or who have worked with them directly. Sdr Rustam was eventually made a Deputy President of PRM and was part of the team that was given the unenviable task of moving the party towards a merger with the then Parti Keadilan Nasional and convincing a significant number of us (including yours truly) that it was actually a good idea.
When the merger became a reality, Sdr Rustam was asked to helm the Information Bureau of the newly minted Parti KeADILan Rakyat and resumed the task of being the chief editor of the party newspaper; Suara Rakyat (now renamed Suara KeADILan). He held on to the position until he asked to be relieved due to declining health and was succeeded as the Information Chief by Sdr Tian Chua; the current MP of Batu.
I was looking forward to meeting him again this Saturday after having not seen him for awhile in the official launch of his two latest books; Social Roots of the Malay Left and Failed Nation? Concerns of a Malaysian Nationalist; at the Seminar Hall, Selangor Public Library, Shah Alam. Alas, this was not meant to be.
The realisation that it is now my generation and the younger ones that have to rise to the occasion and carry the burden of continuing the legacy of the struggle for a free, democratic and progressive nation continues to be sobering. Despite the stunning and unprecedented electoral results of the 12th General Elections, perjuangan masih belum selesai.
Salut kepada Sdr Rustam Abdullah Sani. Rest in peace. Al-Fatihah.
Elsewhere
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Categories: Works
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