SYED HUSIN Remembers KASSIM AHMAD

Syed Husin Ali*

Syed Husin Ali was detained under the ISA from 1974 to 1980. He recalled Kassim Ali who was also detained under ISA in 1976 and released in 1981. The following is an abstract taken from ‘Syed Husin remembers #3-Overcoming 1974 arrests and Ops Lalang,’ Malaysia Kini September 23, 2021 and updated in March 2022.

“I met him (Kassim Ali) in university in Singapore as we entered at the same time and he was also research secretary of the Socialist Club. He joined Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and then went to the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) to become a lecturer.

“There, he formed Pemuda Sosialis for Malaysians in the UK who were either students or workers. During that time, he criticized the formation of Malaysia. 

“After a while, he came back to Malaysia and took over the leadership of the party from Ahmad Boestamam, who didn’t like it and left. It was almost a coup- involving myself and Sanusi Osman among others. He wanted the party to be socialist – and he changed the name from Parti Rakyat Malaysia to PSRM (adding the word ‘socialis’).

“Kassim was a good poet. He did not write much, but what he wrote was good. His poem Sidang Ruhas pounced on by Mahathir because he said ‘God is dead’ –but if you read carefully, he said the people were drunk on rice and beer and they forgot God, and so God has died,” recalled Syed Husin.

Kassim courted controversy with a book on the hadiths. Kassim was intellectually curious in a way that few Malay leaders appear to have been before and since. His thesis posited the theory that it was Hang Jebat and not Hang Tuah who should be held as a role model. 

“His honours thesis took a look at the ‘Hikayat Hang Tuah’ and counterposed Hang Jebat as the hero versus Hang Tuah because Jebat was disloyal to an unfair ruler to defend his friend. 

“To me, Jebat was then a hero but when he became very wild with women and power, he was no longer a hero,” mused Syed Husin.

After Kassim was released from detention, he curiously wanted PSRM to tie up with UMNO. 

“Abdul Razak Ahmad and I were very opposed to this, and so Kassim left. But this difference was political, not personal.”

Kassim began to study religion more thoroughly but promptly landed in more hot water after writing a book that was critical of some hadiths, recalled Syed Husin.

‘Once again, Kassim was largely misunderstood, as he believed in exploring an intellectually challenging way when that was not at all encouraged,” he added. 

*Syed Husin Ali has been an important figure in Malaysian progressive politics for most of his life. He is a former Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president and an acclaimed academic.