Al Fatihah (II).
I woke up to a phone call this morning. It was from a high school friend whom I haven’t seen for almost two years now. She asked if I was still with Malaysiakini and I said “yes”. She then related that Rustam A Sani passed away early this morning in his house in Gombak and needed to inform Malaysiakini about it. She said Sdr Rustam was her grand uncle. As I was still groggy from my sleep it didn’t hit me as hard but when I woke up proper and read her SMS with details to his house and the funeral, my heart sank.
Political analyst, writer, academician and ex-politician Rustam A Sani passed away early this morning in his house in Gombak, Selangor. He was 64. He leaves behind his wife, two children and a handful of grandchildren.
I’ve never met the man but I knew how supportive he was when Nat was arrested. He is a prolific writer whose blog posts have given me insights on Malay nationalism which I wish I had known back in university so I could insert his views into my dissertation. Most of all, in the brief time we’ve spoken on a phone, when I asked him for his views on the Abdullah-Mahathir spat back in mid-2006, he was warm and friendly dispensing precious analytical views on the state of politics that I absorbed as my own. I recall asking him if he had a mobile phone and he laughed answering, “I’m an old timer, I don’t like people disturbing me on the phone. Call me at home, I’m always here writing my books.”
Al fatihah and sincere condolences to his family and relatives.