Kassims Biography

Family Background

Kassim Ahmad is the eldest son of three children, born on 9th September, 1933 to an Islamic
religious teacher, Ahmad Ishak and housewife Ummi Kalthom Hj Ahmad, in Bukit Pinang in the
district of Kota Setar, in the northern state of Kedah in Malaysia. His parents were fourth
generation Malaysians who, on his fathers side, were believed to have migrated from Padang,
Sumatera, and, on his mothers side, from the Thai Malay province of Pattani. His grand-father
who doubled as a religious teacher and farmer was domiciled in Seberang Perai in the state of
Penang. His father married his mother, the youngest daughter of a farmer in Kedah, and lived in
various village towns in Kedah in his career as a religious teacher until they settled down on a
piece of land they bought in Bukit Pinang.

Educational Background

Having led a hard life, his parents wanted their eldest son to make good. Being a diligent and
intelligent boy, Kassim easily won the praises of his teachers in both primary and secondary
schools and was given many positions of responsibilty. But towards the end of his schooling, he
contarcted interest in politics that turned him into a young radical, and was later to land him as
head of the Malaysian socialist party and in political detention for nearly five years.

However, being of an intellectual turn of mind and with a love for literature to boot, he became a
famous poet in his own right and a famous, albeit controversial, writer too. Added to that, his
renewed interest in Islam since around 1972, as a philosophical and scientific political thought
made him sit uneasy in his party chairmans position. He therefore resigned that position in 1984.
His attempt to bring reforms into the United Malays National Organization, which he joined in
1986, failed and he quit active politics in 1992.

Career and Works

After leaving University, he worked for a while as a reasearch officer at the Malaysian Language
and Literary Agency in Kuala Lumpur, then took a teaching post at the School of Oriental and
African Studies, University of London for four years and then returned to Malaysia to teach in a
secondary school in Penang. Being of a free spirit and not inclined to follow rules too much, his
services were terminated by the school authorities in 1969 for distributing socialist party literature
to his students. He became a free lance writer, translator, journalist and teacher after that and
ever since.

Kassims political and philosophical interests introduced him to the LaRouches political-
philosophical movement in the United States, to the revolutionary Baathist Party in Iraq and to the
U.S.-domiciled, Tucson-based Egyptian Quran scholar, Dr. Rashad Khalifa. He has attended
conferences held by all these organizations.
Kassims interests are diverse. Literature, politics, philosophy and religion these are his major
interests, and he has written books and essays on them. He has been awarded the honourary
Doctrate of Letters by the National University of Malaysia in 1985 and the Poetry Award of the
Malaysian National Writers Association in 1987. His works include books on Islamic social theory
(1984), on Prophetic Traditions (1986), an interesting account of his political detention (1983);
and several collections of literary and political essays as well as an anthology of verses (1967). He
published two major philosophical essays, one a criticism of Marxism (Dewan Bahasa, December,
1975, and another on the meaningfulness of life (Pemikir, Oct.-Dec., 1997. He has also edited
several classical Malay works. Most of his works are in Malay. The work on the Prophetic Traditions,
which was hotly and widely debated when it came out and for which some religious authorities
pronounced him apostate, has been translated into English and Arabic (1997).

He is currently working on a Malay translation of the Quran, his autobiography and on editing a
new edition of the famous work of the Malay 19th century writer, Hikayat Abullah, while running
the Malaysian Quranic Society of which he is the head (since 1995)as well as being the Chairman
of Penang Port Workers Co-operative (since 1997).

He likes to begin work early in the morning at three and retire to bed at 9.30 p.m. after a days
labour of between 12 to 15 hours. Often he works seven days a week.

Family and Friends

In his busy schedule, he makes time for his family, with whom he discusses family and other
matters on irregular on Saturday evenings. He is fond of all his five grand-children, four of whom
stay in Penang, and he sees them every week when he is not out of Penang. He likes to have
discussions with friends whom he invites for lunch or for after dinner coffee. His wife, Shariffah
Fawziah binti Syed Yussoff Alsagoff, the daughter of a police officer in Selangor, married him in
1960 and bore him their two daughters and one son. She shares with him his world outlook and
helps him with the clerical side of his work.

https://kassimahmad.wordpress.com/about/

A Common Story
A Common Story by Kassim Ahmad
This story depicts the realities of human life as we see now to quite a great extent. A simple question
of "how many of us actually do what we like and want as opposed to what brings food, name and
fortune?" is enough to put us in the same dilemma faced by Yusuf.Yusuf lived in a tumultous time, a
time when a new nation was to be born and yet, facing one of its greatest challenges to date. Yusuf
faced a similar challenge. Coming from a small kampung of illiterate rubber-tappers and padi-planters,
he faced a great change in his life. Not many small village-folk had the opportunity of going to a big
city,much less go there to study and prepare for a lucrative job. The same can be said now of many
young people. After finishing their secondary schooling, many young Malaysians are privileged to
further their tertiary education in academia far from their own kampung. Yusuf learnt, saw and
experienced many new,unimaginable things. It all helped mould his own mature opinion of the world
and its human inhabitants. He was exposed to the "Singaporean conditions of culture which included
Beethoven at one end and Bill Haley at the other. In between, there was Hemingway, the Week-Ender,
blue films, love-making in the parks" and so on. Like Yusuf, most of the young people are exposed to
new cultures and habits that can be both good or evil (new social networks, new habits and new-found
freedom, drug abuse etc.)In this story, Yusuf's father and to a lesser extent the village folk ( shown by
their concern of Yusuf being "a sort of Communist") had hoped that Yusuf would return with an
academic title that would stand him in good stead in his pursuit of money power and fame. Their
hopes and aspirations was that Yusuf would return to provide a better future for his family. This is
reality. It is seen also in the hopes and aspirations of every parent in the world now to see their
children succeed ( rather than their children doing what they want to do for a livng). Yusuf took an
uncommon path in his life. Yusuf had seen the best and worst of both the village and city worlds
before choosing what he wanted in life. However, unlike most young people nowadays who would
most probably choose the first or most promising career that comes before them,Yusuf took the road
not taken by most people. He took the road which made him happy rather than the road that society
would expect and want him to take

The story talked about a person adjusting to the environment. Yusof, a small village boy, went
studying in Singapore for four years. He was the only child who successfully pursued studies to
university. It was an honor for his parent and kampong folk because it was hard to enter university at
that time. Many of them wished that their children could succeed like Yusof. His father had put higher
expectation on him. He hoped that one day Yusof would bring changes to his kampong and relieve
poverty. Life would be improved and they were not leading miserable life anymore. However, Yusof
disappointed his parent and his kampong folk. During his years in university, he had been exposed to
different kind of living. He adjusted himself to belong to certain groups. He changed the way of
thinking, own culture, life and behavior. Because of the pressure, he tried to accommodate to the
situation. Its hard for a person to stay in foreign country, like Yusof as he already got used to his own
living style.

Hopes and aspirations individuals and society. Realities of human life Adapt to new environment
Responsibilities Love Hardship of life

Singapore Kampong - Place where Yusuf was born During the British colonisation, they introduce a
policy called Divide & Rule policy . This policy separate people of different races physically and
economically. At that time, the Malays were to be a farmer, and some of them were involved in the
administration. The Chinese were to be involved in trades business and the Indian work in the rubber
farm. This is the case with Yusuf. Yusuf was some of the Malays who were fortunate to be given an
education and involved in the government while his father and fellow villagers continue to be a farmer,
poor and illiterate.

Yusuf was talk with somebody that maybe was his friend. In that conversation Yusuf told his friend
that he need to go back home to reclaim his lost soul.

Yusuf Yusuf mother Yusuf father Kampong folk Chinese girl Unknown friend

Son of farmer. young scholar studying abroad (Singapore) being the only hope to fulfill family dreams
being the one whom the villagers will rely on Brave Clever loves his parents and his people so much.
He feels sad to see them suffer. This is shown in the line It was hard to see his father coming back
from the sawah, drenched with sweat and smelly and dirty

A farmer Love his family Hard working have a high expectation towards his children.

A farmer Gentle Love and care her son so much