GEORGE TOWN – Southeast Asia has lost a doyen of traditional arts with the death of Datuk Prof Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof at his home in Penang today. He was 83.
An academic who had served with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Malaya in a career spanning some five decades, Ghulam was a trailblazer on promoting the appreciation of unique culture, heritage and arts among Malaysians.
An expert in anthropology and literature, he was also a prolific poet and playwright.
His career began when he was invited in 1970 to set up the first performing arts programme at USM.
Ghulam graduated in English from the Universiti Malaya in 1964 and did a doctorate in Asian theatre at the University of Hawaii in 1976.
He had undertaken tremendous research on the ancient Malay spiritual art form of Mak Yong, prevalent in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pattani region of southern Thailand, for his doctoral thesis.
This eventually led him to oversee the dossier on Mak Yong that was submitted to Unesco by the Malaysian government, which led to the unique age-old traditional discipline to be proclaimed by the world body as an intangible cultural heritage in 2005.
Due to his erudite skills and authority, Ghulam was entrusted to be the editor of Encyclopedia of Malaysia’s volume on Performing Arts published by Editions Didier Millet.
He was also an expert on the heritage of Ramayana epic in Southeast Asian culture, including its observance and practice in the wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre) form.
His own dramatic compositions included full-length works such as Halfway Road, Penang, The Trial of Hang Tuah the Great, and Suvarnapadma or Golden Lotus.
He had written papers on Malaysian-Singapore literature, and had done a translation of Shakuntala, the classic play by the 5th century Indian thinker Kalidasa.
Penang civil society activist Datuk Anwar Fazal paid tribute to Ghulam, who was the face of the cultural scene in the country.
Anwar said that his death leaves a huge vacuum in the world of literature and the arts.
One of Ghulam’s sons is Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, a leading human rights lawyer. – The Vibes, November 10, 2022
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