KUALA LUMPUR: PKR advisory council deputy chairman Dr Syed Husin Ali died at the Selayang Hospital early this morning. He was 88.
The news was confirmed by PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil in a Facebook post today.
“I visited the deceased at Selayang Hospital on Thursday. He was admitted to the hospital on the second day of Hari Raya Haji.
“The late Syed Husin has contributed significantly to the party and the people and authored numerous books, including ‘Dua Wajah: Tahanan Tanpa Bicara’, which details his experience being detained under ISA, and ‘Sejarah dan Dasar Perjuangan KEADILAN’.
“He was also involved in various elections and had a long career in the national political arena,” he said.
Fahmi, who is also Communications Minister, shared that he had assisted Syed Husin in his campaign during the 2004 General Election when he contested for the Petaling Jaya Selatan seat.
“Dr Syed was a highly respected figure within the party, often consulted by party leaders. He was patient, gentle, and firm in discipline matters and frequently offered advice, including to myself.
“May Allah SWT forgive all his sins and place his soul among the righteous,” he said.
The late Syed Husin had served as a senator, PKR deputy president, Parti Rakyat Malaysia president and a professor at Universiti Malaya.
The funeral prayer for the late Syed Husin will be conducted at Kampung Tunku Mosque, Petaling Jaya this morning and his remains will be laid to rest at the Kota Damansara Muslim cemetery.
Born in Johor, Syed Husin was a former professor at the Universiti Malaya Department of Anthropology and Sociology from 1985 to 1990. He was married to Sabariah Abdullah, and they were blessed with three children.
He received his early education at the Government English School, Batu Pahat, Johor (1946-1953) and later attended English College, Johor Bahru (1954-1955).
Syed Husin earned a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, a Bachelor’s degree (Hons) from the University of Malaya, Singapore and a Master’s degree from the same institution in Singapore.
In his career, Syed Husin served as a temporary research officer at the Language Literature Agency in 1959 and as a professor of Human Development Studies at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Universiti Malaya (UM) from 1982 to 1985.
After joining Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) in 1960, Syed Husin’s political career took off, and he went on to lead the party as its president from 1990 to 2001. In August 2003, PRM merged with Parti Keadilan Nasional (keADILan) to form KeAdilan.
In the 2004 PKR elections, he won the deputy president post with 794 votes and was re-elected in 2007 after winning unopposed.
Syed Husin, who was appointed as a senator by the Selangor government from 2009-2015, also published numerous books, including ‘Social Stratification in Kampung Bagan’ (1966), ‘Malay Peasant Society and Leadership’ (1975), ‘Kemiskinan dan Kelaparan Tanah di Kelantan’ (1978), ‘The Malays, Their Problems and Future’ (1981), ‘Poverty and Landlessness in Kelantan, Malaysia’ (1983), and ‘Ethnicity, Class and Development, Malaysia’ (1984).
