National Laureatte

National Laureatte

Biography

Kamaludin Muhammad or Keris Mas was born on January 10 1922 in Kampung Ketari, Bentong, and Pahang. It is believed that Keris Mas is actually older than his actual age. His father change his birth date to enable him to enter primary school.
born as the only son to a family with in depth knowledge in religion,his family sent him to Sumatera to learn about religion hoping that when he come back, he will be a respected religious teacher. However his interests are more into politics and writings. After receiving his Islamic college Diploma in 1940, he went back to Bentong and tries to be a religious figure or an ustaz in his village; however the villagers cannot accept him because of his appearances and personality. It is difficult for the villagers to accept someone who wears short pants, smoking and playing badminton every evening with other youth to preach religion to them. He was considered as being too modern during that time.

After World War 2, he came back to Malaya and join Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM).he works with Taha Kalu, Harun Aminurrashid and Pak Sako, and it shows his ability in politics.

His career as a writer began when he works as an editor for MASTIKA magazine published by Utusan Melayu in 1947.when he accepted the job, he was no longer active in politics, however during that time Utusan Melayu was considered as being the one of the institution who promotes and fights for independence., so each of the workers indirectly involves in the struggle to create awareness among the society.

During this time, his teacher is A.Samad Ismail who is also working at Utusan Melayu and one of the prominent figures in the Media.A.Samad Ismail taught him everything about writings even though Keris Mas has already equipped with some knowledge on the subject matter. to enhance his knowledge,A.Samad Ismail encourage him to learn English by providing him books of literature from around the world such as books by...

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