updated version National laureate Usman Awang, 72, died early this morning at the Pantai Medical Hospital in Kuala Lumpur of heart failure. Usman, who was popularly known as Tongkat Warrant, also suffered from diabetes and kidney problems.

According to a family member, he was rushed to the hospital when he suffered diarrhoea after breaking fast yesterday. He died at 12.35am. The late poet and playwright had been receiving medical treatment for his heart problems over the past few years.

His remains was later taken back to his residence in Kampung Tunku, Petaling Jaya. Friends and relatives came to pay their last respects before his burial at the Bukit Kiara Cemetery this afternoon.

Among those present at his house were PRM leader Syed Husin Ali, Utusan Melayu executive chairperson Kamarul Arifin, former Selangor state chief Muhammad Muhd Taib, poet A Samad Said and veteran journalist Said Zahari.

Prolific writer

Born on July 12, 1929, Usman received his early education until primary six and later became a policeman.

He became an Utusan Melayu journalist in 1952 but later left the newspaper when the ruling Umno under the leadership of the first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman bought its way into the management.

In 1963, Usman joined the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka or DBP - the federal authority on literary matters - and became editor for two of its magazines. He retired from DBP in 1985.

Usman is a prolific writer with hundreds of works, mostly poems, behind him. A number of his works have been translated into more than 11 languages and selected for national syllabuses.

He was among several local left-leaning poets who published a compilation of their works called Teluk Gong as a show of support for peasant farmers who were evicted from their lands in the early 1970s.

Also involved in the campaign was key land rights activist Hamid Tuah.

Awards

Usman is also remembered for mobilising demonstrations against a proposed amendment of laws in 1967 which were said to be jeopardising the status of Bahasa Melayu as the national language, now known as the Keranda 152 incident.

The awards and honorific titles he had received over the years include Literature Fighter Award (1976), Southeast Asia Writer Award (1982), Honorary Doctorate in Literature from Universiti Malaya (1983), and National Literature Award (1983).

Usman was survived by four children. His late wife, Hasnah Den passed away in 1999.