Singapore - Malaysia`s journalism laureate, the late Tan Sri A. Samad Ismail was a prolific writer and an able and shrewd person, according to Singapore`s former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Lee said although he and Samad, a founding member of Singapore`s People`s Action Party (PAP), had parted ways due to political reason, "personally, we were friends".
Lee said this to Samad`s son, Abdul Hamed, in a condolence letter dated Sept 6 which was released to the local media on Sunday.
Samad passed away in Kuala Lumpur on Friday at the age of 84 due to lung infection and kidney failure.
Lee said he first met the veteran Singapore Utusan Melayu journalist in 1953 at a detention camp on St John`s Island (Pulau Sekijang Pelapah) when acting for him as his lawyer.
Samad was detained under the Emergency Regulations by the British Colonial Administration in 1951 for alleged involvement in communist activities.
Lee said he was engaged by Yusof Ishak, the editor of the Malay newspaper then, to represent Samad before a committee to review his case.
"As his lawyer representing him before the Review Committee, I knew the Special Branch evidence that he was a communist who had led the Malay section of the Anti-British League," Lee said.
After his release from detention, Lee said he became friendly with Samad and later invited him and fellow detainee, former Singapore President Devan Nair, to join in talks which led to the formation of the PAP in 1954.
But after the Singapore-born Samad moved to Kuala Lumpur in 1957 when Utusan Melayu moved there, Lee said they never met again after "the political parting of ways between the pro- and non-communists in the PAP".
In 1976, the Malaysian authorities detained Samad under the Internal Security Act for alleged involvement in communist activities and was released in 1981 by the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he took office.
Lee said when Samad signalled he wanted to visit the city state to see his family, he recommended that the Singapore authorities lift the entry ban against Samad.
The Minister Mentor said the late journalist later wrote an objective piece describing the enormous progress of the Singapore Malays that he saw.
Apart from being a journalist, Samad who was born on April 18, 1924, was also a well-known literary figure, an advocate of Bahasa Malaysia, a trade unionist, a champion of human rights and a freedom fighter.
Samad, fondly known as Pak Samad among journalists, started his career in journalism as a cub reporter with Utusan Melayu at the age of 16 after completing his Senior Cambridge education.
Source: http://www.bernama.com/ (September 08, 2008)