ONE of the famous stories about the late Pak Samad was when he 'discouraged' Malaysia's most-illustrated cartoonist, Lat, from resigning from the NST. The story goes that Lat had written in saying he wanted to quit his reporter's job and move on to 'greener pastures.'
When the letter got to Pak Samad, he scribbled one of hs famous 'expletive deleted' and passed it back to Lat. That, apparenly, was the last of Lat's thoughts of quiting the newspaper. Lat went on to become our most-loved cartoonist as he won fame and glory.
Many people remember Pak Samad in their own and different ways. The Press Forum of Asia, once known as the Press Foundation of Asia, this morning unveiled its plan to set up the The A Samad Ismail Foundation and School of Journalism.
I first mentioned this in my blog a few days after Pak Samad died in early Ramadhan. This morning, I took the idea a step forward at a Press Conference held at Wisma Bernama. Now that the announcement has been made public, I must really work hard to get it off the ground as soon as possible.
The PFA has moved from Manila to Kuala Lumpur and is now re-establishing itself as a media activist in this part of the world. The proposed Foundation intends to work with other like-minded media bodies, including universities and literary associations.
Pak Samad wasn't just an extraodinary journalist and editor. He was also a novelist and story-teller, producing numerous books on journalism and work of fiction. This foundation intends to bridge Pak Samad's contributions from both worlds.
Since this most famous son of Malaysian journalism was also well-known in other parts of Asia, the foundation intends to work with other media-related bodies in Indonesia, Thaland, the Phillippines, Singapore and elsewhere.
We hope to offer scholarships to worthy students of journalsm, especially the practitioners of the craft which Pak Samad so dearly loved and served. Apart from courses to be taught by seasoned journalists in and around Asia, the foundation also hope to offer fellowships to deserving scribes, bloggers and promoters of news portals.
I welcome ideas and feedback via ahmadt51@gmail.com and ahmad@ahmadtalib.org
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7 comments:
Bro ,I want to convey my best wishes to you and your family and to all Muslim brothers and sisters on the auspicious occassion of Eid. May almighty fulfill all of your dreams.To the others who tumpang the celebrations... peace be with you and happy holidays
Selamat Hari Raya bah...
Tok,
Semoga roh Pak Samad ditempatkan bersama-sama roh orang-orang soleh. Amin.
Tok,
Selamat Hari Raya dan Maaf Zahir Batin daripada saya sekeluarga. Semoga hidup kita diberkati sepanjang masa oleh Allah SWT.
Bro, well done. Selamat Hari Raya
Hari raya mampu menyatukan rakyat walaupun sesama pemimpin bercakaran di atas sana. Selamat hari raya, maaf zahir dan batin kepada semua pelayar.
The Pak Samad School of Jounalism merupakan satu penuuhan yang besejarah tetapi mengisinya memerlukan lebih dari itu.
Dear Ahmad,
I cannot claim to know 'Pak Samad' as his friends called him, but I have read some of his novels. I have also read Cheah Boon Kheng's 'Journalism & Politics' on A.Samad Ismail.
Above all I have a few times read Lat's "Matsom" in which Samad's colours was added to show realism on a reporter's life in KL.
I think one of the proposed school of journalism's biggest challenge is how to incorporate that part of Pak Samad which are known to only people who interacted with him on professional and personal level, into the school's philosophy!
Crack yr head, bro..
ahmad,
i speak on behalf of myself and my family...
we are touched by this gesture...
please keep us posted on the development...
and if you need input from us, we'd be glad to offer...
thank you..
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