The Prau with the Silent Soul (Bedar Sukma Bisu)

Faisal Tehrani (also known as Mohd Faizal Musa) is a Malaysian author who has won numerous literary prizes and awards. He is often considered a controversial author for experimenting with various forms and proposing alternative discourses in his works. Seven of his works have been banned by the Malaysian government. Among his best-remembered works are 1515 (translated into French), The Professor (translated into English) in 2020, and The Koro Riots (translated into English and published by Penguin Random House SEA) in 2023. Bedar Sukma Bisu or The Prau with the Silent Soul is one of Faisal Tehrani’s celebrated works, receiving the best novel award in the Special Writing Competition Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Malaysia’s Institute of Language and Literature. As an academic, his works center around human rights and alternative discourses. Other than writing essays and novels, Faisal is also a playwright. In 2024, his screenplay Maryam Pagi Ke Malam won The Most Original Film at the 21st Asian Film Festival in Rome, Italy. In 2017, The Jakarta Post named Faisal Tehrani as Malaysia’s rebel author, marking him as one of the most important writers from Southeast Asia.

Zawiyah Baba was the former Advisor of the Librarians’ Association of Malaysia. She graduated with a B.A. (Hons) degree from the University of Malaya in 1972 and obtained a P.G.Diploma in librarianship (1973) and M.Lib. (1983) from Aberystwyth University, Wales, U.K. She began her career as a Research Librarian with the Ministry of Information Malaysia (1973 - 1980) and then with the National Library of Malaysia from 1980 - 2005, where she retired as Director-General. Post-retirement, she was appointed Principal Research Fellow, Institute of the Malay World & Civilization (ATMA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2006 - 2014). Her publications include translations of books and journal articles in Malay and English. Zawiyah was President of the Librarians Association of Malaysia (PPM) for four terms. Following the tsunami of December 2004, she led the PPM volunteer team (Iqra’ Mission) to Aceh (2005- 2010) and was a Unesco consultant to Sri Lanka for the redevelopment of public libraries (Nov.-Dec.2005). She served with the IFLA Standing Committee for National Libraries (2000 -2005) and the Congress of South-East Asian Librarians (CONSAL) (1984-86; 2000-05). Dato’ Zawiyah was awarded the IFLA Medal (Durban, 2007), Outstanding Librarian PPM (Kuala Lumpur, 2008), and CONSAL Outstanding Librarian, South-East Asia (Vietnam, 2009). She passed away in May 2023.

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