KUALA LUMPUR: Former Dewan and Pustaka (DBP) director-general Datuk Dr Firdaus Abdullah, 79 - who was also known as a writer and poet - passed away on Thursday (April 11) aged 79

       DBP announced the news through its official Facebook page and expressed its condolences to the family members on the passing of the deceased.

       "Members of the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka fraternity expressed their condolences to the family of Yang Berbahagia Datuk Dr. Firdaus Abdullah who passed away on April 11 2024 corresponding to 2 Syawal 1445.

       "May his soul be blessed and placed among the believers. Amen," said DBP.

       Besides being a language figure, he is known for several works including the poetry collection Prisma Mimpi (1985), the children's poetry collection Puisi Amira dan Falahi (1986), apart from most of his short poems published in poetry anthologies and periodicals.

       He received his early education at Sekolah Menengah Methodist Sentul, Kuala Lumpur before continuing his studies in Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Political Science at Northern Illinois University in the United States (US) in 1969.

       The deceased also has a Masters in Communication and International Relations from Ohio University and a Masters in Philosophy and Comparative Politics and a PhD in Political Science from Columbia University, US.

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       In his career, the late Firdaus started as an assistant lecturer (Temporary) at Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya and served as deputy vice-chancellor (Student Affairs), University of Malaya from 1998 to 2001.

       In the private sector, he served as a reporter for Berita Harian and News Straits Times and the executive chairman of Utusan Karya Sdn Bhd while in politics he was appointed twice as a Senator starting in 2009. - Bernama