Kemala receives National Laureate Award from King
KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’ad-zam Shah presented the 11th National Laureate Award to poet Datuk Dr Ahmad Kamal Abdullah, better known by his pen name Kemala.
Also gracing the occasion was Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah Hamidun.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister and the 11th National Laureate Award Panel chairman, his wife Puan Sri Norainee Abdul Rahman and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka director-general Dr Awang Sariyan were also present at the ceremony yesterday.
Kemala, 71, received RM60,000, publication of 50,000 copies or the printing cost for his work up to RM500,000.
The books will be purchased by the Government and distributed to schools, libraries as well as government departments and agencies.
Muhyiddin had on May 3 last year, announced Kemala as the national laureate award recipient.
“His works are of high quality and have aesthetic value and his poems are highly regarded by scholars, too,” Muhyiddin said of Kemala.
Kemala’s poems have been translated into various languages, including Mandarin, Urdu, French, German, Dutch, Slovenian, Spanish and SerboCroatian.
Kemala, who was born in Gombak, Selangor, had also received the SEA Write Award (1986) from the Thai government, Anugerah Pujangga from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (2002) and Hadiah Sastera Perdana Malaysia. — Bernama