Story and pictures by Marco Ferrarese.
Eccentric professor Latif Kamaluddin writes powerful, mean verses that challenge Malaysians to think about where their modernity really comes from.
It’s hard not to be impressed by Prof Latif Kamaluddin, author of poetry collections such as Lazy Lamas and Voodoo Genitalia, upon meeting him for the first time. Of Hungarian and Malay-Pakistani origins, Latif ’s deeply intelligent eyes dominate a docile face that abruptly ends in an explosion of shagginess comparable only to that of an Indian holy man. For years, he has braided his beard into a thick dreadlock that reaches to his waist, and he conveniently wraps it around his neck like a scarf of sorts.
But don’t get fooled by his appearance; besides his hippie style and a collection of metallic bangles dangling from his limbs, Latif in fact wears many other hats. He has a doctorate in Religious Studies from Scotland, where he lived for nine years, trained in Conflict Resolution in Sweden and Australia, and spent time at the Sawan Kirpal Ashram in Delhi. He’s certainly most conventionally known for having been at the forefront of Malaysia’s cultural panorama while working from the office he has manned at Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Social Sciences for the best part of three decades.
