Speaking or writing about former Utusan Melayu editor Said Zahari is difficult. Difficult because the Utusan Malaysia of today is anything but “Malaysian” unlike the Utusan Melayu of the past. The Utusan Melayu of Said Zahari.

One finds it difficult to write about patriots because the term patriot is problematic in an intellectual and emotional sense. Patriotism, like nationalism, is about context; and context rarely is clear-cut. It does not fall into neatly defined categories.

During a recent memorial to Said Zahari co-organised by SIRD (GerakBudaya), Pusat Sejarah Rakyat, Monsoons Group, Civil Rights Committee of KLSCAH and Yayasan Usman Awang, Jomo KS, one of Malaysia’s leading public intellectuals, halted at the podium. Anyone who knows Jomo understands that he is an individual never at a loss for words.