COMMENT “It is not always granted to the sower to live to see the harvest,” noted Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace laureate, in remarks made at the award’s presentation in 1952.

An exception to this piece of existential realism is set to be granted Syed Husin Ali, 75, indefatigable political and social activist whose book ‘Memoir Perjuangan Politik’ (Reminiscences of a Political Activist) was launched last night amid arias of praise - and what is certain to be more gratifying - burgeoning suspicion that vindication is at hand.

The latter was what gave the occasion an ethereal feel as the revenant ghosts of struggles past - Ishak Muhammad (Pak Sako), Ahmad Boestamam and Burhanudin al-Helmy - were a palpable presence among a crowd of about 500 who had braved evening thunderstorms and traffic jams...