KUALA LUMPUR: Award-winning poet Joseph Selvam, who produced numerous works of Malay literature in the 1970s to late 1990s, died of old age on Friday in Melaka.
Joseph, who was a recipient of the Non-Malay Writers Figure Award at the Melaka Literary Award ceremony in 2010, was 82.
He leaves behind wife, Nesamany John Pillai, 79, and sons Richard and Robert.
Richard said Joseph, who had been living with him for the past 15 years, died in his sleep at their Ayer Keroh Heights home.
"About 20 years ago, he suffered a stroke and he stopped writing because his right hand was affected. Recently, his health declined.
"I discovered he was gone at about 7pm that day when I wanted to wake him up for dinner," he told the New Straits Times.
Nesamany and Robert are trying to secure flight tickets home from Switzerland, he added.
He said they had left for Switzerland five days ago for a holiday which they had wanted to before the Covid-19 pandemic.
"My mother thought my father would be all right. However, I do not think they can make it in time for the funeral tomorrow," he said.
Richard said he, unfortunately, did not inherit the love for writing from his father.
"I have no interest and I do not have the talent to write like him. I am more into sports like tennis and football. I cannot speak Tamil well like my father. I speak English and Bahasa Malaysia," he said.
Born on Dec 6, 1940, in Merlimau, Melaka, Joseph went to the Merlimau Tamil School and later studied at two private institutions, Lorong Panjang English School and Victoria Commercial School.
Fluent in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Tamil, Joseph attended the Kuala Lumpur Teachers College which saw him becoming a teacher and later, a headmaster.
Works of his Tamil literature were printed in the Tamil Nesan and Tamil Malar newspapers and he won the Tamil Literature Prize in 1985.
He ventured into Malay literature in the late 1960s and got his first break in 1972 when his short story entitled "Meena" appeared in the Balai Muhibbah magazine published by the National Unity Ministry.
Another short story entitled "Orang Miskin Timun, Orang Kaya Durian" also made it on Balai Muhibbah.
Joseph's poems can also be found in Mingguan Malaysia, Dewan Sastera and Mastika. His first anthology was entitled "Nadi Perpaduan" followed by several others included "Merintis Jalan Ke Bahagia", "Dalam Perjuangan", "Penerimaan", "Dalam Sinar Matamu" and "Luangan Rasa Di Tanjung Bidara 1985".
Some of the books can be found in the National Library Board of Singapore.
The funeral mass will be held at the St Francis Xavier Church in Melaka at 10am tomorrow. He will be buried at the Jelutong Catholic Cemetery.