KUALA LUMPUR: When Syed Husin Ali co-founded PKR, it was at the height of the "Reformasi" movement, a period marked by political turbulence.
He, however, was no stranger to such adversity.
Before serving as the deputy president of PKR, a merger of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and Parti Keadilan Nasional, he was deeply rooted in his socialist fight and served as PRM president from 1990 to 2003.
He began his political career while serving as an academic, initially as a member of Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia (PSRM), a socialist, left-wing party.
He joined his housemate at the time, Kassim Ahmad, who was considered by many to be an intellectual as politically progressive as Syed Husin.
They were part of a team of young PSRM leaders. The party would later be rebranded PRM.
Both men were influenced by the Malay left-wing leaders Burhanuddin al-Helmy, Ishak Haji Muhammad (Pak Sako), and Ahmad Boestamam.
In the 1970s, Syed Husin was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) over his involvement in the 1974 Baling incident.
Then, farmers in Baling, Kedah, protested the drop in rubber prices and higher living costs and were joined by thousands of students, led by a young Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a student activist at the time.
According to some reports, a crowd of around 20,000 took to the streets in Baling. Students in Kuala Lumpur also staged protests in solidarity with the farmers.
Anwar was detained under the ISA for two years, while Syed Husin was held for six years until 1980.
In a 2021 interview with The Vibes, Syed Husin said while under detention, he was tortured and pressured to confess to being an agent of the Communist Party of Malaya.
He also said he was asked to implicate members of the Malaysian government but refused to provide his interrogators with a false confession.
After his release, Syed Husin returned to politics.
He took part in three general elections between 1995 and 1999, contesting the Batu and Petaling Jaya Selatan seats but lost each time to Barisan Nasional candidates.
Following the merger of Parti Rakyat Malaysia with Parti Keadilan Nasional, he held the PKR deputy president's post from 2003 to 2010.
He would later serve as a Senator between 2009 to 2015.
Earlier today, Syed Husin, 87, passed away after a brief illness.
He was reported to be in critical condition on June 26 and breathed his last in the early hours of this morning.
He leaves behind three children.