Rustam Sani

Rustam Abdullah Sani (11 August 1944 – 23 April 2008) was a Malaysian politician, sociologist and political scientist. He was of Minangkabau descent from Salido, West Sumatera.

Born towards the end of the Japanese occupation of Malaya in the Perak border town of Tanjung Malim, Rustam grew up in the shadow of his famous father, Abdullah Sani, who was better known as Ahmad Boestaman. Boestaman was a Malay nationalist and the founder of the left-wing political movemenet Angkatan Pemuda Insaf and the socialist party Parti Rakyat Malaysia. He married a woman named Rohani Rustam, with whom he had a son and a daughter, Azrani Rustam and Ariani Rustam.

Rustam served as an associate professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and was a prolific writer in Malay and English. His anthology of poems, Riak-Riak Kecil, composed in 1977, was published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Rustam won the National Literature Award for 1988/89.