PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A Malaysian national laureate, Datuk Shahnon Ahmad, died on Tuesday morning (Dec 26) due to pneumonia. He was 84.

His son Asrol Shahnon said his father died at KPJ Hospital in Kajang, Selangor, where he was warded for the past five days.

His remains were buried on Tuesday afternoon.

Dr Shahnon, a Professor Emeritus at Universiti Sains Malaysia, received the National Literary Award in 1982.

The renowned novelist had also won several awards such as The Champion of Literature (1976), Asean Literary Prize (1990) and Mastera Literary Award (2010, 2011).

Some of his notable published works include Maha Maha (Great Worlds, 1999) and Muntah (Nausea, 2000).

On of his more famous works was Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan (No Harvest But A Thorn, 1966).

He caused a stir in 1998 when he wrote a Malay language satire with an English title, SHIT, that attacked the dark aspects of Malaysia that was led by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, at the height of the pro-Anwar Ibrahim Reformasi movement.

He became a member of Parti Islam SeMalaysia and was the party's Member of Parliament for Sik constituency in Kedah in 1999. He did not contest in the 2004 polls.