RAWANG - MALAYSIA'S national laureate Datuk Syed Alwi Syed Hassan, 78, was found dead with head and body injuries behind his house in Kuang on Sunday night.

At about 8.15pm, Mr Syed Alwi's son, Norsham, 27, found his father's body behind his house in Lorong Serai 21, Kampung Sungai Serai, Kuang.

According to Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Hasnan Hassan, the back door was open but there was no sign of forced entry.

However, his handphone and a microwave oven were missing.

His wallet and watch were found on his body which has been taken to the Sungai Buloh hospital.

SAC (II) Hasnan said police have classified it as sudden death pending the results of the post mortem.

According to the playwright's former wife Norhayati Hashim, 56, Mr Syed Alwi and Mr Norsham had been staying in the house since 1994.

'He worked from the house,' she said, adding that there was a helper in the house previously, but she quit some time ago.

Police were at his house on Sunday questioning Mr Norsham and checking the vicinity for clues.

Mr Syed Alwi was a pioneer of Malaysian theatre and arts and was a founding member of the Malayan Arts Theatre Group and Kuala Lumpur Film Club in the 1950s and 1960s.

He was a recipient of a Fulbright grant and holds a J.D. Rockefeller Fellowship.

His works Alang Rentak Seribu and Tok Perak won him the National Literature Award (Drama) in 1972 and 1974 respectively.

In 2002, he was conferred the Anugerah Seniman Negara (National Arts Award). -- THE STAR