Overview

A rigmarole about the rise and fall of the shipping industry and romance during World War II Wefada Marwan is thrust into the reluctant captaincy of the family industry from the world of academia when her older brother was killed in a helicopter accident. She fell in love with her student from Algeria. Elemine is 29 years old, came to Malaysia with a mission to study Islamic finance and found Wefada intellectually stimulating. Aware of their age difference Wefada at 45 years battled to deny her feelings. Throughout her life, Wefada was nurtured in her love and fascination for the sea by her grandmother Fatimah, who descended from the Terengganu royal family. Fatimah fell in love with an Arab, Ben Qortubi who landed on the island and learnt the craft of boat-building which he gradually mastered. They had a son Marwan but their happiness was short-lived with the invasion of Japanese forces. Ben Qortubi was a transformed from a loving, enterprising boat builder and sea merchant to a muted man. He never recovered from the brutal rape of his wife, at the hands of Japanese soldiers. Ben Qortubi later disappeared at sea on a boat he built named The Prau with the Silent Soul. The son born from this crime, was shunned from birth. The dismissive treatment of her uncle Muawiyah by family members bewildered Wefada all her life. Married to Elemine at last, Wefada was deliriously happy. But on a cruise, Haiqal was attacked by pirates in the South China Sea and the story ends with a poser as to whether or not Haiqal survived the attack and how.

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Author Faisal Tehrani (also known as Mohd Faizal Musa) is Malaysian author. Faisal has won numerous literary prizes and awards, and often deemed as controversial author for experimenting various forms and proposing alternative discourses in his works. He sets record when seven of his works were banned by Malaysian government. Among his best remembered works are 1515 (translated into French), The Professor (translated into English) in 2020 and The Koro Riots (translated into English and published by Penguin Random House SEA) in 2023. Bedar Sukma Bisu or The Prau with the Silent Soul is one of Faisal Tehrani's celebrated work. First published in 2007, it received the best novel award in Special Writing Competition Celebrating 50th Anniversary of Malaysia's Institute of Language and Literature. As an academic at Institute of the Malay World and Civilization, National University of Malaysia (UKM) and ISEAS-Yusof Ishak, Singapore most of his works centred around human rights, and alternative discourses. Other than writing essays, and novels, Faisal is also known as playwright. In 2024, Faisal's written screenplay Maryam Pagi Ke Malam won The Most Original Film at 21st Asian Film Festival in Rome, Italy. In 2017, The Jakarta Post named Faisal Tehrani as Malaysia's rebel author marking him as one of the most important writers from Southeast Asia. Translator Zawiyah Baba was former Advisor, Libarians' Association of Malaysia. She graduated with B.A. (Hons) degree from the University of Malaya in 1972 and obtained a P.G.Diploma in librarianship (1973) and M.Lib. (1983) from Aberystwyth University, Wales, U.K. She began her career as Research Librarian with the Ministry of Information Malaysia (1973 - 1980) and then with the National Library of Malaysia from 1980 - 2005, where she retired as Director-General. Post-retirement, she was appointed Principal Research Fellow, Institute of the Malay World & Civilization (ATMA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2006 - 2014). Her publications include translations of books and journal articles, in Malay and English. Zawiyah was President, Librarians Association of Malaysia (PPM) for four terms. Following the tsunami of December 2004, she led the PPM volunteer team (Iqra' Mission) to Aceh (2005- 2010) and was Unesco consultant to Sri Lanka for redevelopment of public libraries (Nov.-Dec.2005). She served with IFLA Standing Committee for National Libraries (2000 -2005) and the Congress of South-East Asian Librarians (CONSAL) (1984-86; 2000-05). Dato' Zawiyah was awarded the IFLA Medal (Durban, 2007), Outstanding Librarian PPM (Kuala Lumpur, 2008) and CONSAL Outstanding Librarian, South-East Asia (Vietnam, 2009). She passed away in May, 2023.

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