Official Interview: V G Kumar Das

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Today's Chat with Sarah features V G Kumar Das author of Mission Sabah.

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1. Tell us a bit about your background.

I’m a retired academic (Emeritus Professor) with a penchant for teaching and research. My extensive interdisciplinary research on tin-based chemicals won me the national science award and the prestigious appointment as Fellow of the Malaysian Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences. Over the years, I have also been involved in higher education in an administrative capacity, first as Dean of Science and then as Founding Vice-Chancellor of two universities. I am the eldest in a family of seven children of my late parents, who hailed from India and took up domicile in pre-war Malaysia.

2. What was your first experience with writing?

Being an academic, I’m no stranger to publishing research findings in scientific journals. Even into retirement, I continue to do so in the form of books, one of which won national recognition as the best book of the year in 2014. My latest book, published in late 2024, is entitled “The tapestry of Science; A multidisciplinary review of fundamental and contemporary topics”; this voluminous tome presents readers with a holistic view of science.

My first foray into non-scientific writing was in 2016 when I published the biography of my mother, entitled “Gowri”. Two detective novels then followed – ‘Stalking Crime’ and ‘Mission Sabah’ – featuring Zainal Abidin as the protagonist investigator.

3. Let's discuss your book Mission Sabah. Can you give us a short synopsis for those who aren't familiar with it?

The story unfolds with the arrival of the much-feared antagonist, Saadam Elwan, a top-ranking member of the jihadist group Islamic State or ISIS, in the East Malaysian state of Sabah, some four months before the country’s Ministry of Defence (MinDef) gets wind of the news. Realising the serious threat of his presence to the nation’s security, MinDef picks its top counter-terrorism agent, ASP Zainal Abidin (“Zain”), to head a 7-member elite task force on a manhunt for the adversary and smother the network of clandestine terror cells being created. The narrative also carries interesting facets of the State’s unique geography and history.

4. Why did you pick Sabah for the location?

Malaysia's primary security concerns are concentrated in Sabah, particularly along its eastern seaboard, a 1,730 km coastline with 362 islands washed by the Sulu and Celebes Seas, due to the potential for cross-border threats and maritime insecurity. It is also well documented that the State has faced insurgency in the past from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters from the Philippines in pursuit of their activities to propagate radicalised Islam. A large part of Sabah was once an Islamic Sulu State. This group had long been championing the Islamic Sulu claims to parts of eastern Sabah and had also indulged in sporadic kidnapping for ransom attacks. The famous 2013 monthlong incursion into Lahad Datu in the Tawau Division of Sabah by some 230 militants sent by a claimant to the Sulu Sultanate, which was finally crushed by Malaysian security forces, also adds credence to the selection of Sabah as the setting for the storyline. Furthermore, I thought, the inclusion of Sabah’s unique natural wonders, its people, and facets of its history would augment the story's appeal to both local and foreign readers.

5. Just the word "Jihad" evokes strong feelings in most people. How difficult was it for you to write about this subject?

It is always challenging to write about jihad without its contextual setting, lest it be viewed as Islamophobic rhetoric. In the book, the adversary is referred to as a ‘jihadist terrorist’, and elsewhere in the text, in a conversation, one of the participants gives a blistering attack on the narcissistic mindset of such a person who is shaming the real tenets of Islam as a religion of peace. Malaysia is a multi-religious country with Islam as the official religion. It abhors radicalisation of any faith and has, during the active ISIS years, been a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. History also records that there was once a home-bred Al-Ma’unah Muslim cult group in the country propagating an Islamic State, which was banned and finally demolished in 2000.

6. Which character was your favorite to write? Which was hardest?

My favourite character was the protagonist investigator, Zain, whom I had already introduced to Malaysian readers in ‘Stalking Crime’.

The hardest was the antagonist, Saadam Elwan, as I had to go into the mindset of the jihadist terrorist to portray his cunning and sadistic plans and manoeuvres to keep one step ahead of those engaged in his manhunt, and later to portray him as a war-hardened, emotionless individual when captured.

7. Was there a specific theme you were looking to explore in this book?

I would say that I did not want the book to be just a mere fictional fantasy, but a realistic fiction novel, alerting readers, especially in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society such as ours, to be ever cognizant of disruptive forces surreptitiously eroding our peace and harmony.

8. What's next for you? Do you have any more books in the works?

Nothing is on the horizon, although some are pressing me to write my biography.

I like to end with lighter questions.

9. Name a place that you'd love to visit.

New Zealand, for the second time.

10. If you had all the time and talent in the world, what skill would you want to learn that you don't know now?

Playing a musical instrument like the piano.

11. Would you rather cook or clean?

Have not participated in both for quite a while, but I would opt for cleaning.

12. What words describe you best?

Meticulous, curious, creative, focused, generous, compassionate, humble.