Obituary: Prof Musa bin Abu Hassan

My condolences to his family, Maznah Pendek and the kids, and the people of Masjid Tanah, Melaka.

I have known Musa since I was in third year university in California.

Full name: Musa bin Abu Hassan
Call names: Musa, Pak Itam, Orang Kampung
DOB: 20 December 1954
Date of demise: Thursday night, 12 February 2015, 9.30pm (malam Jumaat)
Solat jenazah: 13 February 2015, 10 am, Masjid UPM, Serdang
Burial: Tanah Perkuburan Islam UPM, Serdang
Date of marriage: 8 August 1982
Wife: Maznah Pendek
Children: 4

BIOGRAPHY

Musa was born in Masjid Tanah, Melaka. His mother passed away soon after he was born (ibunya mati syahid). His father re-married and he lived with them. He had many brothers and sisters, but he was the youngest from the same parents. He was of Malay Bugis heritage.

He was a Bachelor's degree candidate from UPM and studied at the University of California, Davis campus (UC Davis). He had many skills and 4 of his outstanding skills were Malay short-story writing (fiction), close-up photography, mass communication, and cooking rendang ayam. After UC Davis, he went to Stanford University, Palo Alto to do a Masters degree in Mass Communication under Prof Everette Rogers, another luminary in Mass Communication. His co-supervisor was Ms Mody, an Indian lady. His best friend at Stanford was a Japanese man, Toshio, who married at the cathedral at Stanford University - the wedding cuisine arrived by a Japan Airlines chartered flight, all the way direct from Tokyo. Another friend was Amira, a tall skinny Japanese American.

After completing his Masters at Stanford University in 1981, Musa returned and worked as a lecturer at UPM in Serdang. Musa married in 1982 to Maznah Pendek, a former MGHS student who was in my younger sister's batch. They have 4 kids.

Musa then pursued his studies and completed his PhD at the University of Florida.

Upon completion of his studies, he performed the obligatory Hajj, and later went to perform the Umrah.

In his academic work, Musa covered many areas and new fields, including IT for rural areas and development. Today, many rural areas have Internet access. He co-authored many papers on IT development in Malaysia. His papers can be found in Digital Reviews online.

He obtained full professorship from UPM by 2008. He became a member of Majlis Profesor Negara (MPN) along with 3000 Malaysian professors on 1 April 2010.

Musa was also a speaker on radio, and he had talked about a congress at UPM.

Musa worked all his life with UPM and then joined USIM after he retired, till he passed away.

May Allah accord him with the best of His blessings.

External links:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3NVFLYHJ7eM?feature=player_embedded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLruFLm18vs
https://www.facebook.com/UCDavis/timeline

References:
http://www.digital-review.org/

Musa Abu Hassan and Mohd Safar, UPM. In Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2007-2008 ‘.my’ Malaysia. pp196-203

Musa Abu Hassan and Siti Zobidah Omar, UPM. In Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2009-2010 ‘.my’ Malaysia. pp255-261