Dato Haji Shahnon bin Ahmad born 1933 in Sik, Kedah is a Malaysian writer, a National Laureate, and a former Member of Parliament He was awarded with the National Literary Award in 1982 He is also a Professor Emeritus at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.Shahnon has written a number books, one of the most notable being Shit PukiMak PM 1999 , a controversial political satire The book makes allegorical references to the ruling coalition government, Barisan Nasional BN , its major component party, United Malays National Organisation UMNO , and former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamed There were attempts by the government to ban this book and to strip Shahnon of his literary title.Some novels written by Shahnon include Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan 1966 which has been adapted into a film called Rice People directed by Cambodian film director Rithy Panh, Rentong 1965 , Srengenge 1973 which won the Malaysian Novel of the Year in 1970, and Terdedah 1965.Shahnon is also a member of opposition political party PAS In the 1999 general election, he contested in the Parliamentary constituency of Sik P.13 in which he won He did not contest in the 2004 general election which saw PAS losing that seat to BN.Source