Rehman Rashid is a prominent Malaysian journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

.

Personal life and career

Born in Taiping

Taiping, Perak

Taiping is a town located in northern Perak, Malaysia. With a population of 191,104 , it is the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital. Taiping took over Kuala Kangsar's role as the state capital from 1876 to 1937, but was then replaced by Ipoh...

, Perak

Perak

Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...

, Rehman's father is of Arab-Indian stock while his mother is Tamil-Eurasian parentage . He studied in the Malay College Kuala Kangsar

Malay College Kuala Kangsar

The Malay College Kuala Kangsar is a residential school in Malaysia. It is an all-boys and all-Malay school located in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak...

, before pursuing a degree in Marine Biology at University College Swansea in Wales. He was well known at University for writing folk songs and performing them at every opportunity.

Rehman became a journalist in 1981. Prior to this, he worked with the Fisheries Research Institute in Penang

Penang

Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

 and as a research associate with the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science of Universiti Putra Malaysia

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Universiti Putra Malaysia , or UPM, is a leading research intensive public university located in central Peninsular Malaysia, close to the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. It was formerly known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia or Agricultural University of Malaysia...

.

After seven years as Leader Writer and columnist with the New Straits Times

New Straits Times

The New Straits Times is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print , having been founded as The Straits Times in 1845, and was reestablished as the "New Straits Times" in 1965. The paper served as Malaysia's only broadsheet format English...

, Malaysia's leading English-language daily, he joined Asiaweek

Asiaweek

Asiaweek, the English edition, was a news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its December 7, 2001 issue due to a "downturn in the advertising market," according to...

 magazine in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 as a Senior Writer. From there, he left for a year in Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

, as a Senior Writer with the Bermuda Business magazine, before returning home to Malaysia to complete the book A Malaysian Journey.

He was the Malaysian Press Institute's Journalist of the Year for 1985, and Bermuda's Print Journalist of the Year for 1991.

Rehman currently lives in Bangsar

Bangsar

Bangsar, also Bungsar , is an affluent residential suburb on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, lying about south-west of the city centre. It is part of the Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency...

, Malaysia.