Research is my passion. Passion is my life

Dr. Sabzali Musa Kahn was born in Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia. He graduated with a degree in visual arts from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. He then pursued his Masters in Education from Universiti Putra Malaysia and he obtained his Doctorate (Ph.D) in Architecture Studies from Universiti Putra Malaysia. He started his career as a consultant in government and corporate sectors. He was one of the committee who founded Universiti Industri Selangor, Malaysia (UNISEL). In addition, he was appointed as the secretariat member to develop the master action plan for the Ministry of Unity and Development Community, Malaysia. His participation in various major exhibitions organized by universities, galleries, State and National Art Gallery has greatly enhanced his knowledge and experience as an artist. He is also involved with visual arts research, theatre and workshops in the aspect of creative teaching for the pre-school children, people with disabilities and in curriculum development of visual art studies at the university level. He has won several competitions in art and design. Some of the awards obtained were Main Incentive gift from Art Media exhibition 2006, Special Award Art Media VIII,2009 and Special award Art Media IX,2010. He is the gold medalist for Innovation and Creativity EXPO 2010, University of Malaya, Malaysia. In 2015, he won the national gold medal at Innovation and Invention Competition Through Exhibition (iCompEx) and Cahaya Kasih President’s Award from Maybank, Malaysia. His research on the use of new materials and techniques in visual art production has won him Excellence University of Malaya Award for 2015 under the Arts and Creativity Category. He held position as the head jury for batik art drawing category at the international level which was organized by Rehabilitation Council Malaysia (MCR). He represented Malaysia for visual art category and was the first Malaysian selected to be head jury in the 8th International Abilympic 2011 at Seoul,Korea. His ongoing effort and contribution has brought gold medal to Malaysia in the International Abilympic 2011. This has been a great achievement for the country at the international level to have won a gold medal for the last 32 years. Dr. Sabzali active participation in the social work at local and international level has made great impact to the society. Creativity activities and education based on visual art are incorporated into his social works. He was the Visual Art Coordinator and Deputy Director (undergraduate) at the Cultural Centre, University of Malaya. Currently, he is the Senior Lecturer, Masters and Ph.D Coordinator at Academy of Malay Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I have been involved in teaching for more than 32 years. I started my career as a temporary teacher before pursuing my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Malaya, where I obtained my Bachelor in Indian Studies and History and Master in Linguistics. I did my PhD in Linguistics at Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. I have decent knowledge in Tamil grammar, where I teach the subject at my institution, and have authored a few books, individually and jointly, on that subject. I have written and published more than 50 articles so far and have attended more than 75 conferences and seminars, locally and abroad. Field Interest: I am interested and actively involved in research involving fields of study such as linguistics, historical linguistics, language borrowing, translation, Tamil education, and classical literature of Tamil.  Completed Research: Phonology, Linguistics, Grammar, Loanword Phonology, Lexical Morphology, Translation and Cognates, and Tamil Education. Supervisions of Postgraduates and Undergraduates: I have more than a dozen postgraduate students who have completed their studies under my supervision in various fields, especially those related to linguistics, grammar, Tamil education, and philosophy.  Language skills: I have good speaking and writing command in Tamil, Malay, and English. I could read and write Hindi and Sanskrit moderately. PROFESSIONAL: I have been actively involving various organisations at various levels, holding various roles. To name a few, I am one of the board-list members of the Malaysian Examination Council. Besides working closely with the council in examination-related matters, I am also a panellist in the curriculum review committee of the council for the Tamil subject (Till todate). I am a member of the faculty and served as Head of Department of Indian Studies, University of Malaya, from June 2014 till September 1, 2018. I am also a member of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Malaya. Recently, I was appointed as an External Examiner of Tamil subjects thought at Teacher Training Institutes in Malaysia for a period of two years (2018-2022). I am serving as the current Secretary of the International Association of Tamil Research, Malaysia (1997). I also served as the General Secretary II for the 9th International Tamil Conference and Seminar on Tamil Studies (9ICSTS) held at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, from 29 January 2015 till February 2, 2024. I am also involved in social engagement activities at various levels. Currently, I am serving as Chairman of the Parents and Teachers Association of a Tamil School in Kuala Lumpur (SRJK (T) Jalan Cheras, (2016-2019).