No job too small or big for writer, baker, undertaker Hasrul Rizwan
He spent his growing years in Sungai Udang, Malacca but...
MALAYSIANSKINI | There are very few people who wear so many hats as well as Hasrul Rizwan manages to.
On one hand, he has a devoted fan base that loves his edgy humorous novels such as the Murtad trilogy and Budak Hostel Otaknya Sewel.
On the other hand, this Kulim-born gentleman is also an undertaker and coffin maker.
To top it off, he is a baker with his own food delivery business.
Hasrul who lives in Kulim, Kedah is the assistant undertaker and coffin maker attached to the Taman Selasih mosque.
He spent his growing years in Sungai Udang, Malacca but returned to Kedah with his family when he was 17 when his father Abdul Halim, who was an army commando, retired.
“My father became an undertaker when he retired. I started making coffins when his friend who previously made coffins fell sick. After that, orders started pouring in from areas surrounding Kulim such as Sungai Petani, Baling, and Penang.
“Even hospitals started placing orders.
“I then decided to stop working as a designer ‘model maker’ for Hot Wheels in Mattel Seberang Perai and work full time as a coffin maker,” he said.
Hasrul has been making coffins full time for the last three years and when needed, he helps his father prepare the bodies of the recently departed for burial.
It started with blogs
Describing his journey as a writer and published author, Hasrul said he started writing on blog platforms Blogspot and WordPress which at the time were growing rapidly among young people who wanted to express themselves through writing.
“I am no exception. My blog Manapiranha was well-received because I presented short stories that were light, relaxed, and loaded with jokes suitable for teenagers.
"Most of the stories I wrote revolved around four naughty and funny friends going through life in a high school dormitory. These stories were popular among readers at that time.“
His books ranging from Trilogi Murtad and Budak Hostel Otaknya Sewel established him as a best-selling novelist.
“The idea to write the Murtad novels came to me when I watched a Korean action film called A Dirty Carnival and a few weeks later I saw Amir Muhammad on TV. He was launching his first three published novels from Fixi Books and wanted to find more new talent.
"I immediately sent a synopsis of the story to him, got good feedback and was asked to send the complete novel to Fixi.
“It did not take long to write and the novel (Murtad) was successfully completed, accepted by Fixi's panel of judges, printed, and then launched at the Selangor Book Fair in 2012.“
The response was more than encouraging.
“From there I continued to write my next work and the novel Budak Hostel Otaknya Sewel was born when I uploaded some of the short stories of the hostel boy that were found in my blog earlier on Wattpad (a social reading platform intended for users to read and write original stories).
“The response to this short story was completely unexpected as it received a high rating on Wattpad.”
He put all the stories from the blog together and came up with Budak Hostel Otaknya Sewel which was printed under Dubook Press publication.
It went on to become a bestseller and received good reviews.
'Undertaking is just like any other job'
Hasrul admits some of his personality traits and personal experiences can be found in his stories but feels that it is something all writers tend to do.
“I would rather write funny stories than sad or scary ones. People have this perception that the work carried out by grave diggers, undertakers, and even coffin makers is scary. But for me, it is no different from other jobs out there.
“Whether a person is a food deliveryman, office boy, mechanic, construction contract worker, gardener, or whatever, as long as one seeks halal sustenance, dedicates himself to the family, contributes to society, follows the dictates of religion, always maintains good manners and personality, we are equal in the work we do,” he said.
He generally makes between 20 and 30 coffins a month but at the height of Covid-19 deaths last year, he was making up to 12 coffins a day.
Until today, he still cannot explain how he managed to do it.
He admits people are initially a bit shocked upon learning he is an undertaker and coffin maker.
“Some didn’t believe it and thought I was joking because it wasn’t like what they imagined for a writer who produces a lot of comedy. Some still think I am joking.“
He said that in his hometown, no one knows him as a writer. He does not have to explain himself to anyone and that is somewhat a relief.
As a person who does many different things, Hasrul said time management is very important.
“I work flexible hours and I don’t answer to any superiors. I am grateful that I can divide them according to suitability and needs daily. Usually, I would start making bread and cakes as early as 3am.
"After dawn and the kitchen is cleared, I would go to the coffin workshop and do the work in the cemetery such as mowing the lawn, repairing things, and other chores. I only write at night before going to bed because it is quiet and there are no distractions.”
Strangely enough, Hasrul doesn’t find what he does to be interesting.
He points to the current unstable economic age, wars, political turmoil, pandemic, the closure of many sectors of employment and increasingly demanding lives, which make many people take on more than one job.
He described those who work hard to support their family and go through turmoil as brave.
“I have seen a lot of crying and misery in every death. I am just a regular human being who does nothing but write, wrap the bodies of the dead, and work as a carpenter.”
As to what he wants to be known for, Hasrul said different people see him differently.
“When there is a new book, I am said to be an author. When I sell bread, people will say I am a baker. When I bathe a corpse, people will say I am the mortuary manager. When I clean the gravesite, people say I am the caretaker of the grave, and when I cut wood, people will say I am the coffin-maker.”
He hopes people would think of him as someone who does each job diligently.
He never put much thought into what he would like to be remembered for but was previously asked about it by his wife.
Hasrul simply answered: “I do not want to be remembered as anything more than as a good human being who was liked by all. That's it.”
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