Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal (DSAJ) is known as a Symbolist and Colourist. This rare artwork was documented in the book Guru Of Colour: Syed Ahmad Jamal, from his exhibition in Zagreb, Croatia. He titles it Mimpi (Dreams) but it is one that might be created by his imagination, after some pet topics. It was out of synch with the time when he was creating the celebratory M50 and the keris, with all its connotations. If indeed, it came from a dream, we are looking at something deeply spiritual, related to his favourite interplay of Soul and Form and awash with serenity with the illusion of light, or an array of light beckoning, yet mysterious. Are the vertical beams some kind of portal into the beyond, of ambiguous space? Or the illusion of light represents Hope? Conjecture or fact, it is the intrinsic value of the work that compels and titillates. Usually, Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal preferred a slanting / angular trajectory of lines, for greater strength and simulate rhythm, but these are few works using vertical phalanxes, also signifying hope – like well, Hope (1962), Pengembaran (1963), Ruang Hijau (2001) and Antara Bintang Dan Bumi (2004). In October 2018 Henry Butcher Art Auction, DSAJ’s Ronggeng (1957) set a personal record of RM470,400. Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal is well-known as an artist-sculptor, administrator, designer, curator and author. He was honoured with a Retrospective by the National Art Gallery (NAG) in 2009 called Syed Ahmad Jamal: Pelukis, after an earlier 1975 Retrospective. He was also given a Historical Overview (1954-1994) exhibition at the defunct Nanyang Gallery of Art, Kuala Lumpur, in 1994-1995. He is made ’National Artist’ (1995), and in 1996, he was conferred the Panglima Jasa Negara, which carries the title ‘Datuk.’ He was director of the Asian Cultural Centre in Universiti Malaya, KL (1979-1983), and the National Art Gallery (1981-1991). He taught at the Specialist Teachers Training Institute in Kuala Lumpur (1961-1972, becoming its principal in 1964. He was educated at the Chelsea School of Art (1951-1955), London University (1955-1956), and the Malay Teacher’s Training College in Kirkby (1958-1959). In the United States, he studied at the School of the Art Institute Chicago (1963-1964), University of Hawaii, Honolulu (1973-1974). He served in the Arts Council (1960-1972) and was deputy chairman from 1968; chairman of the Wednesday Art Group and the Angkatan Pelukis SeMalaysia in 1969, and president of the Malaysian Artists Association. He was guest artist of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (1991-1992), Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (1995-1996) and the NAG (2008-2009). He wrote two major books namely Rupa Dan Jiwa (1992), which was translated into English, and the autobiographical Kunang-Kunang (1999). He did two monumental public sculptures, one in Laman Asean in the Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur, and the other, Lunar Peaks, which was torn down after he won a court case against the Kuala Lumpur City Hall for altering and desecrating his sculpture. He did the décor and costumes design for the stage plays Desaria (1981), z:oo-m (1984), Tok Perak (1992), Puteri Gunung Ledang (1995) and Keris (2007).