His son, lawyer Malik Imtiaz, 52, told FMT that his mother Hajrah Beebee, 80, discovered her husband had died in his sleep at around 9.00am this morning at their Tanjung Tokong home.

Sarwar also leaves behind son Dr Malik Mumtaz, 56, and four grandchildren.

Of Punjabi descent, Sarwar was born in Taiping, Perak, the eldest of five siblings.

Close friend Anwar Fazal said Sarwar had spent the last six months of his life relocating from Kuala Lumpur, where he was based for a considerable time, to Penang.

Anwar said the professor was renting a space to be made into a library-cum-research centre featuring his collection of cultural art and scholarly work.

“I last met him at a nasi kandar shop in Jelutong. We spoke about his collection and how he was eager to start a cultural programme at a local university. He is a cultural heritage expert and his death is a great loss to the country,” he said.

Sarwar obtained a PhD in Mak Yong in 1976 from the University of Hawaii, the world’s first-ever doctorate on any Malay performing arts.

He was also the key driver in nominating the dance as a world heritage in Unesco’s Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity category in 2005.

Sarwar is credited for setting-up the performing arts programme in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 1970, the first of its kind in the country.

After completing his PhD in the United States, he returned to USM in 1976 as an associate professor and headed the performing arts programme in the university, teaching there for 19 years.

Sarwar was a professor in theatre studies in UM and later taught English at the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

He was also a visiting professor at universities in Asia, Australia and Europe, and was among the key individuals to facilitate cultural exchanges between George Town and Adelaide.

Prayers were held at Masjid Pakistan and he was later laid to rest at the Perak Road Cemetery after maghrib.