Muhammad Ariff Ahmad (aka MAS) was known as Singapore's "father of Malay linguistics" (The Straits Times). A pioneering bahasawan (linguist), budayawan (culturalist) and award-winning sasterawan (writer), he co-founded the Malay-language literary association Angkatan Sasterawan ’50 in 1950. The Malay-language educator’s works of social commentary spanned literary genres including poetry, short story, novel, children's and educational literature, essay and drama. He received the S.E.A. Write Award and the Tun Sri Lanang Award in 1993. In 1987, he received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to literature in Singapore. Cikgu Ariff passed away in Singapore at the age of 91 on 23 March 2016.

Born in 1924 in Singapore, Muhammad Ariff Ahmad grew up in several parts of Singapore, including Newton Road, Dunearn Road, Tiong Bahru and Henderson Road. It was through a chance encounter that he started going to school at the age of eight. A teacher, Cikgu Rahim, of the Tanglin Besar Malay School saw him playing a game of rounders with his friends at the front compound of a religious teacher's house at Malcolm Road. Cikgu Rahim then brought him to his school. The next day, Muhamad Ariff's parents came to the school with him to make his enrolment official.

At the Tanglin Besar Malay School, Muhammad Ariff developed a love for painting, reading and writing. He was a scout and wrote for the magazine Scouting for Boys. In Primary Three, he received his first writing award when he won a writing competition. The prize was five cents, but, more importantly, the experience was the first validation of his fledgling writing career.

When he subsequently attended Tanglin Tinggi Malay School from 1938 to 1940, he had begun writing more seriously, with the dream of becoming a full-time writer. But his father preferred that he teach, and upon graduation, he started working as a Malay Language teacher, a job he would retain until 1959.

When World War II hit Singapore, Muhammad Ariff attended the Syonan Nippon Gakuen and Sihan Gakko Japanese schools during the Japanese Occupation. To supplement his family's meagre income, he did odd jobs, sold kampong vegetables and was involved in the black market business and gambling dens at the Great World Amusement Park. He also continued writing. Appalled by the social conditions and injustices he witnessed during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, he started using his writing as a tool of protest.

When the war ended, he was selected among 15 trainee teachers to enrol at the Sultan Idris Teachers' Training College in Perak, Malaya in 1946. He graduated in 1949 with a teaching diploma. He continued writing actively and, in 1950, together with other idealistic Malay writers, co-founded the Angkatan Sasterawan '50 (Asas ’50) (Singapore Writers’ Movement ’50), which became among the earliest registered Malay-language literary associations in post-World War II Malaya.

Founded with the motto "Seni Untuk Masyarakat" (The Arts For The People), Asas ’50 became, over the decades, instrumental in shaping the development of modern Malay-language literature in Singapore and Malaysia. It championed independence for the Malay community in the ’50s and the use and development of the Malay language. It helped to establish Rumi (romanised) script as the main written script for the Malay language in Singapore and Malaysia, gaining Malayan literature a much wider readership. It also nurtured aspiring young Malay-language writers, providing opportunities for readings, forums, discussions, publishing and other support.

Muhammad Ariff himself became a linguistics and cultural powerhouse. He was the association's president from 1950 to 1981, its advisor from 1982 to 1993, its president again from 1994 to 2001, and has since become its honorary lifetime president. Meanwhile, he worked as a Malay Language lecturer at the Teachers' Training College at the National Institute of Education from 1959 to 1979. He then became an editor of publications for several government organisations such as Majis Ugama Islam Singapura’s (MUIS) Warita, Ministry of Education’s Mekar, and Sekata. He also became a specialist writer in Islamic Religious Knowledge for the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore in the Ministry of Education and a drama and documentary scriptwriter for Singapore Malay-language radio and television during the late ’80s.

Most notably, he became an important Malay-language writer. In the ’40s and ’50s, he wrote mainly fiction inspired by events of the times such as life during the Japanese Occupation and the nation's call for independence. During Singapore's early independence, his writings reflected the Singapore Malay community's concerns about its place in the rapidly changing socio-political landscape and encouraged solidarity among citizens. Subsequently, as Singapore developed its post-independence identity, he started writing more about Malay culture, language and heritage, touching on current social issues as well as recounting the past. He wove scenes of past Malay community life into many of his stories to preserve their collective memories for younger generations.

Written in Rumi script—except for two in Malay-Arabic or Jawi script—and spanning a wide range of literary genres including poetry, short story, novel, children’s and educational literature, essay and drama, Muhammad Ariff's writings were social commentaries that depicted a community's history and concerns through the decades.

Muhammad Ariff received many accolades over his writing career, including two National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Awards in 1990 and 1994, and the Southeast Asian Writers Award and the inaugural Tun Sri Lanang Literary Award by the Malay Language Council of Singapore in 1993. In 1987, he received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to literature in Singapore.

In addition to his teaching and writing career, Muhammad Ariff also contributed to the community, serving on the boards of the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation and the Syariah Court under MUIS. He also served as chairman of the Malay Community Committee and as advisor to Malay Village Pte Ltd. He has spoken at several conferences and forums on Malay language and culture in Southeast Asia.

Muhammad Ariff continued to promote greater understanding of Malay language, culture and heritage, and reflect on current social issues as a columnist with Berita Harian and Berita Minggu. He passed away at the age of 91 in Singapore on 23 March 2016.