WHO B.D.K. SALDIN???

Before this I never heard this name in my life, until I went to Sri Lanka last year for a voluntary mission, suddenly, I noticed that many people talking about him in relation with Sri Lankan Malay. I wonder why they talk much about him and who B.D.K SALDIN is. Why he become special to Sri Lankan Malay Community, and after I go through reading a book that had given to me, lastly I find the conclusion that I want and what I can say is that “he is Sri Lankan Malay hero”. If in Malaysia we have Prof Awang Sariyan, A.Samad Said, and other Malay Language warrior, here in Sri Lanka, B.D.K SALDIN is the person that I can respect most in bringing the identity of Malay Sri Lanka to be practiced in Sri Lankan community especially Malay community. Here I highlight some of personal background of B.D.K SALDIN.

B.D.K SALDIN B.A (Econ) is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He was the director/secretary of Forbes and Walker Ltd until he retirement in 1988. He was keenly interested in the Sri Lankan Malay language as a vehicle for preserving the identity of his community in Sri Lanka. He is the regular contributor to the “Terang”, a quarterly journal originally issued by the Kurunegala Malay Association and now carried on by a group of interested Malays. He successfully concluded a pilot project in teaching adults to read and write Malay under the auspices of the Sri Lankan Malay Association.

He has attended and presented papers at several International Malay Language Conferences in Malaysia, some of which have been published in the Journal Dewan Bahasa in Malaysia. In August 2000 he was elected to the International Council for the Malay Language (Majlis Antarabangsa Bahasa voluntari Melayu) situated in Kuala Lumpur and presented a paper at its first convention in August 2000. He is the author of “A Guide to Malay”, a text book approved by the National Institute of Education for the GCE Examination.

Hope this information help us to know better about Malay warrior not only in Malaysia but all over the world. Knowing "someone" is a key to open a gap between culture and tradition of one country with another country.