Salleh Ben Joned

Salleh Ben Joned (4 July 1941 - 29 October 2020) was a Malaysian poet. He was called the "bad boy of Malaysian literature".[1]

Salleh Ben Joned
Born(1941-07-04)July 4, 1941
Melaka, Straits Settlements (present-day Malaysia)
DiedOctober 29, 2020(2020-10-29) (aged 79)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Occupation(s)Poet, writer
Notable workSajak-Sajak Salleh – Poems Sacred and Profane, The Amok of Mat Solo

Early life

Salleh was born in Melaka on 4 July 1941, where he later attended the Malacca High School.[2] He received a Colombo Plan scholarship in 1963 to study English literature in Australia, where he studied first in Adelaide, then at the University of Tasmania where he was a student of James McAuley.[3]

Career

After returning to Malaysia in 1973, Salleh taught English literature at the University of Malaya, before becoming a freelance writer in 1983.[3] He was also a columnist for the New Straits Times in the 1980s and 1990s.[4] His works include Sajak-Sajak Salleh – Poems Sacred and Profane and The Amok of Mat Solo.[5] His work often employed apparent profanity and blasphemy to criticise contemporary political and religious ideologies in Malaysia; in 1974 he publicly urinated at an art exhibition in response to what he saw as its pretentiousness.[6]

Death

Salleh died at the age of 79 from heart failure at 1:21 am on 29 October 2020 at the University Malaya Medical Centre.[4]

References
  1. "Salleh Ben Joned: A Most Unlikely Malay (Part 1 of 2)". ABC listen. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  2. "Maverick Malaysian poet and writer Salleh Ben Joned dead at 79". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  3. "Maverick Malaysian poet and writer Salleh Ben Joned dead at 79". The Straits Times. 2020-10-29. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  4. "Malaysian literary giant Salleh Ben Joned dies". New Straits Times. 29 October 2020. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  5. Lee, Annabelle (2020-10-29). "Literary icon Salleh Ben Joned passes away, but his legacy lives on". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  6. Ng, Andrew Hock Soon (2012). "The sacred profane in the poetry of Salleh Ben Joned" (PDF). Kajian Malaysia. 30 (Supp. 1): 1–21.
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