Salleh Ben Joned

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

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

Early life

Salleh was born in Melaka on 4 July 1941, where he later attended the Malacca High School. 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.

Career

After returning to Malaysia in 1973, Salleh taught English literature at the University of Malaya, before becoming a freelance writer in 1983. He was also a columnist for the New Straits Times in the 1980s and 1990s. His works include Sajak-Sajak Salleh – Poems Sacred and Profane and The Amok of Mat Solo. 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.

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.

External links

• Salleh Ben Joned: A Most Unlikely Malay (part 1)
• Salleh Ben Joned: A Most Unlikely Malay (part 2)
• https://sallehbenjoned.blogspot.com