GPTD @ HUMANITARIAN WEEK IIUM

Salamunalaik...

Gptd- Sri Lanka together with GPTD exco member will be at GPTD Booth in 'Humanitarian Week'
for 4 days starting from 28 July to 31 July 2009. We want to expose GPTD to IIUM community as well as open for new recruitment. For those who interested, kindly invite all of you to come and get to know what GPTD is and become one of our big family...

Our Booth located at "IIUM CENTRE", we also open for "SAKTI" training for those who interested, futher details about GPTD, SRI LANKA GROUP and SAKTI training, please come to meet us at our booth.

see you there!!! come and join us!!! grab this oppurtunity~

TALK ON REFUGEES IN SRI LANKA

Salam...

There will be talk on refugees in Sri Lanka: Who is the real victims???.

Venue : IRK LR9

DATE: 18/6/09 (THURSDAY)

TIME: 5 PM

Speaker: BRO KHAIRIL ANNUAR KHALID (Director of Emergency Relief, Malaysian

Relief Agency)

Organized by INTELLECTUAL YOUTH CLUB (IYC) IIUM, in collaboration with Grup Pengkaji Tamadun Dunia(GPTD-GRUP SRI LANKA) and Malaysian Relief Agency (MRA)

ALL IIUM STUDENTS ARE INVITED!!!

~ This talk basically want to increase degree of awareness among the Sri Lankan students in IIUM, Sri Lankan people in Malaysia as well as student in IIUM about the issue that being crucial happen in Sri Lanka especially issue on refugees there. This programmee is a first step before Sri Lankan students involve in trainning that will be conduct by MRA. Hopefully, this talk will benefits all of us and will run smoothly, insyaALLAH.

~yuyi~

WHO IS B.D.K. SALDIN?

The name had never came across our mind until last year we went to Sri Lanka.We noticed that people kept on mentioning his name when talking about the Sri Lankan Malays. After we go through a book that had been given to us, we came to a conclusion that “he is a 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 we can give our highest respect for his efforts of bringing the identity of Malay Sri Lanka. Here I highlight the 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 helps 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.

Melayu Sri Lanka

Bangsa Melayu Sri Lanka merupakan bangsa minoriti di Sri Lanka berbanding bangsa Tamil dan Moors (darah campuran bangsa Arab dan Tamil). Mengikut peratusan penduduk, bangsa Melayu hanya beberapa peratus dari keseluruhan penduduk Sri Lanka. Kebanyakan orang-orang Melayu di Sri Lanka tinggal di kawasan persisiran pantai seperti di Hambantota.

Menurut sejarah, orang Melayu Sri Lanka telah mula wujud dan menetap di Sri Lanka sejak kurun ke-13 lagi. Terdapat dua faktor utama yang menyebabkan bangsa Melayu berhijrah ke Sri Lanka lama dahulu. Faktor pertama adalah kerana askar-askar Melayu dari kepulauan Melayu di hantar ke Sri Lanka bagi membantu British di sana. Mereka di gelar sebagai Orang Rejimen (Ceylon Rifle Regiment of Malays). Mereka sangat di hormati dan di berikan gelaran-gelaran tertentu kerana keberanian dan kesetiaan mereka. Akhirnya askar-askar ini memilih untuk menjadi penduduk tetap di sini dan mereka telah di anggap sebagai kaum elit yang menerima pelbagai kelebihan dari kerajaan British.

Kelompok kedua yang menyebabkan wujudnya bangsa Melayu di Sri Lanka juga disebabkan oleh golongan pembesar-pembesar dan anak-anak raja yang di buang negeri oleh British dari kepulauan Melayu ke Sri Lanka. Sebagai contoh, kisah Syeikh Yusof Al-Makasari yang di percayai merupakan golongan di raja dan bangsawan dari Tanah Jawa yang kuat menentang penjajahan British di kepulauan Melayu. Disebabkan rasa terancam, pihak British telah mengambil krputusan untuk membuangnya di Sri Lanka selama 11 tahun.

Ada juga pendapat yang menyatakan Orang melayu Sri Lanka pada awalnya merupakan pelayar-pelayar Melayu yang berdagang ke Sri Lanka. Melalui kawasan persisiran pantai, sebahagian dari mereka membuat keputusan untuk menetap di sana. Di sebabkan oleh itu, kebanyakan bangsa Melayu di Sri Lanka tinggal di kawasan persisir pantai dan bekerja sebagai nelayan.

Kini penduduk Melayu Sri Lanka semakin pudar identitinya sebagai Bangsa Melayu. Terdapat beberapa faktor yang menyebabkan perkara ini berlaku. Yang pertama, wujudnya tradisi kawin campur dimana orang-orang melayu Sri Lanka kini lebih cenderung untuk memilih pasangan dari bangsa lain sama ada Bangsa Tamil atau Moors. Apabila ini terjadi, mereka lebih selesa untuk ‘bertukar’ bangsa hingga tidak mahu lagi mengaku sebagai Melayu. Hal ini sangat berkaitan dengan faktor kedua dimana taraf hidup orang-orang Melayu itu sendiri yang kebanyakannya ditindas dan ini menghalang mereka untuk maju kehadapan dan membela nasib mereka sendiri.

Dari segi ekonomi, tidak ramai orang-orang Melayu dapat sampai ke tahap yang tinggi. Malahan, golongan muda Melayu sendiri yang berjaya dalam bidang pendidikan, lebih selesa untuk berhijrah keluar dari kelompok Melayu dan membawa cara hidup tersendiri. Antara sebab lain adalah, proses asimilasi dan sosialisasi dengan bangsa-bangsa lain yang menyebabkan bangsa Melayu terikut-ikut ataupun sebenarnya adalah satu proses penyesuaian diri dengan budaya dan cara hidup bangsa lain.

Bersambung...

Deshabandhu Jezima Ismail

Madam Jezima Ismail

Educated at St. Bridget’s Convent, (Primary to Collegiate)
Bachelor of Arts, University of Ceylon 1955
Master of Arts (Education), McGill University 1966
Diploma in TEFL, University of Sydney 1972

Profession :
Teaching career of 32 years – 13 years as Principal of Muslim Ladies College, Colombo.

Special Interests:
Education (formal, informal, non formal), Women and Children, Religion, Media

Current Positions:
Member , National Committee on Women 2000 to date.
Ministry of Disaster Management & Human Rights

• Member, Steering Group to draft a New Constitutional Bill of Rights
• Member , Committee to draft a Human Rights Charter
• Member, Working Group to study – Freedom of Religion of Belief

Member, Pres.Com.to investigate and inquire into serious violations of Human Rights
Member, UN National Advisory Group
Chancellor, South Eastern University
Governor, Marga Institute (Sri Lanka Centre for Development Studies)
President and Founder, Sri Lanka Muslim Women’s Conference (SLMWC)
Founder and Chair, Academy of Adult Education for Women (AAEW)
Member, Board of Trustees, Intl. Inst.of War Trauma of Humanitarian Interventions
Founder/member, Panel of Coordinators, Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum
Chairperson, Network of NGOO in the Eastern Province (NESCOD)
Member, Board of Management, Centre for Human Rights, University of Colombo
Member, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre

For more information...click here

Sri Lanka Western Province Governor

Meeting the Western Province Governor (centre) and the Chief Minister (4th from left)

Seyed Alavi Mowlana
Governor - Western Province.

Full Name : Seyed Ahmed Seyed Alavi Mowlana (Beliau mengatakan bahawa beliau merupakan kerabat diraja Sultan Perlis)

Private Address : 6/4, Malwatte Cross Lane, Off Malwatte road, Dehiwela.

Present Position : Governor, Western Province

Date of Birth : 1st January 1932

S.Alavi Mowlana, present Governor of Western Province. Educated at St. Peters College, Bambalapitiya and Zahira College, Maradana.

Started the political carrier in 1948 as a Trade Unionist. In 1956 joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party under the leadership of late Premier Hon.S.W.R.D.Bandaranayake. In 1960 under the able leadership of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranayake became the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Trade Union Movement and was appointed as the Senior Vice President of the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya and also one of the Vice Presidents of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was a Councilor in the Colombo Municipal Council for a period of 10 years. In 1994 entered Parliament as the Deputy Minister of Media and thereafter as a Cabinet Minister of Provincial Council and Local Government and in 2001 appointed as Cabinet Minister of Labour. In addition to that was appointed as president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Federation and Organizing Secretary and convener of the Joint - Council of Trade Union Organization (JCTUO). Was also an advisor to former president Her Excellency Madam Chandrika Bandaranayake on Muslim Affairs.

Received National awards by former President H.E.Madam Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunga for the services rendered for the Trade Union movement in this country for more than 45 years. Furthermore has received several Vishvaprasadini and National and International awards as member of the World Federation of Trade Unions and also has represented Sri Lanka in several seminars of the Trade Union throughout the World. In 2001 was appointed as the Chairman of the Asia Pacific Region of the International Labour Organization (I.L.O) for a period of three years which was proposed by China and seconded by India.

Presently Governor of the Western Province but still maintains identity as a trade unionist and social and religious worker.

Zahira College Colombo

With the Principal, Mr. T.K. Azoor

Zahira College, Colombo is the very first Muslim school in Sri Lanka and was founded in 1892 as Al Madrasathul Zahira by two of the most prominent Sri Lankan Muslims of the day, I. L. M. Abdul Aziz and Arasi Marikar Wapchie Marikar, with the active patronage of Ahmed Orabi Pasha of Egypt. It is currently the largest Muslim educational institution in Sri Lanka with more than 4000 students studying there. The college is situated at the heart of Colombo city. The college also has one of the oldest mosques in the country in its premises. Zahira means Excellence in Arabic