This is a statutory declaration made on 14 November 1917 by Shaik Awad Saidan of No. 16 Raffles Quay, Singapore, who was an Arabic and Malay translator occasionally commissioned by the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements to aid in the translation of legal documents. He certified that he could “read and write the Arabic and Malay language” and that he made “this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declaration Ordinance 1885.” This document is part of the John Koh collection which comprises of various legal documents in Arabic, Jawi, and English, and serves as a record of the 19th and early 20th century colonial legal systems in Singapore and the interactions of various ordinary individuals with the law.
