Chahin Baker arrived in Sydney towards the end of October 1968. He says that on arrival he had a two-dollar green note in his pocket. He was twenty two and did not know a single soul in Australia. He did not know much about immigration and thought he would work for a year or two and return to Munich where he was studying before getting a visa for Australia, but saving money was not easy.
“When I arrived here I did not know anyone, I did not know anything about migration”.
Although Chahin knew some English from school days, it was not enough to secure him a place at an Australian university at that time. The assistance that exists today was not available then, he says. He worked at Lanock Motors in Camperdown for a while before moving briefly to Kurri Kurri to work for a workshop that assembled the German trucks MAN Diesel. There he met his wife Robyn and they married in 1971 and settled in Sydney.
Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
In 1974 Chahin returned to studying and at the end of 1977 he obtained the degrees BA, Dip.Ed. from Macquarie University. From then onwards he worked in a variety of positions for the NSW Department of Education and Training for 26 years until his retirement at the end of 2004.
By the end of the seventies a Kurdish community began to emerge, consisting mainly of Kurds from Turkey. Chahin became the president of the first Kurdish association in Australia towards the end of 1979 and kept a leading position in the organisation for about six years. For many years he endeavoured to gather support in Australia for the rights of the Kurdish people.
He also presented a Kurdish/English radio program as early as 1982 on 2SER FM. About two years later he became the Head of the Kurdish Program at 2EA, that later became SBS Radio. He remained the EP, journalist and presenter for the program until the middle of 2015.
Chahin Baker is widely known amongst the Kurdish people in and outside Australia. Many of his books, poems and articles in Kurdish have been published in Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and “Iraqi” Kurdistan under the name Shahîn Bekir Soreklî. He has also written many articles and a number of poems and short stories in English. Some of his writings in Kurdish can be found here, https://www.facebook.com/ShahinBekirSorekli/
Chahin was born in the Kurdish region of Kobani, in north eastern Syria. He left Syria and went to Europe following matriculation at the age of 19. In addition to English, he speaks Kurdish, Arabic, German and Turkish. “No country has given me as much as Australia,” he says, “I am proud to be an Australian and I love this country from the depth of my heart.” Chahin resides with his wife Robyn in Newcastle where their son Che and his family also reside. Their son Shahn and his family live in Sydney.
Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
Chahin Baker at SBS in 2013 before retiring Source: Supplied
Chahin Baker receiving FECCA award for Minister of Citizenship & Multiculturalism Peter MacGauran 31.3.2005 Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
Chahin Baker with his mother. Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
Chahin Baker with his wife, sons and their families. Source: Supplied by Chahin Baker
