COURTESY CALL BY VISITING LECTURERS AT THE CENTRE FOR MALAY STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA
Her Excellency Haznah Md Hashim, High Commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh received a courtesy call by the Visiting Lecturers at the Centre for Malay Studies, University of Dhaka led by Dr. Ariff Mohamad on 25 February 2024.
Her Excellency witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of the said Centre for Malay Studies at the University of Dhaka on 10 October 2022 - a collaboration between Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) and the University of Dhaka which has been successfully driven by the High Commission of Malaysia in Dhaka.
This establishment of a Centre for Malay Studies at the University of Dhaka was indeed a significant step towards strengthening the bilateral relations, in marking the then 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Bangladesh. Malaysia enjoys a close bilateral relations with Bangladesh, and the former was the first Muslim nation to recognise the sovereignty of the latter in 1971, which was followed by an official correspondence on 31 January 1972.
The High Commission of Malaysia strongly advocated for the establishment of such Centre for Malay Studies, towards the advancement of Malay language at international fora through cultural diplomacy. The Centre will also showcase a unique Malay culture and tradition as well as the best quality of Malaysian education.
Malay Language or Bahasa Melayu was a Lingua Franca which was widely spoken in commerce and diplomacy in the past, and is currently spoken by about 300 million people in Southeast Asia.
