Putrajaya - Another two Malay Studies Chairs will be set up at Indian and South Korean universities this year to promote greater awareness and understanding of Malaysia.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said today the University of Madras in Chennai, India,and Hankuk University in South Korea had been chosen for the purpose.
"We are now talking to the University of Madras, where there is strong demand for the study of Malay and Malaysian history. The other is Hankuk University," he told reporters after the appointment of the new holder of Tun Abdul Razak Chair at Ohio University, Athens, United States, here.
The Director of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Datuk Prof Dr Salleh Din, has been appointed as the 13th chair holder of Tun Abdul Razak Chair.
The chair was established in 1980 and its holder will carry out lecturing and researching in his or her chosen field at Ohio University for two years.
The Tun Abdul Razak Chair is supported with funds from the Malaysian government and United States firms with business interests in Malaysia.
The chair holder is responsible for promoting better understanding and enhancing relationships between Malaysia and the United States as well as identifying new areas for future cooperation, especially in the field of higher education.
Besides the Tun Abdul Razak Chair, Malaysia has another three Malay Studies Chairs at the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) in China, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and Leiden University in Holland.
Asked about the establishment of the local apex university, Mustapa said recommendations to identify one or two local universities to be groomed into world class institutions would be forwarded to the ministry by a committee by middle of this year.
Mustapa also said that he hoped to visit some top American universities this year to establish stronger linkages in terms of students and staff exchanges with these universities.
Source: www.bernama.com.my (16 Januari 2008)
