Rais regrets fewer students prefer to pursue Malay Studies
Published on: Friday, November 21, 2014
SERDANG: Special adviser to the Government on socio-cultural affairs Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim regrets the declining number of students choosing Malay Studies."The number of Malay Studies students is small. Heads of Malay Studies faculties admitted this. It may be due to the excitement over English, Science and Mathematics."The Malays don't want to lag behind in academic. As such, our culture and heritage is neglected," he told reporters after launching International Malay Art & Culture (IMAC) at the Malay Heritage Museum, University Putra Malaysia (UPM) here, Thursday.ADVERTISEMENT Rais said something needs to be done to restore the glory of Malay Studies and promote place it on the world stage.He suggested that Malaysia collaborate with universities in Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and Thailand to study the Malay archipelago civilisation."I have proposed to the leadership to think about the future of the Malay civilisation because most experts are foreigners while the locals are unknown."At the function, Jerantut Member of Parlaimant Ahmad Nazlan Idris made a symbolic handing over of a Pahang Malay traditional house to UPM.ADVERTISEMENT Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Built in 1924, the house once inhabited by the Mukim Kelola penghulu will be brought to the museum for the reference of Malay architecture researchers.The Negeri Sembilan house, Perak house and the Terengganu house are already placed in the Malay Heritage Museum, which began operation in January last year. – Bernama