If an American researcher studying Southeast Asia can’t make the 20-hour flight to Malaysia, the first floor of Alden Library is the next best stop.
Ohio University has sustained a relationship for more than 50 years and 9,400 miles with Malaysia by compiling the largest collection of Malaysian literature and media in the country and giving the prime minister of Malaysia an honorary degree.
All of OU’s connections with Malaysia stem from the establishment of the Tun Abdul Razak Chair in 1981, said Habibah Ashari, of Universiti Teknologi MARA in Selangor, Malaysia, who serves as the 14th Razak chair, assuming the position in 2011.
The partnership was created out of Malaysia’s desire to prosper after gaining independence from Britain and out of OU’s desire to increase its international connections, beginning in the 1960s, Ashari said.
“Ohio University in the ’60s had very forward-thinking, visionary, international-thinking presidents,” Ashari said.
The Malaysian Ministry of Education, as well as American companies, funds Ashari’s position. Altogether, they have provided about $4 million to pay Ashari’s salary and subsidize the events and activities she programs.
As OU’s primary liaison to Malaysia, Ashari’s job is to promote the study of Malaysian culture, language, politics and society at OU through events and classes.
Most recently, she organized a trip to Malaysia for OU President Roderick McDavis and OU trustee David Brightbill to confer with the Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak to sustain the important relationship between OU and Malaysia.
“If your idea is to promote Malaysia, you have to do a lot of work, getting the (programs) going,” Ashari said.
As a part of the Razak chair endowment, the Southeast Asian Studies collection in Alden receives any new books and media from the National Library of Malaysia, giving Alden the largest collection of Malaysian media outside of the southeastern island, said Jeffrey Ferrier, head of the Southeast Asia collection.
“If you go to a big research university like Ohio State, their collections in Southeast Asia pale in comparison to ours,” Ferrier said.
As another way to spread Malaysian culture at OU, Ashari asked Vilashini Somiah, a graduate student studying Southeast Asian studies, to teach Elementary Bahasa Malaysia 1110, a course that teaches the basics of Malaysian language and culture, Somiah said.
“By having this class, it has already improved an already wonderful relation between OU and Malaysia,” Somiah said.
Somiah and Ashari were able to recruit 14 people to take the class, and Somiah will offer a second level next semester for students to continue sustaining OU’s relationship with Malaysia.
“We will have to continue with it to honor the prime minister, to honor the relationship that we have with OU and to ensure that even if Malaysia is not known to other places, maybe at least to a segment of the society here, it’s kept alive,” Ashari said.
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@DanielleRose84
