Nail Latypov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Malaysia, opened the conference with a welcoming speech. Nail appealed for wider use of opportunities available in Malaysia to promote the heritage left by Miklouho-Maclay and assured that the Russian House and the Embassy in Malaysia were ready to provide all possible assistance in this.

Svetlana Kovaleva, Counsellor at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Malaysia, Director of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Kuala Lumpur (Topic: “Activities of the Russian House in Kuala Lumpur on strengthening cultural and humanitarian relations between Malaysia and Russia”), presented the activities of the Russian House on strengthening cultural and humanitarian relations between Russia and Malaysia. Svetlana also noted that at the present time the related Ministries and Departments of both countries were studying and coordinating a number of legal documents, which would intensify cooperation in education, science, culture, art and tourism.

Alexander Balabanov, Head of the Division for Communication with International Organizations of the Department of Information and Communication with International Organizations of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, in his welcoming speech noted the importance of holding this conference, especially in the year of the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Malaysia. Alexander also expressed confidence in the continued development of relations with Malaysia and other countries of the region.

Sofia Pale, PhD in History, senior research fellow at the Center for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, Academic Secretary of the Association of the SPR (Topic: “Russia in the South Seas:  the major expeditions in the XIX centuries and their scientific and practical significance”), reported about the main Russian expeditions of the XIX century in the South Seas and their scientific and practical significance.

Alexey Antoshin, PhD in History, Professor of the Department of Oriental Studies of the Ural Federal University (Topic: “Malaysia on the way to Independence in the second half of the 1940s – 1950s: the view of Russian emigrants”), presented to the conference participants how Malaysia had made its way to Independence in the second half of 1940s – 1950s and how those events had been perceived by the contemporaries, especially by Russian emigrants.

Ekaterina Astafieva, PhD in History, senior research fellow at the Center for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, Executive Director of the Association of the South Pacific Researchers (Topic: “On the Study of Malaysia  at the Institute of Oriental  Studies of the Russian  Academy of Sciences”), spoke about the study of Malaysia at the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, which had always been and remained one of the priority areas of the Center for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania RAS. Ekaterina in her speech emphasized that the staff of the Center would continue its research in studying history and socio-political processes in Malaysia.

Almira Nagimova, PhD in Economy, senior research fellow Institute of International Relations of Kazan Federal University (Topic: «The role and place of Malaysia in the global Islamic finance industry”), in her report considered the evolution of the Islamic finance industry in Malaysia. Almira presented the results of qualitative analysis of Malaysia’s competitiveness in the global Islamic finance sector, showed the role of such innovations as Islamic windows and Islamic deposit insurance system, reviewed the innovation and academic leadership of Malaysia in Islamic Finance.

Victor Pogadaev, PhD in History, Senior Lecturer at MGIMO and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Topic: “The literary dialogue of civilizations: the Malay pantun in Russia”), told about the influence of Malay literature on Russian literature, which had emerged at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, when works imitating Malay poetry, including pantuns, were created by Russian poets. Victor pointed out that some researchers saw similarities between Malay pantuns, including similar plots, and Russian chastushkas (ditties). That circumstance, showing that different peoples had the same way of thinking, intelligence, was very important, and also broke all the theories of superior or inferior nations, against which had been our great compatriot, anthropologist and traveler N. N. Miklouho-Maclay.

Julia Medvedeva, creator of an online school on social media promotion (Topic: “SMM as a tool for preserving cultural heritage, a way to bring and explain the value of scientific discoveries to a wider audience”), told the conference participants about SMM as a tool to preserve cultural heritage, the way to convey the value of scientific discoveries to a wider audience.

Polina Pogadaeva, PhD in History, Senior Lecturer of Russian as a Foreign Language at the University of Kuala Lumpur, Certified TORFL Tester (Topic: «Major Achievements, Problems and Perspectives of Russian Language Teaching in Malaysia”), told about the major achievements, problems and prospects of Russian language teaching in Malaysia.

Nickolay Miklouho-Maclay, founder and Director of the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation, Head of the Center for South Pacific Studies, research fellow at the Center for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, President of the Association of the South Pacific Researchers (Topic: “Expeditions of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay in the jungles of the Malay Peninsula”) presented two expeditions of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay in the jungles of the Malay Peninsula to participants. Nickolay also noted that at present there were still ties between Russia and Malaysia in many spheres.

Datuk Nargiz Safarova, Independent expert on Southeast Asia, Ambassador of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia (Topic: “About cooperation in tourism”), spoke about cooperation and prospects of Russia and Malaysia in tourism.

Dr Azman Ayob, Senior Lecturer of International Relations and Strategic Studies at Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM, Coordinator at the Academy of Police UiTM-PDRM, Universiti Teknokogi MARA (Topic: “About anecdotes in Malaysia-Russia relations”), shared historical moments of Malaysia-Russia bilateral relations. Azman Ayob spoke about the research of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay, a monument to the Russian sailors of the cruiser “Zhemchug” in Malaysia, as well as the diplomatic relations of the two countries and the first Russian students in Malaysia. He also noted the growth of interaction in a number of areas such as energy, information and communication technologies, biotechnology, medicine, information protection, etc., the development of educational, scientific and socio-cultural ties.

Tatiana Vinokurova, teacher of the Russian language courses at the Russian House in Kuala Lumpur, spoke about the specifics of teaching Russian to Malaysian students.

 

The event brought together not only Russia and Malaysia, but also representatives of Indonesia, Serbia and other countries.

Video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNA-VhWnyak

 

This is just the beginning of the project, there are four more conferences ahead.

Project webpage: https://mikluho-maclay.org/en/russia-in-the-south-seas/

 

The project “Russia in the South Seas” is implemented by the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation, the Association of the South Pacific Researchers, the Center for South Pacific Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, with the support of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Committee for External Relations of Saint-Petersburg.

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