A warm welcome to the Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur!
COVID-19 pandemic has been with us for the past 3 years and the Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) has also gone through quite a number of changes and adjustments in our working culture, networking activities as well as the execution of our programmes and events. Year 2019, also marked the 30th anniversary of our office in Malaysia.
Of course, these changes have been affecting the core mission of the Japan Foundation including its Kuala Lumpur office in carrying out comprehensive international cultural exchange programmes with the objective of deepening mutual understanding between the people of Japan and Malaysia.
Although online communication has now become a part of our new norm in everyday lives, JFKL has been actively reliving our project initiatives in Malaysia physically while maintaining the online presence at the same time. We are committed in delivering our very best as always in bridging Japan to Malaysia through our three main fields; Arts & Cultural Exchange, Japanese Language, and Japanese Studies & Global Partnerships.
Certain events such as under the Arts & Culture umbrella that were thought to be nearly impossible to execute on online platforms, have been conducted via online platforms like Zoom sessions and such, and some even made available to the public via live streaming on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. We are blessed to be able to continuously offer our events like the annual Japanese Film Festival (JFF) and our online exhibition Kaleidoscope Japan, to name a few, despite the recent challenges..
Furthermore, in Malaysia, the Japanese language education is developing positively and JFKL is more than happy to provide endless support and cooperation to educational institutions as well as their Japanese language teachers and learners. We have been working closely with various parties including the Ministry of Education Malaysia, public and private universities, organisations, associations and societies. Our support includes programmes like our general Japanese language courses, NIHONGO Partners (NP), training, annual seminar and conference for teachers, along with activities for learners.
We also support Malaysian scholars and experts of Japanese studies by providing programmes that fall under intellectual exchanges through dialogue, lecture or talk series and collaborative research. Malaysian Association of Japanese Studies (MAJAS) for example, has been collaborating with us in conducting online lecture series on various topics involving Japan and Malaysia.
JFKL has been around for more than 30 years now. The Look East Policy (LEP) initiated by the government of Malaysia has reached its 40th year anniversary in 2022. The Japan Foundation itself, has been weaving ties with the world since October 1972 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022.
The path forward especially post-pandemic, is uncertain and may be even more challenging, but I am optimistic that JFKL will continue to put our best efforts, hand in hand with all of you, to deepen mutual understanding between Malaysia and Japan.
On behalf of JFKL, I would very much appreciate your continuous support, assistance and encouragement.
SHIMADA Seiya
Director
The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur
