In the past, Russians were confused even with the name of a country like Malaysia, as they did not know where it actually was.
This reminds me about the situation of the Japanese girl in the novel Sakura Mengorak Kelopak by Sasterawan Negara (National Laureate) Arena Wati. In the story, a Malay guy, Mahmud, who came to Tokyo suggested to a Japanese girl to follow him back to Kuala Lumpur.
"Where is that? In Africa?" asked the girl, seemingly confused. "Not in Africa. In Asia!" Mahmud replied. "Then, it should be somewhere in Indonesia…," the girl presumed.
It is understandable as history shows that Malaysia has been known by a few names — British Malaya, Federation of Malaya and finally, Malaysia. Moreover, the word Malaysia in Russian sounds like "Malaya Asia" which means "Asia Minor".
However, the situation is different now. Russian television has run "Cuti-cuti Malaysia" advertisements. Russians are vigorously discussing the holiday perspective on Langkawi Island when the pandemic is over. Russians are generally drawn to what is happening in Malaysia and not just the weather.
Many Malay words from the field of culture (batik, keris, songket, sepak takraw, etc) are included in Russian dictionaries. Politicians began to talk about the Malaysian phenomenon, especially the need to study the pattern of her economic development as a worthwhile example to follow.
For Russians who are planning to visit Malaysia, many seek tourist guide books in the Russian language about the country that are available, including Malaysia From the Personal Experience by E. Pugacheva and S. Serebryakov, which was recently published as the second edition.
In fact, Malaysian cuisine has become popular in Russia and the proof of it is the book Malaysian Cuisine which has just appeared in Russia in the Cuisine series of World Countries and it turned out to be immensely popular.
The main attraction of the book was the inclusion of some advice from the wife of former Malaysian Ambassador in Moscow Datin Rusamelia Rusland and the former Tourism Malaysia director in Moscow, Noridah Kamarudin, on how to cook Malaysian food so it would be delicious and authentic.
Since Russian interest is increasing towards Malaysia, it made it necessary to produce a more profound Malay-Russian Dictionary and the project was worked out successfully by Russian experts. The interest towards the country gave birth to the interest towards everything that has the "fragrant" of Malaysia, including literature.
If the country is great in economics, so culture and literature should be great too. Thus, the anthology of Malaysian women's poetry The Flowers of the Far Away Islands with beautiful illustrations by Malaysian artist Syed Thajudeen recently has been published in Moscow with great success.
This anthology was compiled by Sri Diah Shaharuddin and Norazimah Abu Bakar, and introduces the poems written by 38 contemporary Malaysian poets who are considered to be the best in modern Malaysian literature.
Among them were established names like SN Siti Zainon Ismail, Siti Zaleha M. Hashim, Sri Diah Shaharuddin, SN Zurinah Hassan, as well as those of younger generations. Poems written by Malaysian poets provoke a storm of emotions and sensations. They manage to express their experiences, dreams through truly unique creations that touch the Russian readers' soul. And what is interesting is that this book will be followed by the publication of a series of bilingual Malay stories for children in Moscow — a joint project between the Federation of National Writers Association of Malaysia and Russian Nusantara Society.
"Tak kenal maka tak cinta" goes the old Malay saying. I am sure, gradually not only the interest but the love for Malaysia will also flourish in the hearts of Russians.
The writer, writing from Russia, was a lecturer at University Malaya
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times