25 april 2008 07:50

The Dialogue between UIN Sunan Kalijaga Dialogue Center and BKPBM

Yogyakarta, MelayuOnline.com– The Director of Dialogue Center Islamic State University of Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta Dr. Phil. Nur Cholish Setiawan, M.A., visited the office of Balai Kajian dan Pengembangan Budaya Melayu-BKPBM (Center for Research and Development of Malay Culture), on Wednesday afternoon (04/23/2008). Among the entourage were the Secretary of Dialogue Center Ahmad Baidhowi, M.A., and the Coordinator of Creative Team and Networking of Center Zainuddin, M.A.

The entourage was welcomed warmly by the Coordinator of Research and Development Division of BKPBM Teuku Cut Mahmud Aziz, M.A. On the visit, the entourage observed the library room, the study, the ancient Malay collection, and the activities of MelayuOnline.com crew. Afterwards, the dialogue was conducted between the team of BKPBM and Dialogue Center in the meeting room.

On the dialogue, Nur Cholis said that the visit was an attempt to further the cooperation between the two institutions that shared similar mission and vision, which was to promote multiculturalism discourse in the world. As an institution that concerns on the establishment of harmonious relation amongst different religions (interfaith dialogue), Dialogue Center always seeks to create the broad networks and open the possibilities to work with various pertinent parties, included the BKPBM.

In the meeting, the Chief Editor of MelayuOnline.com Nursaed Ali Ridho, M.A., presented various activities carried out by the BKPBM, including research activities and publication through the three available websites, www.melayuonline.com, www.rajaalihaji.com, www.wisatamelayu.com. BKPBM, by those three websites,, attempts to introduce the rich legacy of Malay culture, so that it could be understood and appreciated by the global society. Such endeavor is intended to create global communication and to promote multicultural understanding among different people.

From the presentation, Nur Cholis asserted the importance of building global links and extended networks of Malay experts in the world, including those from Leiden University, Netherlands. Through such cooperation, various researches with different themes on Malay could be improved. Besides, the financial support could also be gained by the same way.

Another positive response came from Ahmad Baidhowi. According to him, it was necessary to BKPBM to improve the academic researches on Islamic themes as a part of Malay cultural study. Both fields of study, Malay and Islam, could enrich the understanding about the relationship between religion and culture. Further, he said that one of the ways was by exploring the Islamic thoughts of Malay figures.

In the meeting, the Vice Director of Melayuonline.com, Hadi Kurniawan, S.H.I., talked about the importance of building cooperation with the Library of Islamic State University of Sunan Kalijaga in order to enrich the literatures on Islamic field and Malay culture. It was hoped as well that the cooperation in terms of data (books and articles) exchange could be strengthened with the Dialogue Center.

Besides, the meeting also produced some understanding such as carrying out joint research, data exchange, and conducting joint academic event such as monthly discussion, and seminar.

(HQ/ter/115/04-08)

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