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INSTITUTE OF DIPLOMACY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS INSTITUTE OF DIPLOMACY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA

The participants were given the opportunity to practice
English pronunciation through various online teaching Fundamental English Language Course for
and learning methods to gauge their understanding of Administrative Assistants of the Ministry of Foreign
speaking skills. Thus, the course encouraged better Affairs
communicative competence in speaking English in the
participants’ respective careers. The general objectives of the course are to improve the
English language proficiency of the support staff serving
Cultural Diplomacy Roundtable Discussion 2021 at the Ministry and to prepare them for their postings to
Malaysian Missions abroad. Held from 6 to 8 April 2021,
On 1 April 2021, the CLCD organised an intellectual the course saw the participation of 17 administrative
discourse named Cultural Diplomacy Roundtable assistants. The course content covered the four skills
Discussion. Held for two days, the aim was to establish of speaking, listening, reading, and writing and four
the fundamental direction of cultural diplomacy instructors from the Centre were involved in the
practice in Malaysia. It also aimed to discern the Dasar planning and running of the course.
Kebudayaan Malaysia, to determine the guidelines
for the ministries in their cultural diplomacy practice Basic Conversational Malay Course
and to identify the essential elements to be adapted
in the institute’s training in cultural diplomacy. Among The Basic Conversational Malay course, held from 20
the highlights of the roundtable discussion was the April to 12 June 2021, was the continuation of the 42-
ministry’s policy on soft power, Malaysia’s stance hour course that began on 8 September 2020. Physical
on culture and identity, the importance of culture in classes were halted due to the surge of Covid-19 cases
Malaysia’s international relations practice and training in Malaysia. The course continued online after the
plans for diplomatic officers and other targeted training participants requested to complete the course prior to
participants. their three-month summer holidays.

The roundtable discussion saw the participation of Due to the gap between physical and online classes, the
practitioners from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and number of participants decreased as some had returned
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and academicians to their respective countries or were unavailable to
from Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan attend classes due to busy schedules. The foreign
Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Islam Antarabangsa diplomats who continued their quest to learn Malay
Malaysia (UIAM). were from the Royal Embassy of Cambodia, Embassy
of the Republic of Poland, Embassy of Italy, Embassy
of Ukraine, and Embassy of the Czech Republic. The
objectives of the course are to expose the participants
to the basics of conversational Malay and to help them
gain a better understanding of the Malay culture in
Malaysia.

The diplomats gave favourable feedback on the
achievement of the course objectives and the general
management of the course. They were also appreciative
of IDFR for conducting the course for them and stated

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2021 ANNUAL REPORT 2021 ANNUAL REPORT