Malaysia-Indonesia Literary Works Can Boost Bilateral Ties - Indonesia's Ambassador

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) -- Joint publications of Malaysian and Indonesian literary works can boost bilateral ties, said Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia Herman Prayitno. He said works like multi-themed short stories encouraged the sharing of cultures and languages to instil an understanding of the lifestyles among the people of both nations. "With the joint publication of short stories by Indonesia and Malaysia, the people of the two countries can learn to differentiate between Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasia Malaysia, which, despite being the same, also have some differences. "In the Malaysian short stories, for example, we (Indonesians) can learn the traditions in Malaysia and vice versa," he told reporters after launching the book 'The Short Story Anthology Of Indonesia-Malaysia' in conjunction with the 2014 Kuala Lumpur International Book Exhibition (PBAKL) here, Thursday. The book is joint special publication of the Malaysian Institute of Translation and Books and Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia which compiled 20 short stories from Malaysian and Indonesian writers. The publication of the book was a result of the first cooperation of the two parties since Malaysia's first participation at the Indonesian Book Festival in 2012. -- BERNAMA