Malaysian Minister of Education visits Durham

The University has hosted a visit by the Malaysian Minister of Education to celebrate a new partnership that will see an important collection of diplomat papers digitised for study in South East Asia. The Honourable Dr Maszlee Malik met with Durham's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart Corbridge, and Professor Claire O'Malley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global) at the University. Digitising collections The new partnership will see our Special Collections team work with colleagues at the National Archives of Malaysia and the Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in Malaysia to digitise and make available online a selection of official and personal papers belonging to the diplomat Malcolm MacDonald. The papers were presented to Durham University in 1986. Malcolm MacDonald, the diplomat son of the first Labour Prime Minister, was the Governor General of Malaya during the 1940s where his responsibilities were subsequently extended to cover all of South East Asia. His personal and official correspondence during this period will be available online for the first time with funding from the National Archives of Malaysia. This will enable researchers in South East Asia to study the politician, including his role in Malaysia's history.