MOSCOW NUSANTARA SOCIETY On November 21, 2007, the society's meeting was devoted to the philological theme. E. S. Kukushkina (ISAA at Moscow State University) spoke about the diversity of creative methods and styles in Malaysian drama on the example of the work of two writers recognized by readers and critics. Thus, A. Samad Said aims to create realistic plays and strives to achieve life-like verisimilitude, meticulously drawing every detail, visualizing the text through lengthy descriptions. Samad hopes to capture and leave to posterity the most accurate picture of the era with its problems. Nurdin Hassan, on the other hand, tends to create an abstract, symbolic picture of the world on stage, based on key images of Malay Muslim culture. The aesthetics of Nurdin Hasan's plays stem from the concept of creativity as an act of religious worship and the "theater of faith" as a means of preaching. The religious core of the playwright's works presupposes the predominance of symbolism over the rational-realistic method. According to E. S. Kukushkina, the technical layout of iconic images largely goes back to the predecessor of the modern theater of Malaysia, the urban spectacle bangsawan, well known to Nurdin Hassan. On December 5, 2007, a regular meeting of the "Malay-Indonesian Readings" was held, at which a report by V. A. Pogadaev, a lecturer at the University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur), "The policy of the authorities in relation to Orang Asli in Malaysia" was heard. The speaker noted that in addition to the three main national communities (Malays, Chinese, and Indians), Malaysia is home to a group of Aborigines, who since the 1950s have been called Orang asli in Malay, i.e. "original, original people". This is a collective term for 18 ethnic groups that were divided by the English ethnographer William W. Smith in the early 20th century. The skete is divided into three large groups: negrito, Senoi (Veddoids) and jakun. According to the 1993 census, their total number was ... Read more