On Monday, March 4, 2024, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) of the Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) received a visit from the National Institute of Education (NIE) of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. The visit was attended by Dr. Sa'eda Buang, who is the Head of the NTU delegation as well as the Head of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC) Malay Language and Culture Program, Head of the USU Office of International Affairs (KUI) Prof. Dr. Rudy Sofyan, M.Hum., Dean of FIB USU, Head and Secretary of the Study Program (Prodi) of English Literature, Indonesian Literature, Batak Literature, Malay Literature, Ethnomusicology, and History, as well as students of the study program. During this visit, FIB USU discussed Malay and Batak culture in North Sumatra. The discussion invited Prof. T. Silvana Sinar, M.A., Ph.D., and Drs. Warisman Sinaga M.Hum. as speakers.

Dean of FIB USU Prof. Dr. Dra. T. Thyrhaya Zein M.A. said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between USU and NTU will be carried out, and collaborative activities must be started and run. FIB USU warmly welcomed the visit from NIE NTU. This visit will likely strengthen and focus the field of academic cooperation. At this meeting, both institutions can share knowledge, ideas, and experiences and present thoughts for the best collaboration in education, research, and community service.

The Dean of FIB USU hopes to achieve collaboration in joint conferences (joint seminars) related to language, literature, culture, history and music. FIB will also invite NTU to a workshop that is run annually, namely ISLCH, which in 2024 is the 6th year. FIB also expects experts from NTU, especially NIE and the Malay Language program, as speakers. This meeting will also produce opportunities for student exchange programs through exchanges for one semester, short courses, and summer courses.

"Hopefully, this noble goal can contribute to strengthening the internationalization program. Currently, the University of North Sumatra is optimizing all internationalization programs. Of course, we hope the internationalization program between USU and NTU will be realized. And, of course, this activity also strengthens a better relationship, "said the Dean of FIB USU.

Prof. Dr. Rudy Sofyan, M. Hum said three activities will be carried out in 2024 and hopes NTU can participate. The first activity is the International Joint KKN, which involves 38 State Universities in the Western Region and universities from abroad. As the host of the International Joint KKN, USU invited MIE NTU to send its students as participants for implementation from August 5 to September 5, 2024.

The second activity is the Summer Course. In 2024, USU will organize 25 Summer Course programs. One of the Summer Course programs comes from FIB USU entitled "North Sumatra Cultural Diversity: Introducing Malay and Batak Cultural Diversity". The FIB Summer Course for 2024 is the second activity. The third activity is for FIB lecturers to collaborate with foreign lecturers to conduct service activities. USU provides cost-sharing funds for this collaboration activity. The third is Guest Lecture or team teaching, a joint class activity between USU students/lecturers and international students/lecturers in the form of joint projects, joint research, joint publications, and mirror classrooms.

Dr. Sa'edah Buang thanked FIB USU for accepting the NTU NIE to visit. Dr. Saedah said that the purpose of NTU coming was to pick up the grains of knowledge that would be delivered by FIB USU lecturers Prof. T. Silvana and Drs. Warisiman. The group from NIE NTU is part of a certain course. In this course, because the curriculum material is to know the Malay tribes, their culture, changes, and the preservation of culture, language, and so on, we have to quote the data; that's why we are here. Every year, I would take the students to places where we knew Malay tribes existed. Before that, NIE NTU visited Minang, Padang, and Iraq to explore the country.

"God willing, we will go to Madagascar next year to learn about the Malay people there. So this is part of our program, and we will explore places where there are tribes of Malay people. So that we know about our ancestors, so that students know their ancestors, and can feel how pure, how proud, the Malay ancestor is and how it can be maintained in the face of the world," said Dr. Sa'eda.