Launch of Volumes 6 & 7
Volumes 6 & 7, The Seas and Early Modern History , were officially launched on 15th November 2001 by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor (at that time the Regent of selangor) at the Mutiara Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The Sultan displayed his enthusiasm for the two new volumes and the project as a whole with a heartfelt speech praising the significant achievement represented by these books. In particular, His Royal Highness noted that the series “reflects local perspective for the first time and highlights aspects of topics that are unique to Malaysia”, and commended it as being “extensive yet accessible”.
His Royal Highness lauded the contribution of The Encyclopedia of Malaysia to the nation's heritage and endorsed it to the Malaysia public. He also acknowledged the contributions of the distinguished people, including more than 400 authors and editors who had come together to create the series and commended the publisher for fostering an intellectual climate capable of strengthening national identity: the foundation for an educated society. In addition, he highlighted the generous support given by the series' sponsors.
His Royal Highness then presented copies of the newly launched volumes to representatives of the sponsors. Amongst the recipient were Puan Faridah Idris, Corporate Communication Public Affairs Group Manager of DRB-Hicom Berhad ; Mr S. Subramaniam, Director of Corporate Affairs for Mahkota Technologies Sdn Bhd ; Mr Khet Kok Yin, Managing Director of Malayan United Industries ; Nor Raphil Haji Abdul Rahman, Assistant General Manager Corporate Communication and Branding at Malaysia National Insurance Berhad ; En Azhar Abdul Hamid, CEO of Pernas International Holdings Berhad ; En. Abdullah Ahmad, General Manager Facilities Management and Services Unit with Petronas Berhad ; Mansor Tun Abdul Aziz, Assistant Manager of Renong Berhad ; Miss Sharzede Hj Salleh Askor, Director of Group Communication for Sunway Holdings Incorporated Berhad ; Mr Aw Tee Woo, Head of Personal Financial Services - UOB Kuala Lumpur for United Overseas Bank Group and YB Dato's Ismail Yusof, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Yayasan Albukhary .
Finally, towards the end of the launch, Charles Orwin, General Manager of Editions Didier Millet, presented His Royal Highness with copies of the new volumes of the encyclopedia.