His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, Chancellor of Universiti Malaya officiated the book launch of “They Came From Jaffna” – the original culinary book heritage of the Jaffna Tamils organized by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Universiti Malaya through Sri Lankan Endowment Fund.
“They Came from Jaffna” by Ms Indra Lavan spells out the historical journey of Ms Indra Iswaran’s ancestral family from Jaffna in Sri Lanka to Malaya in the 1890s. However, the central storyline of Indra Iswaran’s book revolves around the memory lens of her pioneer immigrant grandmother’s historical and culinary journey to Malaya, intertwined with enchanting tales of their roots and heritage through vivid memories. This book also highlights the original culinary heritage of the Jaffna Tamils and covers a diverse range of multicultural recipes synthesised from original recipes within the Malaysian setting.
The Sri Lankan Endowment Fund of the Universiti Malaya was founded as early as August 1950. It is essentially a Malaysian Sri Lankan community subscribed and endowed Fund. Since its foundation the Fund has been administered by the Universiti Malaya. In line with the first terms of reference, the Endowment Fund has over the years invited prominent historians, art critics, and art exponents to lecture on the influence of Ancient and Medieval India on Southeast-Asia.
Among the notable lecturers invited to speak at the Universiti Malaya were the renowned historian and Indologist Professor A.L. Basham of the School of Oriental and African Studies, United Kingdom to talk on Ancient Indian influences in Southeast Asia; Professor Sinnapah Arasaratnam of the University of New England in Armidale, Australia (incidentally a former Professor of History and Head of Department at the Universiti Malaya) to speak on Medieval Maritime South Indian Trade Relations in Southeast Asia and Professor Tan Sen Sen of University of New York on the Buddhist Influence in Southeast Asia.
