(23 Apr 2020) Following Wednesday’s (April 22) conclusion of the UNESCO World Book Capital year designated for the UAE emirate Sharjah, Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur today (April 23) has opened its year in the role.
Traditionally, the handoff from one world city to the next is accomplished in physical ceremonies, something of course prevented this year by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
And so the digital closing presentation made by Sharjah is today followed by a video opening presentation from Kuala Lumpur, and with Malaysia’s compliments to Sharjah for having done “tremendously well in the past year.”
The theme for Kuala Lumpur’s year (following Sharjah’s “Open Books, Open Minds” theme, is “KL Baca: Caring Through Reading.” Baca is a Malay verb, to read. And having had to cancel both its live opening ceremonies and many scheduled events of the first months of its year, the city is working to make the best of a difficult situation.
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