Published: Monday August 20, 2012 MYT 1:14:00 PM

Rosita works hard to promote M’sian-German ties

FRANKFURT: She does not hold any official title or is she associated in any way with the Malaysian government.

But within Frankfurt's Malaysian community, she is known as a woman with a relentless zeal to promote bilateral ties, on a people-to-people basis, between Malaysians and Germans.

Meet Rosita Rahman-Heilek, 56, a Malaysian from Port Dickson, who has lived in different parts of the world, including Brunei, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Karachi (Pakistan) and Paris.

She finally made Frankfurt her permanent home after marrying German, Ronald Heilek in 1993.

Rosita is President of the Malaysian Club Deutschland (MCD), which functions as something of a catalyst, for fostering relations between Malaysians and Germans.

The MCD is also a cultural association that promotes social and cultural networking between both communities.

The MCD is a brainchild of Rosita and the former Frankfurt-based Manager of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), Krishna Murti.

"At the Frankfurt office of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, as it was known then, and where I worked for more than three years, I met many Malaysians who longed to celebrate Malaysian festivals, be it Hari Raya, Deepavali or Chinese New Year.

"They also wanted to meet their fellow countrymen scattered across Germany.

"They longed for social contacts not only amongst themselves but with Germans. In short, we needed a common platform that would facilitate such networking.

"Murti and I decided to set up an association which came to be known as the Malaysian Club Deutschland," Rosita said. The MCD is officially registered with the local German authorities.

"We have organised various Malaysian dance programmes, representing the three main cultures along with food demonstrations and the like. This is to promote further Malaysian culture and cuisine," Rosita told Bernama.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) operates four weekly flights from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur. Many here say the number does not do justice to the actual demand in Germany.

Rosita, says she is always urging her friends, and their friends in turn, to visit Malaysia.

"I am happy to have succeeded in sending a number of Germans to my home country. If we had better connectivity, Malaysia could attract a higher tourism traffic from here," she added.

She is currently working as a supervisor for inflight services at the Frankfurt office of United Airlines.

The Malaysian population in and around Frankfurt is about 1,000. - Bernama

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