The World FIT Statutory Congress 2022 took place on May 30th and 31th, 2022 at the Melia Internacional Hotel, Varadero Cuba. The Congress assembled a large portion of translation associations around the world and lasted two days to host the World FIT Congress which ran from 1 to 3 June 2022. The Malaysian Translator Association sent two representatives, Associate Professor Dr. Salinah Jaafar and Mrs. Maria Abdullah, proxies to the President and Secretary-General of the association.
The first day of the statutory congress involved presenting the annual report of the FIT submitted by each portfolio, disclosing activities carried out in 2020-2022, financial reports, and applications for new members seeking to join the FIT. FIT’s expertise is growing in line with the needs for translation services worldwide. In addition to the annual report, the first day of congress also involved the announcement of the Latin American Territory FIT with the appointment of the president and members of the Latin American FIT parent committee. Nominations for new FIT members were also held on this first day. FIT membership increased with the approval of several new member applications from around the world. The first day ended with a delay in receiving a proposal from the Latin American FIT proposing that Spanish be accepted as the official FIT language besides English and French. After voting, Spanish was formally accepted as the official language of FIT besides English and French.
The second day of Statutory congress began with discussions on financial matters and the dissolution of current members of FIT and nominations for New FIT council members. Of the 18 candidates contesting as FIT council members, 14 were selected based on votes. The President and Honorary Secretary have also been proposed as Honorary Members and Honorary Advisor to commemorate their service and contribution as the former Secretary and President of FIT. In addition to announcing new board members, the second day’s activities also saw the 2025 World Congress nominations involving China, Russia and Costa Rica. Based on these votes, Costa Rica achieved the highest vote and was live nominated as the destination for the upcoming World Congress 2025. The second day ended with a photo session with all members of the FIT congressional union at 5pm.
On the 1st of June 2022, the Malaysian delegation made an official visit to the Malaysian Embassy office in Havana, Cuba. Traveling to Havana took 2 hours, and the Malaysian delegation were also taken to visit the historic areas around Havana before visiting the embassy’s official office at 13:00 in the afternoon. The embassy office in Havana represented by the TYT En. Amiri, Clerk of the office of Mrs. Jumaiyah, and Secretary of Mrs. Rosamila, welcomed the arrival of the Malaysian delegation with great joy. According to them, it is very rare for Malaysians to come to Cuba, so the arrival of the Malaysian delegation was very welcome. The Malaysian delegation were served with delicious food that will remain unforgotten whilst on Cuban soil. After the casual meeting and discussion session at the embassy office, the Malaysian delegation returned to Varadero.
The 2nd of June 2022 saw heavy rain and wind in Varadero, and the representatives of PPM Malaysia were only able to walk around the hotel and the surrounding area to shop for some souvenirs to bring back home.
On the 3rd of June 2022, PPM representatives prepared themselves to return home. Representatives of the Malaysian embassy were generous enough to visit PPM representatives and take them out for a walk around Varadero, as well as bring them a meal at a special restaurant in Varadero. Finally, they proceeded to accompany us to Varadero airport in heavy, windy weather. After about 31 hours of travel, we had finally reached the KLIA airport at 5.30pm, landing on the 5th of June 2022. The long journey held many good memories and experiences for both of us as representatives of PPM to the World FIT Congress in Varadero 2022.
