MASA celebrates Malaysia’s 52nd Independence Day and Hari Raya

Malaysian students gathered at the Wesley Foundation on Saturday afternoon for 52nd Malaysian Independence Day and “Hari Raya Aidilfitri” Celebration on Saturday Sept. 26. Photo courtesy of Michael Ng

Nathan Norton
Western Herald

Last Saturday, nearly a hundred Malay, Chinese, and Indian students gathered at Western Michigan University in the Wesley Foundation dining room to celebrate both the 52nd anniversary of Malaysia’s independence and the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festival.

Although Malaysian Independence Day was August 31, the Malaysian Student Association (MASA) wanted to make sure all the Malaysian students were back on campus before observing their country’s independence and the Hari Raya.

The Hari Raya Aidilfitri festival marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Even though there are Malaysians that are not Muslim, it is customary in the culture to come together and celebrate the Hari Raya as well as the Malaysian Independence Day. The festival is the culmination of the Ramadan fast, so Malaysians come together to dine on an ample spread of authentic Malaysian cuisine and enjoy the company of others of similar backgrounds.

“Like most Malaysian festivals, it’s about the eating,” said MASA President Sue-Lynn Ng. “We’re very proud of our food. We eat all the time.”

Although the array of traditional, spicy Malay foods may be a good reason to join MASA in celebration, it’s not the only one.

“We try to make events like this as laid-back as possible,” Ng said. “This is when the newcomers meet the seniors. Every semester we have new people coming in, so this is how everyone gets to know each other.”

Cheryl Lim, public relations representative for MASA, mentioned how important she thought events like this were for the organization and the roughly 130 Malaysian students that attend WMU.

“Our main goal is to get [the Malay] together,” Lim said. “Obviously, they’re away from their families and we want to be a family for them here. It’s good to have everyone get together. Sometimes you need support from each other, especially when you’re homesick. We’re like a support system.”

The evening began after the crowd started to pour in almost an hour past the scheduled start time, 3 p.m. In Malaysian culture, arriving up to an hour late is not only typical, but, in many cases, expected. Many were in culturally appropriate garb: silken gowns, bright shirts, and decorative shawls.

After about ninety Malaysian had filled the room, Ng led the group in the Malaysian national anthem, “Negara Ku,” which translates to “my country.”

Afterwards, there was a chorus of raucous cheers and the line for the buffet table began to grow. The rest of the night was spent joking, eating, and taking photos, as many did to commemorate the evening.

Tieng Yee Lau, a member of MASA, said she thought events like this helped Malaysian students by bringing a bit of their home country to the United States. Saturday’s event celebrated a national festival they would observe in Malaysia, so having the chance to celebrate it here in Kalamazoo was very beneficial.

“[An event like this] helps Malaysians by keeping everyone together with a sense of solidarity and friendship,” Lau said.

“We’re all here, we’re all Malaysians, all in the same place. It’s a sense of family.”

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Posted by heraldstaff on Sep 27 2009. Filed under Campus, Local, News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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