On Friday night, the Malaysian Student Organization enthralled students and residents with choreographed dances and fight scenes in the theatrical performance of a Malay folk tale.
The performance, along with the banquet of traditional dishes that followed, was part of Malaysian Night , an annual event that showcases Malaysian culture.
Though the event typically centers around sharing the culture primarily through food, the organization decided to captivate the audience with the theatrical retelling of a long-shared folk tale, complete with traditional attire, dances and martial arts.
With the recent disappearance of an aircraft carrying 227 passengers from Malaysia, the country has been the focus of worldwide attention.
Before the incident, Malaysian Student Organization President Ifwat Ghazali said the country was often overlooked or forgotten about, making Malaysian cultural awareness events a pertinent matter.
“I feel proud to showcase my country and to make people notice that Malaysia actually exists,” the electrical engineering graduate student said. “We hope that by showing our culture you can come and visit Malaysia and come see for yourself how diverse we are (and) how beautiful our country (is).”
The performance, called Tuah, is a tale about a warrior named Tuah who must choose either loyalty to the sultan or loyalty to his friend, Jebat.
Aimi Syuhada Noor Saidi , a biochemistry and molecular biology/biotechnology junior, said introducing students and residents to the story not only exposes them to Malaysian attire, martial arts and dance, but also moral questions in their society.
“Back in history, the king was everything,” Noor Saidi said. “We want the audience to think about whether Tuah or Jebat is right. There’s no definite answer.”
For Charli Herman , a spanish education senior facing graduation, the event was bittersweet. While the performance gave her a fuller scope of Malaysian culture and diversity events on campus, she said it also showed her how much she had missed out on.
“I didn’t know anything (about Malaysia), but taking it all in, I sat back and thought, ‘How cool is it that I got to a university where I can experience this?’” Herman said. “I regret not going to more events like this throughout the year ... (I) feel like I would have learned so much.”
