Festival of Lights

Malaysia is known as a melting pot of different cultures, religions and ethnicities. All coming together to form a multicultural country that we live in now. I love the fact that Malaysians, regardless race, creed or color, celebrate some of its biggest celebrations together harmoniously. That is also why Malaysia is among the Top 10 Countries in The World with Most Public Holidays. Because we have too many festivities to celebrate every year!

Speaking of which, I was involved again in an event at my workplace just recently. In the spirit of 1Malaysia, we rallied behind the effort in realizing the success of the Open House to celebrate Deepavali. Some of the important elements such as "Kolam" (a form of Indian painting that is drawn using colorful rice powder) and "Kuthu Vilakku" (a lamp with a long metal handle and a broader head which holds oil) were also injected to the event to create the perfect ambiance for this "Festival of Lights".  

As much as I wanted to elaborate on the event, I don't want you to feel bored reading all the details. Plus, it's getting late and my fingers feel numb. Hehehe.. Hence, enjoy the pictures!!!

Clockwise: Deputy Foreign Minister and wife light up the oil lamp, Performers from Indrani Dance Academy, Indian Hand Adornments, Madhu: Daughter of Indrani Dance Academy's Pricipal, Kolam and Siew: Singing "Bukan Cinta Biasa"

Shifa and Friends! What a happy day for all of us!

"Bole Chudiyan" and "En Chella Peru Apple"

With our biggest supporters :)

Last but not least....

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My Favourite Girls!! They're just fun to be with!!

I would like to apologize if the colors from the pictures strain your eyes while reading this entry.
And I'm sorry too, if you are color blind then you wouldn't know how colorful the pictures are :p

Good night peeps!!

* Credit to Al-Fadil Adam, Lisya Ramly and Mohd Fadlie Shah for the brilliant pictures

Zapin, Buah Cempedak and Joget

When I thought that I would leave the dancing scene forever, I danced again last two weeks for an event at my workplace.

Oh.. how I miss practicing with those girls.. Delfina, Mega, Liyana, Azura, Vanitha and Nadiah. I miss Lisya too, our dance choregrapher who were not be able to dance with us as she was out of the country, Saya yang menurut perintah, Berkhidmat untuk negara, as you call it.

I joined the Dance Club of my residential college, Kolej Kenanga when I was in UiTM. We performed for most of our college events and sometimes for dinners by other faculties too. It's a shame that I lost all the photos and videos when my laptop crashed. No backup whatsoever. I wish I had a YouTube account at that time. I wish I was smart enough to upload it online so that at least I would have a backup by now :(

I got the opportunity to perform again when I was in Lancaster University. It was for Lancaster University International Evening, an annual event for the international students of the university to showcase their culture and to mingle with each other. We don't have the typical "Malaysian Night" at Lancaster as the Malaysian community was very small. So when we had the opportunity to perform, we were more than happy to show to the people in Lancaster of what Malaysia is or Malaysians are like. I am lucky this time around because Fazrul recorded the performance and uploaded it in YouTube yeay!!

The whole concept of our performance was by none other the President of Malaysian Society at that time, Rgen! He was such a genius to come up with the idea of having both elements of acting and dancing for a 15 minutes performance. He was like the producer of our little show. I just love the fact that all of us, the Malaysian undergraduates of Lancaster University were also involved in the show.
 
I am not good dancer, but somehow I managed to choreograph the steps for the Joget. We danced in pair for the Joget and I thought for the guys, the best dancer was Don (who also played the Sultan) and the funniest was Epy (light green Baju Melayu)! Az, my senior choreographed the steps for the Zapin. The play was loosely inspired by the legendary story of Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang. Our performance became the highlight of the evening as we were the only group that had a play and some joget lambak at the end of it.

 

The Undergraduates of Lancaster University Malaysian Students Society

So here are the performance...


Part I (The Arrival of the Sultan and Zapin)

Part II (Sultan, Dang Anum & Laksmana Bentan)

Part III (Joget Pahang and Joget Lambak)

p/s If you want to have some good laugh, go watch min 1:21 of Part II and you will see a ridiculously-clad pregnant woman with high-pitched voice doing her act :D


*credit to Fazrul Haizam and Haliyana Khalid for the videos and photos