Malaysian Student Association holds their second cultural night at OSU

The Malaysian Student Association (MYSA) is holding a cultural show that is open to the public tonight at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom.

This is the last cultural night at OSU in this academic year.

The theme for this year’s Malaysian Cultural night is Kopitiam, which means a typical coffee shop.

“Kopitiam is the Malay word. Kopi means coffee and Tiam is a Hokkien word for shop. So, essentially it is just a coffee shop,” said Haziq Aiman Bin Hasan, MYSA vice president. “We wanted this to be the theme as it is symbolic to who we are, a mixture of very different ethnicities coexisting and to a certain extent assimilating with each other and having at the heart of it all food.”

According to participants who have attended MYSA events before, MYSA has a reputation for serving delicious food in their events.

Christopher Lay, a finance and management student, has participated in almost every event that MYSA has held.

“I have been to the Malaysian night last year and also the food tasting events,” Lay said.

Lay recommends people come to the cultural night because there is good food served there.

MSYA will be serving all kinds of food for participants to try. In addition, there will be some performance and activities for everyone to enjoy. The doors will be opened at 6:40 p.m. and the show will begin at 7 p.m.

“There will be a game session just for fun. It is from a Malaysian TV show,” said Nathalene Then, MYSA event coordinator. “The night is all tied together into a single story.”

This MYSA night does not only get sponsored by Student Events and Activities Center (SEAC) and funded by International Students of Oregon State University (ISOSU), but it also gets help from volunteers and MYSA members.

According to Hasan, this coming event can’t be accomplished without the teamwork.

“Without the team nothing can be done there is no ‘I’ when it comes to a project like this and so I must speak collectively,” Hasan said. “We as a team have dedicated hours for planning, preparing, practicing and executing. With blood, sweat and tears we did what we could while juggling other responsibilities.”

According to Then, MYSA members have been putting so much effort to share the uniqueness and diversity that is in Malaysia to the community. A traditional dance that will be performed during the event is being choreographed by Aina Amirah, MYSA creative director and Yunfern Chia, MYSA secretary who is also in charge of the food.

“This event is also a learning experience for us, the members. We learn to cook, to dance, to manage, to design and a whole lot more,” Hasan said. “(I expect the participant to gain) global perspective, and possibly sparks a little fire to explore the world more. Maybe buy a flight ticket and indulging in it all first hand.”

There is no charge for OSU students and $5 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased in the SEC or at the door.

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