Malaysian Students In Sydney For Good

This was my second post as PopIN’s PopMuda.

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Away from polarising politicians back home, Malaysian students in Sydney thrive on being simply of one race: Malaysian race. That was one of the most important things I learnt while in Sydney for four years.

Today, I want to share with you some of the interesting things our students there do for fun:

Malaysia Fest (MFest)
Undoubtedly the oldest and biggest Malaysian cultural festival organised by students—in Australia, if not the world. MFest showcases the best of Malaysia with the classic combo of cultural stage shows and stalls of authentic goodies. Months before the event, the students start choreographing and rehearsing the performances . Every year the committee tries to outdo the last year’s, and MFest 2009 headed by Jenny Tan is the grandest yet, with guest performances by One Buck Short, Reza Salleh, Liyana Fizi and Rashdan Harith. In 2010, MFest will be in its 20th year.

Photo credits: Kamal Hadi

With Love, Down Under (WLDU)
WLDU is a charity organisation based in Sydney, but with members from all over Australia and Malaysia. The idea was concocted by Erina Zahara Ellias as a way for the students to give to society during uni holidays. Two events have been organised so far: a dinner in Malaysia and the WLDU Charity Gig in UNSW featuring Flop Poppy. In two years, they have managed to collect RM 42,000 for PERNIM and Pertubuhan Penyayang ar-Raudhah. WLDU plans to branch into other charities in the future, especially environmental causes.

Photo credits: Andrialis Abdul Rahman

TONG
Combining art exhibitions and impromptu concerts, TONG is the flagship annual event led by Tasniim Abd Rahman and Persatuan Pelajar Melayu Sydney (PPMS). Every year, Malaysia Hall is turned into a gallery featuring eclectic artworks from arts and design students. It is apt then that the name was derived from the act of throwing all artistic “junk” in one space. The last TONG was given the theme “junkies in rubik.kubik”.

Photo credits: Andrialis Abdul Rahman

Malam Gema Merdeka (MGM)
Starting as a modest dinner to celebrate Hari Merdeka, MGM has transformed in the last three years into a full-blown musical theatre under its masterminds from Malaysian Students’ Council of Australia (MASCA) NSW, Najmuddin Mohd Aminuddin and Nik Arif Izani. Attended by the Malaysian High Commissioner and consuls from various countries, MGM features spectacular performances with elaborate dances and costumes. It is usually held on the Merdeka eve and ends with Merdeka shouts.

Love the Person NeXT to You
This charity project was started by Muhammad Hafiz Samsudin and Baiti Aziz, who are representatives of Act of Random Kindness (ARK). With a couple of other friends, they distribute free clothes, books, food and whatever they can spare to the homeless and other needy people around the Newtown area. The free stuff are donated by students, especially those who are leaving for good. They look forward to continue their efforts in Malaysia when they get back after graduation soon.

All these projects are organised 100% by students, and they would be glad for any support they can get, especially in financial sponsorship. Are you from a company or GLC looking to give some corporate social responsibility? You can contact these events on their website to give them a much-needed boost.

Malaysia Fest 2009 Poster Revealed! Evolution of MFest Posters

Malaysia Fest 2009 (MFest), a cultural festival run by Malaysian students in Sydney, had just revealed their promotional poster last week:

MFest 2009: Our Culture, Our Essence

Which is the best damn MFest poster I’ve ever seen so far. Credits go to designer Azlan Ab. Malek and the Marketing Executive Producer (EP) Sabrina Hanim.

Things have not always been this awesome for MFest. However, the renaissance in the quality of marketing and promotion in MFest can be attributed to Sunny Tan, who was the Marketing EP in 2006.

This was the poster back then in 2006, when yours truly was just a lowly minion, a Marketing Director under Sunny’s department:

MFest 2006: One Festival, Many Faces, A World of Excitement

Laugh all you want, haha. I myself feel like crying with shame every time I see this poster resurface. It was cobbled together with whatever Photoshop skills that I had to hastily acquire.

I was immensely proud of the five hand-drawn caricatures, though. They were the mascots for that year’s MFest, and we dubbed them “the patungs” (dolls). They were supposed to represent the different races in Malaysia: Malays, Chinese, Indians, the indigenous and Azan Azlan. It was very hard for me to choose a favourite from the five! (it was the guy on extreme right).

The “words in the middle” was a genius idea by Sunny, they were supposed to be things that you could look forward to in MFest 2006. I adapted the concept of tag clouds, which was very new at that time.

Next year, I succeeded Sunny as the Marketing EP, and commissioned Joshua Soo for this poster:

MFest 2007: A Rainbow of Cultures

Marked improvement, don’t you think? I particularly love the colour scheme (“Rainbow of Cultures”! tee hee) and that hornbill humping the hibiscus. We dubbed that mascot Horny Bill. Suffice to say, the whole team that year was a bunch of horny buggers.

In 2008, my protégé Shaheera Djafar took over the department while I move up the ranks, and this must have been our tipping point. The terrific duo of Sabrina Hanim and Azlan Malek joined the department and produced this beaut:

MFest 2008: A Cultural Connection

The background painting was procured at Central Market KL: the Malay-ish hibiscus, Indian earring and Chinese cheongsam. There was this running joke among us that the lady in the painting is actually a cross-dressing dude since we couldn’t see her hair bunched up in a bun.

My favourite part of this: the red “FREE ADMISSION” stamp. Nothing like saying “FREE!” to get the Malaysians’ attentions.

There you go, see how far we’ve come. This year we’ll continue keeping it real.

Malaysia Fest: still the original, still the best.

More info on Malaysia Fest on their website and Facebook group. RSVP to MFest 2009: Our Culture, Our Essence here.

Zurairi AR was on board the Malaysia Fest committee from 2006 to 2008. However, he had sold his soul to MFest somewhere around the end of 2006 and continues to serve the wonderful event.

WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS FUGLY F1 CAR?!

In true meme-of-the-week style:

Full story about this fucking ugly sonofabitch of an F1 car here. Original photo from here.

The whole story about “WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS” meme, here from Topless Robot.

Seriously though, who the fuck is responsible for this abomination?

My Brother’s “Kami Anak Malaysia” Entry

My younger brother and a couple of his friends entered the Kami Anak Malaysia video contest, which was held by Tourism Malaysia and the Ministry of Education. His group from SMK Putrajaya Precinct 9 (2) won the 2nd prize (it was the third place actually).

The grand prize (1st place) was won by SMK Sultanah Asma, a premier non-SBP all-girls boarding school from Alor Setar. I told my brother earlier on, that there is no way that his group can beat a boarding school in these competitions.

It’s not necessarily because of they produce better quality entries. It’s just the way the system work.

I went to a premier boarding school too, so I know full well how it goes. Against a boarding school, especially a famous one, a public school has almost no chance of winning. The world is unfair, like.

This is because the ministry prefers the boarding school to win. By winning, it’s a solid proof that the boarding school system works, and the ministry is doing a good job. Can you imagine how shoddy the ministry’s image will be if a public school can easily beat an elite school?

In any case, I am proud of his work and his steadfast effort to prove me wrong. Well, he did win an iPod Shuffle.

He said he wanted to make more films as he gets older. So, I’ll give him a start by putting his winning entry here:

Oh Malaysia, When Will You Be Free?

Salam Merdeka, Malaysians. Here’s to our forefathers and the freedom fighters. We might be independent, but we are yet to be free.

We can’t even get our information freely—it doesn’t matter that information by itself wants to be free. The government wants to put a firewall and filter our internet out so that we can only read what they want us to.

The newspapers are blatantly controlled by the ruling parties: their news is our news. Whenever we try to speak our mind, when we try to dig for the truth, we will get silenced. Enter the sedition act.

I dread the days where they get their ways, and bloggers would have to be registered and profiled, just like sexual offenders.

We are not free to watch films we want, much less make the films we want. Films arrived on our shores badly-mangled with various cuts, despite the fact that we paid to watch over-18 films.

We can’t make films about mat rempits, about cross-dressers, about transsexuals. We can’t even make films about supernatural any more, lest we want to get admitted to a counselling seminar.

Last Friday before Merdeka, sermons were given so Muslims will strive to be free from the enemies of Islam. Ask me, and I will tell you that “Islam” and “free” had no business being in the same sentence, at least not in Malaysia.

Everyone with the slightest authority in Islam will try to dictate on what you should or should not do.

They will tell us that just because some of us are women, our opinions do not matter. Just because our principles are different from theirs, we’re deemed heretic who should attend rehabs.

It’s haram to do yoga, it’s haram for women to “look like men”, it’s haram to swear. For reasons so vague and ridiculous.

Don’t like something? Just complain to the National Fatwa Council. They have been so kind to grant fatwas forbidding the smallest of stuff just because “the public demands it” or “the public is confused”.

The simplest form of joy, music is restricted to us. Numerous artistes surely had refused offers to perform in our country in frustration over the silly decency rule. Muslims are banned from attending certain concerts just because the sponsors happened to be in the alcohol industry.

A little mention of concert sends them into a berserk, no matter that the band is harmless Michael Learns to Rock.

Muslims can’t contend in pageants. Muslims can’t do this. Muslims can’t do that.

It’s discrimination, that’s what it is. Only it’s worst since the prohibition comes from the same group getting the bans.

Why are you so bothered with what every soul will or will not do? If you’re saying that Islam is the religion of the free and willing, you’re not convincing me. Not when you’re prodding and crushing people into submission.

God forbid that you’re an infidel, then! You can never get a house of worship in peace. They will try to impose their morals on you whether you like it or not.

All these are just a small slice of the liberty we’re denied of. We are not even free from the shackles of racial-centric attitudes. Every race is paranoid of each other.

I am grateful for the efforts of our forefathers and every freedom fighters who had shed their blood, sweat and tears since time immemorial to make our country sovereign, but it’s time we move on from that. Individual rights and civil liberties should be our next target.

Am I proud though? Of being Malaysian? Not really, no. Not this year.

I won’t pretend to be merry for this year’s Merdeka. There’s nothing to be happy or proud about.

We love you so much, Malaysia. Why won’t you love us back?

Are enjoying this year’s Merdeka? Do you think that we’re doing okay and I’m just a depressing bugger? Leave your comments.