NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—On Thursday, March 11, the Rutgers Malaysian Student Association will be holding its third annual award-winning Malaysian Night, from 7pm until 10:30 pm in the Cook Campus Center multipurpose room.
This year’s theme, “festival of shadows,” is inspired by the traditional and mystical Malaysian phenomenon called wayang kulit, which translates into “shadow puppet” in English.
One of the night’s major highlights will be raffles with prizes brought all the way from Malaysia itself.
Though Malaysia is a small country it is incredibly diverse, as evidenced by the array of activities taking place at Malaysia Night.
The evening will consist of cultural performances from the area such as a Shadow Puppet Show, Silat (traditional martial art native to Malaysia), as well as a “Bollywood Dance,” and a “Chinese Dance.”
Wayang Kuilt is the most well-known and one of the oldest forms of entertainment in Malaysia: it consists of a puppeteer called the enang who sings acting out different puppets.
It was inspired by the old Sanskrit epic called Ramayana and tells a classic tale of good and evil, but this time with a modern twist.
Silat is a martial art that is as old as Malaysia itself, although it is a form of fighting, to many non practitioners it appears almost like a dance.
The Chinese dance featured at the event will be unique as it will be featuring “wushu” (Chinese martial arts) and more modern dance technique instead of solely focusing on the feminine side of Chinese dance.
Finally, the Bollywood Dance featured at this event will be featuring music dated from 2001, as opposed to the more modern music of Bollywood today.
There also will be plenty of free food including halal food, vegetarian food, and food for every other diet.
Admission is free, however it is requested that attendees RSVP online to ensure that there is enough space and food for the evening.
Parking is available for non-Rutgers guests in Lots 76, 99C and 99D.
