MALAYSIA NIGHT - Nostalgia

A request from a Malaysian student blogger in far-away Manchester evoked memories of my own student days in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Well . . . that was way, way back in the early 60's - some of my young generation might label it 'the prehistoric era'. Lydia, the student, was looking for a particular 'joget' song for a dance to be performed for a 'Malaysia Night' show. That brought back memories of the time when I, as a freshie, performed 2 dances in our own "Malaysia Night'.

Joget Inang Kebun Bunga - Malaysia Night, Armidale

Tea-picking Dance - Malaysia Night, Armidale

Students overseas then (and now too I 'm sure) were very proud to be Malaysians especially on 'Malaysia Night'. There was no racial identity. I mean we didn't say I'm Malay, I'm Chinese, Indian, Iban or the like. Just one - Malaysian! We dressed in the national attire - Malay baju kurung and selendang, the men in songkok or the Chinese samfoo and cheongsam or the Indian sari and dhoti on special occasions - didn't matter who had them on. We cooked special rendang, curries, fried mee, roti canai to the delight of our hosts. We put up scenic posters of interesting places to visit during Malaysia Week. In fact, we students were little ambassadors of Malaysia. We were proud to be Malaysians when overseas. Oh . . . those were the days!

P.S. Managed to help Lydia get the song she wanted.