Merakyatkan Seni Budaya

I was over at the Summit USJ Mall yesterday to attend the cultural event, 'Merakyatkan Seni Budaya' or loosely translated means localising the art of culture (I might be wrong, so forgive me in advance if I am)

We live in Malaysia, a country that is known to be a melting pot in culture.. And over the years we have so many traditional games, and traditional dances and even some fusion dances...

 But they are all mesmerising... And the games, if not played with the future generation, most who are more keen to just play with their smart phones or PS4 or XBox could be lost...

So the small concourse area of the Summit  USJ Mall was made happening with the event... It began with a cooking demonstration by a celebrity chef, Iskandar who showed us how easy it is to cook using his specially prepared and packaged Mama's Delights paste..

 You can find Nyonya curry, Indian curry, Sambal Tumis and more.. These food pastes are all pretty affordable and convenient for those who are particular about their 'Halal' food to bring when traveling...

The main event began about 3pm with the official launch by the Honourable Datuk Abdul Rashid Bin Asari, EXCO for the State of Selangor Darul Ehsan, as well as the President for Tourism, Culture, Malay Customs and Heritage Selangor...

Also present at the  is none other then the Honourable Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah, President of Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA); Prof Madya Sahar Sa’Adi Bin Hashim, Rector of Akademi Seni Budaya Dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA); Ahmad Firdaus Bin Dato’ Ahmad Hamizan,  Vice President of Pertubuhan Ikatan Muafakat Serumpun Malaysia; En. Ahmad Nazmi Bin Razali, Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negeri Selangor and En. Kamarulzaman Adnan, State Secretary of Kapar...

ASWARA for your information, is Malaysia’s only public university dedicated entirely to the arts, both contemporary and traditional...

It is known that Selangor is one  of the States with many unique arts and culture, as well as rich historical background...

It is of utmost importance to continually promote these arts and culture to both the visitors to our country from over seas as well as to our own local people, to remind the older generation and to educate and showcase to the younger /next generation the different cultures we have as well as to learn to accept and respect each others differences..

The event continued with some performances from ASWARA which was of course, nothing short of breathtaking...

The first performance was an Indian Classical Dance called the Jatiswara dance...

It was followed by the Chinese Fan Dance...

Then we were entertained by Bob Yusuf, the invited artiste.. As well as more performances by ASWARA.. 

We definitely did have a lot of discovering and rediscovering traditional games such as Zero Point or the rubber band skipping rope, Batu Seremban, congkak and so on...