Hari Raya Puasa festivities on campus have left organisers pleased with the massive turnout this past Sunday.
The evenings cultural event was hosted by the Association of Malaysian Students and Curtin’s Singapore Society, to mark the end of Ramadan, a month-long dawn-to-sunset fast.
The event began running out of food only an hour-and-a-half into the festivities. Photo: Andrew Williams.
AMS President and second year education student Kahoe says the unexpected turnout made the event the club’s biggest yet.
“There’s a mix between Singaporean and Malaysian food, and because it’s for Hari Raya there’s many traditional foods item so people can feel at home when they come to this event” he says.
19-year-old Kahoe became President of the Association of Malaysian Students this year. Photo: Andrew Williams.
Kahoe says the club’s slogan is ‘Unity through diversity”, so he wanted to include their Singapore partners.
“You don’t have to be Malaysian to join, we are just a club where people come together to celebrate and promote Malaysian culture” he says.
One of the many attendees is Marco, a first-year international student from Indonesia studying international business.
Marco says she has enjoyed trying new food from different cultures like Paratha, and Bandung, a pink drink made with ice and rose syrup.
“I’ve enjoyed my time tonight here with my friends, who I’ve just met,” she says.
Students lining up for the signature iced milo. Photo: Andrew Williams.
President of Curtin’s Singapore Society Haniff is also extremely pleased with the turnout as he says the club only started last year and is still growing so partnering with AMS and the experience it brings has helped greatly in organising the event.
“We’re happy with the turnout, just way more than we expected so the food’s running out a little too fast, so we are just trying to solve that,” he says.
Haniff says the main goal of the society is to create a comfortable environment for Singaporean students and international students who have just arrived and are exploring Perth.
Haniff, President of the Curtin Singapore Society. Photo: Andrew Williams.
“We want to be a starting point for them to discover Perth and get used to the culture here,” he says.
Haniff says that in addition to the benefits of collaborating with AMS, the Guild has also been very supportive throughout the planning of the event.