By Iylia Marsya Iskandar
GOMBAK, 19 November 2019: IIUM as an international university should celebrate all international cultures especially the Malaysian culture as seen in the Public Relations Festival (PR Fest) that commenced on Monday (18 November) and ongoing until Thursday (21 November) in campus here, located at HS Square.
This year, the annual fund-raising event organised by the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia Student Association (IPRMSA) “ IIUM Chapter revolves around the theme œArt and Culture with an emphasis on the Malaysian culture and batik.
In an interview with IIUMToday, the event’s programme manager, Muhammad Helmy Bin Jasri, said that the theme was chosen as there are already several cultural programmes being put forth from other societies in IIUM but there is a lack of exposure of the Malaysian culture to the international students.
He added, œWe specifically chose the batik as it is a traditional cloth that is being used in our everyday lives but the symbolism of the batik is what needs to be put as an emphasis.
Elaborating, Helmy said, œThe process of making a batik is a lengthy one. It involves drawing, waxing and colouring to make it look lively. The process epitomises and puts weight on the richness of the Malaysian culture that needs to be exposed to international students.
The festival also puts forth other Malaysian culture such as the selling of traditional delicacies (sagu gula Melaka and tauhu bergedil) and an exhibition of cultural dances and traditional games (gasing batu seremban, ceper and congkak). The highlight of the event is painting self-made batik.
Helmy also called on the IIUM community to join the lunch hour specials on the upcoming two days which are traditional games competition on Wednesday (20 November) and mass batik painting on Thursday (21 November).
Among other activities being held during the PR Fest is the selling of flowers, desserts and thrift items to raise funds for upcoming events of IPRMSA.
œThis festival is not solely for fund-raising purpose but also to instil the ability to multitask, dealing with ad hoc situations and planning an event from scratch for all the committee members, Helmy added.
Committees of PR Fest welcome all IIUM community to celebrate and dive into the Malaysian culture for the upcoming days.***
