Community event: More than 2,000 visitors turned up to celebrate mid-autumn festival at Bandar Sungai Long

Drums’ echo officiates the colourful evening (from right): Leo, Prof Choong, Prof Ewe, YB Dr Ong, YB Lee, Kwan and Thiagarajah (far left)

The inflated giant moon and rabbits outside UTAR Sungai Long Campus signified that the warm spirit of the mid-autumn festival has arrived in Bandar Sungai Long. As the dusk drew the dark, strains of colourful and vivid lanterns lightened up Persiaran SL 1, Bandar Sungai Long. It was accompanied by joyful chatters of the residents, UTAR staff and students, invited guests who joined to celebrate the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar.

Visitors taking photos with the giant moon

Visitors taking photos with the inflated giant rabbits

The community-based celebration was organised on 13 Septmebr 2019 by Persatuan Penduduk Bandar Sungai Long, Majlis Perwakilan Penduduk (MPP) MPKj Zon 11, Penggerak Belia Tempatan (PeBT) Zon 11, and UTAR Student Representative Council (SRC) with collaboration from various institutions and societies, namely SJK (C) Bandar Sungai Long, Persatuan Peniaga-Peniaga Kecil Bandar Sungai Long, Persatuan Penjaja Pasar Malam Bandar Sungai Long, Yu Lan Sheng Hui Bandar Sungai Long, Bandar Sungai Long Community Police, Persatuan Peniaga Bandar Sungai Long dan Bandar Mahkota Cheras, Yang Wu Martial Arts & Lion Dance and Persatuan Tzu Chi.

The first of its kind, the community celebration was attended by Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry-cum-Member of Parliament for Bangi YB Dr Ong Kian Ming, Selangor State Legislative Assemblyman for Kajang YB Hee Loy Sian, UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, Selangor State Legislative Assemblyman for Balakong YB Wong Siew Ki, Chairman of PeBT Zon 11 Raymond Kwan Say Hong, UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Member of Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) Thiagarajah Rajagopal, UTAR SRC Chairperson Leo Cheong Zhe, Selangor State Legislative Assemblyman for Kuala Kubu Bharu YB Lee Kee Hiong, Selangor State Legislative Assemblyman for Teratai YB Brian Lai, local residents, UTAR staff and students as well as the public.

In his speech, YB Dr Ong expressed his gratitude and said, “I would like to thank UTAR for their kind cooperation in terms of allowing us to have this space to organise an exciting event for the society. This is a very good beginning where we will have more events as such in the future to bring the community together and forge a closer relationship. With that being said, I wish all of you happy lantern festival night and may we all be united regardless of race or religion.” He also congratulated Prof Ewe on his appointment as the new UTAR President on September 2019.

YB Dr Ong supports events that promote inclusivity and togetherness

Prof Ewe believes that the bond between the locals and UTAR should be preserved

Prof Ewe pointed out the good relationship that UTAR had established with the locals, “I am very glad to see the people who built up the Bandar Sungai Long community joining us today. UTAR has long set its foot in Bandar Sungai Long and we have put in our best effort in making sure that the campus not only serves to educate our future generations but also give back to the society that supports it. In line with UTAR’s vision of being a global university of educational excellence with transformative societal impact, UTAR regularly organises community projects with the locals. Today we are gathered here again with the local residents to celebrate the mid-autumn festival disregarding age, race and religion.

As the organising committee chairperson, Kwan expressed his gratitude to those who offered help and support in making the event a success, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the PeBT members, Bandar Sungai Long community, UTAR and the NGOs for organising this Lantern Festival for all the Sungai Long society. This programme is successful because of the cooperation it received from the youths who were committed to serving society from all walks of life. Our members include young people and seniors who have never worked together before today’s event. However, from today’s event, I see a strong sense of cooperation among our members like the saying goes, “Berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing” (together through thick and thin).”

According to Kwan, this is the first time people of Bandar Sungai Long came together to celebrate the mid-autumn festival on a large scale

The night was filled with multicultural performances of traditional dances, lion dance, diabolo, lucky draws, singing performance and more. With the theme Meraih dan Berarak Bersama Di Bandar Sungai Long (celebrate and parade in Bandar Sungai Long), the event also saw the crowd celebrating the festival in a traditional way by parading around the commercial area of Bandar Sungai Long with a variety of lanterns, accompanied by lion dances.

Approximately 2,000 visitors flooded Persiaran SL 1 as early as 7 pm

1,000 mooncakes with assorted flavour for the visitors to enjoy

2,000 lanterns were given away to visitors to light up the evening

As Malaysia Day was around the corner, Malaysia flags were also given out to visitors

Guests and the crowd ready to parade with their lanterns

Moments captured during the lantern parade

Adorable Meow Meow Dance performance by SJK (C) Bandar Sungai Long

Energetic lion dance performance by Yang Wu Martial Arts & Lion Dance

Ukulele performance by students of SJK (C) Bandar Sungai Long 

Beautiful traditional Chinese dance performance by UTAR students

PeBT presented a remarkable Indian traditional dance

Silat Sukmo Rogo performers demonstrating their skills

Diabolo performance by UTAR Diabolo Team

A musical Environmental Awareness Drama by Tzu Chi Malaysia

Tzu Chi Malaysia representatives urging the public to reduce single-use plastics in daily life

Visitors observing the eerie-looking “plastic man” (left) that reflects the concerning average amount of plastic used by a person in a month duration and a model of dumping site (right) set up by Tzu Chi Malaysia

YB Hee took the opportunity to urge the public to take concern about the environment