Malaysian Day : Egyptians Filled with Excitement, Learning Malaysian Culture

ABBASIAH, 2 December – “It is such an amazing and addictive game. I would love to have congkak at my home. If I can come to Malaysia, I will find congkak first!”, said Hadeer Ashraf and her friend, Amira Gaber, Year 1 Medical Student from Ain Shams University excitedly when they were interviewed about ‘congkak’ after they tried the game.

Congkak became main attraction in the programme Malaysian Day : Fakkir Bi Malizi. Congkak, which is often considered a game for girls, has simple rules that allow the boards to have different numbers of holes, usually five or seven holes. Congkak boards are often made of teak or mahogany wood are often elaborately carved into various shapes such as dragon or birds.

Other than congkak, they were also interested in Malaysian traditional clothes such as Baju Kurung, Cheongsam and Baju Melayu. Malaysian food and dance, Zapin as well as Silat also made them overwhelmed.

Director of Malaysian Day, Mohd Khairil Ashraf Muhammad Fisal expressed his gratefulness as the aim of the programme which is presenting to Egyptian as well as Malaysian regarding Malaysia’s culture, social, economy and history was achieved during our interview.

Programme with collaboration of PERUBATAN Ain Shams Chapter and Sona El-Hayah, was held to introduce our land, Malaysia to Ain Shams community and to strengthen our bond with them as many of them came from other countries such as Iraq, Syria and so on. This event which was held for 2 days on 1st and 2nd Disember had received more than 300 students per day. Besides being a good event to attend, we hope that the value from this event which is to the Malaysian-Egyption bond can be strengthen more and more even after the event and become one Ain Shams community that always learn about each other.