Nilai University co-hosted the fourth edition of the 1World Culture event which saw students from 20 institutions of higher education take part in the vocal and dance competition.
“The 1World Culture celebrates the plurality of cultures. The world is full of different and rich cultures that must be preserved and this event is designed to promote such ideas,” says Prof Emeritus Tengku Dato’ Shamsul Bahrin, Nilai University (Nilai U) President, during the closing ceremony of the 1World Culture event. The fourth edition of this international song and dance competition was hosted by Nilai U in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara (Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan
Kebudayaan Malaysia) and Universiti Putra Malaysia.
“We constantly talk about unity and cultural understanding here in Malaysia but it is usually confined to a local context. We thought it was time we did something that promoted a wider worldview involving the large international student population within the country,” explains Tengku Shamsul on the original idea behind the event. He applauded all the participants who have been making this annual event a successful jamboree of brightly coloured costumes and exotic cultural dances.
The international students in turn displayed how well-assimilated they are into their new surroundings by belting out Malay songs for the vocal competitions, which were divided into male and female categories, with a special ‘Nusantara’ grouping for students from Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore. 20 teams from institutions of higher education from as far as Perlis, Sabah and Sarawak made the trip for the event and all were tingling with barely-contained excitement during the closing ceremony at Nilai U’s President Hall where the winners were announced.
Tebogo Amogelang Mokone from Botswana had vowed audiences and judges alike with her powerful soul diva vocals and her rendition of Jacqueline Victor’s ‘Gemilang’ had the crowd on their feet. It was no surprise that the student from Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation bagged top spot in both Best Vocal and International Female Vocal categories. Help University monopolised the Nusantara categories by winning both male and female categories. Jansen Karim (Indonesia) came out tops in the male category with his rendition of Abidah Nor’s ‘Terlalu Istimewa’ while his compatriot Faby Tidayoh won the female category with Sheila Majid’s ‘Ku Mohon’. The Best Performance awards went to Multimedia University student Herfi Qurrota Hanna from Indonesia for the Nusantara category while Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s Godswill Esechie (Nigeria) won in the international category.
The top spot for the dance category was won by Universiti Malaysia Perlis. Their performance showcased an Uzbekistani traditional dance called ‘Yaquya’ which also combined various elements from a royal court dance known as ‘Terinai’ from the performers’ adopted home state of Perlis. With music featuring serunai, double gong and gendang, the local aspect of their performance tells the ritual of marriage and courtship through a series of intricate hand movements. Their elaborate costumes were among the best during the event as underlined by the number of pictures the dancers were asked to pose in. This was not their only triumph as their peer, Shehabaddin Jalal Hael, from Yemen, successfully defended the Best International Male Vocal Category trophy he won last year.
Tengku Shamsul hoped that the spirit of friendship and goodwill that was apparent in all four of the 1World Culture events have provided students with the opportunity to build lifelong networks. “Nilai University’s ‘Enrichment for Life’ philosophy encompasses many values. This includes producing students who can accept, live and work together with students from all walks of life,” he concludes.
Nilai U was established in 1997 and is located in the quite suburb of Putra Nilai, just 45-minutes south of Kuala Lumpur City Centre. Its students hail from 40 different countries and make up approximately 30% of the student population. Many of them have come to Nilai U to join the business, nursing and aircraft maintenance engineering programmes. For more information on Nilai U and the programmes on offer, kindly go to www.nilai.edu.my or call 06-8502338 / 03-79603089 / 07-3332336 / 088-238 811.
