Lunar New Year Celebration Held by the Malaysian Student Association

The Malaysian Student Association at the University of Central Oklahoma hosted a Lunar New Year Celebration on Feb. 20, on the third floor of the Nigh University Center, providing traditional foods and playing traditional games to celebrate the Lunar New Year with students.

The event itself was called “Gong Xi Fa Cai,” which translates to “congratulations and prosperity,” which is a common phrase during the Lunar New Year season. 

Gong Xi Fa Cai is one of the major events that the Malaysian Student Association puts on every year.

Joelene Loh, University of Central Oklahoma student and President of the Malaysian Student Association, said, “We can’t do everything exactly how we do it back home; we’re just trying to bring a little bit of what we do have, like oranges and different plum snacks, and games to this event to celebrate on campus.”

Loh continued, “The goal of hosting this event was to make people exposed to not just the Chinese New Year, but also how Malaysians celebrate the Chinese New Year, because other countries with different cultures celebrate too.”

The first activity was a Kahoot game with trivia questions on Lunar New Year traditions. 

The second activity was a relay race where students were put into two lines and took turns picking up peanuts with chopsticks, moving one from one bowl, and putting it in a second bowl.

The third activity was a game in which students needed to pass a ping pong ball to each other using spoons in their mouths in a line. There were two teams; whichever line finished passing the ping pong ball first won. 

The next event was salad tossing; noodles were used instead for this activity. Students were encouraged to use chopsticks to toss noodles into the air and say what they wished for.

Jade Low, University of Central Oklahoma student and co-president of the Malaysian Student Association, explained, “The higher the salad is tossed, the higher the chance your wish will come true.”

The last activity was to eat traditional Malaysian food, such as mandarin oranges, vegetable spring rolls, and cream cheese rangoons. Loh said, “In Malaysian culture, eating is an activity.”

Loh explained, “Malaysia is a country with multiple cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year differently, so it is important to have an event for each one. There is the Chinese Lunar New Year, Indian Lunar New Year, and Malaysian Lunar New Year.”

“It is important for everyone who comes from different countries and locals to get exposed to different cultures, and this holiday is an important one in Malaysia,” said Loh.

This tradition has grown on campus, especially after the Asian American Student Association held the bug Lunar New Year celebration at the Hamilton Field House in January.