Over 150 students took part in Chinese New Year festivities, including dumpling-making and traditional paper cutting in celebration of the Year of the Monkey, organized by student groups at UTM.
On February 8, clubs distributed rice cake samples and traditional red envelopes to students celebrating the festivities in the Student Centre.
“We were giving out red packets that contain chocolate,” said Pei-Ning Kwok, president of the Singapore Malaysia Student Association. “It is a tradition where older generations will give out red packets that contain money to the younger generations. It symbolizes good luck and wealth upon those who receive it.”
The festivities were hosted in collaboration with UTMSU, the Chinese Undergraduate Association, the UTM Chinese Christian Fellowship, the Singaporean Malaysian Student Association, and the Chinese Scholars and Students Association.
UTMSU’s free breakfast Wednesday on February 8 also had a Chinese special in honour of the holiday and served over 400 students, according to UTMSU VP external Naveed Ahmed.
“We felt it [was] necessary to celebrate the Chinese New Year and appreciate Chinese culture, as we saw a great opportunity to create a sense of community and celebrate the diversity of UTM,” said Ahmed in an email to The Medium. “Clubs were really passionate to do something for the New Year, while UTMSU was looking into making this Chinese New Year special for UTM students.”
According to Ahmed, UTMSU is also interested in celebrating other cultural New Year celebrations in the future.
