Celebrate Malaysia’s 50th anniversary at the two-day street festival Malaysiaku, organised by a small group of restaurants (Opus, Opus Private Room, Cava and Leonardo’s) on Bangkung row. There will be more than 20 stalls hawking local Malaysian favourites (satay, Sarawak laksa, nyonya cuisine) as well as performances, talks and exhibitions. The cultural evenings are co-organised by PUSAKA, the NGO that preserves traditional Malaysian art forms; so expect cultural dances such as Ghazal, lion dance and Indian temple drum performance from Bentong. Also look out for the Magical Borneo Evening on the first day, which features various dances from Sabah and Sarawak, as well as tuak appreciation.
Get inspired at Bobo Talks@ Leonardo’s (modelled after TED talks) where speakers including Ng Sek San (Malaysian Spring), Goh Sze Ying (Better KL), Dzameer Dzulkifli (Teach for Malaysia), Eddin Khoo (PUSAKA), Dato Ambiga (Bersih) and Ee Soon Wei (The Royal Press Conservation Project) talk about the projects they have done or are doing to improve the state of the country. Not only that, political scientist Yin Shao Loong will be speaking about ‘Concept of Race’ while Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism & Human Rights will organise a forum on constitutional issues.
There’s also ‘Siti and Pepper Tea Party’ by Seksualiti Merdeka, a Malaysian history book launch by Prof Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim, art exhibitions and a talk on 50 years of Malaysian art history. And last but least, a forum on Malaysia fronted by intellectuals from Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines. These activities are reason enough for you skip the malls and swing by Bangsar.