UNT Malaysian Student Association

MAMAK in UNT

2009-03-10T22:29:00.007-05:00

Hey guys! Spring break is just around the corner, I hope everyone will have a relaxing and happy holiday break : )

While I am in the US, one thing that I miss most from Malaysia is sitting in a mamak with friends at night drinking teh-o ice limau and eating roti canai. I am sure you guys miss this too. During this spring break, MASA is going to make this happen. We will be having a Mamak night!

Date: 21st of March (Saturday)
Time: 3 pm
Venue: Ming Kai's house
Food: $4/person
(Subject to change if the cost is lower than the estimated cost)

We need our fellow MASA members to help by bringing in some food for the event. Everyone who attend will need to pay $4 and for those who cook, MASA will pay you the cost. One thing to remember is please keep any related receipt. No receipt = no claim! Our rough estimation for the budget is between $7 to $10 per dish.

Current confirmed dishes are:

1. Yellow noodles (Ming Kai)
2. Roti canai (Malini)
3. Chicken curry (Roshini and Naresh)
4. Samosa (Alicia Ng)
5. Egg tarts and some malay style finger food (Ex Maple Trio)
6. Indo Mee (Tammy)

Some brief suggestions for the food are:
1. Curry puff
2. Teh tarik and teh o (Teh-o ice limau!)
3. Any Malaysian kuih muih (Pls try to avoid brownies or cupcakes)
4. Noodles or fried rice

For those who are planning to cook and had decided on a dish please reply to this post. If you are attending, please RSVP by replying to this post too.

Thanks guys! Hope to see everyone there : D

Celebration of Cultures: International Week of 2009

2009-03-09T16:55:00.003-05:00

Yo yo yo! I'm the guest blogger, Eileen =)

Just wanted to inform everyone regarding the most look forward to, exciting and busiest week of the semester- International Week (March 30 - April 6, 2009) The events that we'll be participating are the following:

Native Dress & Flag Processional and World Cultures Fair & Market
Date: March 30, 2009 (Monday)
Time: 11.30am Venue: Library Mall

Basically, the Native Dress and Flag Processional would serve as the opening ceremony of International Week. Representatives from different countries will carry their flags and walk around campus. The second part of the day would be World Cultures Fair and Market. We'll set up a booth, display some brochures and talk to anyone who stops by.

International Food Fair
Date: March 31, 2009 (Tuesday)
Time: 10kam
Venue: UNT BSM

We'll be selling the food we make this day. Last year, we sold most of our food and made quite a bit. I'm hoping we are sell even more this year =P

Performance Festival & Fashion Parade
Date: April 1, 2009 (Wednesday)
Time: 7pm
Venue: Auditorium

Come and support all the performers and enjoy other performances by other countries too. We need extra photographers as well =P

World Cultures Tour
Date: April 2, 2009 (Thursday)
Time: to be determined
Venue: to be determined

We need 3 representatives for this event. The representatives will be brought to a middle school and they'll just have to introduce Malaysia to the students. RSVP to this post if u're interested. Transportation and lunch will be provided.

You can just come help out, we would love to have extra help or even just join the fun if u have a break in between classes or something.

The Old Meeting the New

2009-02-12T02:39:00.006-06:00

Hey guys! We will be having a potluck party in two weeks time.
Former UNT Malaysian students will be attending! :D

Venue: Roshini's House
Date: 28th of February
Time: 7 pm

Please RSVP! For those who need transportation, please state so. Leave us a note or contact Rosh if you know what type of food you will be bringing.

Hope to see everyone there!

International Week Dance Performance

2009-02-12T01:24:00.013-06:00

First of, I would like to wish everyone HAPPY VALENTINES!

UNT international week is just around the corner and I am so excited about it! MASA will be participating in various events this year. I am sure everyone had their own share of fun during the previous international week and we would like to urge everyone to be active and participate! It will be memorable. It will be fun. It will be great.

This post is dedicated specifically for the dance performance night event.

Information for the newcomers: last year MASA did the Asmaradana dance with a fusion of Chinese and Indian dance for the performance night. This year round, we are planning to have a traditional malay folk dance.

Type of perfomance: Group Malay Folk Dance
Song: "Dikir Puteri"
Duration: 3 - 3.5 minutes

Please hover and click on the name of the song if you are interested to check out what the song's like. It will take you to the audio link.

Ally will be the chief coordinator for this event. She will be in charge of choreographing the dance and song editing. We need more people to volunteer in participating as dancers. Please reply asap to this post or text Ally if you wish to volunteer yourself, preferably by the end of this week. Ally will need the number of dancers in order to proceed with her plannings.

The event it self will take place on the 1st of April (Wednesday) night. However, please take note that volunteering as participators in this event requires a commitment to dedicate some time for dance practices and occasionally, some group discussion meetings.

MASA will also need help with resources such as constumes for various events. Please let us know if you have any traditional costumes.

Thanks guys!

P/S: A big thank you to Ally! Girl, thanks for all the plannings! :D

Open Forum

2009-02-12T01:04:00.006-06:00

MASA will be hosting our very first open forum! Being an international student, sometimes information on rules, regulations, benefits or opportunities could often be confusing.The purpose of this open forum is to help clear some of your doubts or answer some of your questions regarding on various academic or other relating topics.

We have some brief ideas on what topic we might include into the forum. Mainly it will consist of topics on scholarship, employment, credit history or OPT.

We are not going to restrict the content of the forum. That's why we are calling it an open forum. We have people who can share their personal experience and knowledge to you and we are here to help. So please voice out any opinions or suggestions on the forum topic that you will be interested in by replying to this post. This will give us more time to prepare for the issues or invite someone who is appropriate and professional to discuss on the issues.

P/S: The venue and date of this event is yet to be determined.

Hope to hear feedback from all you!

Thanks : )

Welcome Party Spring 09'

2009-01-27T14:32:00.010-06:00

GONG XI FA CAI!

Happy Chinese New Year guys! It's the time of the year again.
I miss home so much. And I am sure all of you guys did too. Well maybe someone will miss their angpaos more. Can't say I am not one of them : P

In conjunction with celebrating Chinese New Year, MASA will be having a Welcome Party for the new member this Spring. Instead of our usual old pot luck style, we will be having hot pot, tong yuen and chinese rice cake (nian gao). MASA will be collecting $5 per person that night for the food materials. It will be a really fun night with games and different type of activities such as the Mafia! Im sure our dear president will want to have that on the game list : P

MASA Spring 09' Welcome Party

Venue: Ming Kai's House
Date: 31 Jan 09 (This coming Saturday)
Time: 3 pm
Dress code: RED!

Please RSVP your attendance by replying to this post!
Your name, dorm/apartment name, and if you need transport.

P/S: Remember to prepare $2.50 for the MASA membership dues. We will be collecting it during the party. Thank you so much guys : D Hope to see everyone there!

UNT International Student Welcome Party!

2009-01-21T12:56:00.013-06:00

Happy New Year to all fellow Malaysians!
First of all I would like to wish everyone a good start and a smooth semester in Spring. Secondly, MASA would like to send out a warm welcome to our new Malaysian student in UNT - Louis! :)

The International Welcome Center in UNT will be hosting a welcome party at the Syndicate, University Union for all international students on the 22nd of January, 2009. Its a Thursday.

Just fyi, the Syndicate is located on the ground floor of the Union next to Einstein Brothers.

MASA would hope to see everyone there! With all the free foods, live jazz music and meeting new people, I am sure it will be a fun and enjoyable experience for all. Oh, and there will be a sing your national anthem session during the party! Hopefully everyone will still remember how to sing Negaraku :P

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T16:04:00.008-06:00

MASA wants to thank everyone who came for the Thanksgiving outing, especially to those who drove. I am sure we all had fun in Applebee and Brunswick bowl.

Happy Thanksgiving to all MASA members! I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday.

Spot the Best Pose!

: )

By the way, dead week is starting tomorrow. I would like to wish everyone good luck in their finals!

P/S: Just for your information, Willis Library opens 24 hours a day during dead week.

Thanksgiving Outing

2008-11-24T17:54:00.002-06:00

Dear fellow Malaysians, as Thanksgiving is a day for people to celebrate by gathering together for a holiday feast, MASA is planning to have a get together on the 26th of November. It's a Wednesday.

Here are the basic proposals of this Thanksgiving outing:

1. Bowling night
We could have some fun in Brunswick Bowling. The bowling alley will close at midnight on Wednesday.

2. Dinner feast
Instead of cooking and having our usual potluck event. We could decide on a place to dine in. We could either go to the place Kenny suggested - The 'Cut tie' restaurant or a restaurant somewhere near the mall or in the mall (since the bowling alley is just directly opposite it).

The exact plan is yet to be determined for now. But MASA will need everyone who are interested in this Thanksgiving outing to RSVP their attendance. So that MASA will be able to arrange any necessary transportation to accommodate everyone who are going.

Once again, please remember to RSVP by replying to this post asap. If you know any of your friends who are planning to attend but have not RSVP, please remind them to do so. MASA will only do headcount from the blog.

Thanks people!
Hope to see you all at the Thanksgiving night out.

World Culture Tour!

2008-11-24T17:26:00.007-06:00

The world culture tour we had in the library mall last week was great!
It might be a small scale event but I believe the experience itself was enjoyable. Looking forward for the international week in Spring 09!

A big thanks to everyone who dropped by or helped out in our booth :D

Fall Fresher's Party

2008-09-01T13:51:00.012-05:00

Hello everyone and welcome back! We have five new students from Malaysia: Alicia Ng, Alicia Pik, Jamie, Jasmine and Shi Yun.

Fall Fresher's Party - Friday, Sept 12
Venue: College Inn
Time: 7.00 pm

Please confirm your attendance and choice of food by posting your name, food in the comment link below. Seriously, it's that easy!

Please RSVP by Thursday, Sept 11, so we can get an accurate head count. Don't forget to bring UNT Malaysian Association member fee: $2.50 for Fall Semester.

If you need to contact any of us, please e-mail untmasa@gmail.com

MASA is growing and we need help! Interested to be part of the
UNT MASA Committee Members? Positions are available! **Updated**

1) Event Coordinator
2) Blog Administrator
3) Secretary
4) Treasurer

Thank you for responding, everyone!
Final head count: +/- 20 people **Updated**

Getogether!

2008-04-15T23:42:00.004-05:00

Dear all!

Naresh and I would like to thank our committee members:
We want to thank you all for your dedication, time and effort to meet, discuss and plan for the International Week events!!

And to our members: Thank you all for participating!!! Dancers, thank you for giving your time to rehearse and participate in the Dance Performance, Alycia - for helping our committee members design the new brochures, Malaysian cooks who brought yummy dishes, those who helped to do prep work, Badminton players.. congrats to Tammy, Siner and Kenny, who won women's doubles and mixed doubles, respectively.

Thanks y'all for making this event a success!

As the finals draw near, we'd like to have a getogether this Friday, April 18, 7pm at College Inn. I know some of you will have travelling plans after finals. We'll order pizza. This time we'll skip the Malaysian potluck as many of us have been busy with school. So just come and have fun. Bring some games or cards if you have. We'll see how many pizzas to order, we need you to RSVP by Thursday 5pm (the sooner the better!). I'm looking at no more than $2 per person and MASA will sponsor the rest of the bill + sodas and I'll bring Sago Dessert. Having said that we'll skip the potluck, feel free to bring anything you want and don't worry about the portions or whether or not it's Malaysian food. If not, just bring yourself! Hey, it's a no-stress getogether, ok?

International Week Updates (April 7-14)

2008-03-31T17:16:00.002-05:00

International Week is coming. MASA will participate in the following events:

Native Dress & Flag Processional
World Cultures Fair & Market
Art Exhibit Reception
International Food Fair
World Cultures Tour
World Cultures Performance Festival & Fashion Parade
Badminton Tournament

Click here to see the list of events (updated frequently)

You will find a separate post for each individual event below. If you have any questions/comments, please respond accordingly.

Native Dress/Flag Processional - Monday, April 7

2008-03-31T17:15:00.003-05:00

In-charge: Naresh
Who's participating:
Time: 11.30am
Items provided: Malaysian Flag
Where/when to meet: Kendall 103, 11.00am, must wear traditional attire

(will be updated frequently, please check back)

World Cultures Fair & Market - Monday, April 7

2008-03-31T17:14:00.005-05:00

In-charge: Ally, Eunice
Time: 11am - 4pm
Items provided: Brochures, flag, posters, music
*Items needed*: Cultural exhibit, crafts, display items, more volunteers
Where/when to meet: For set up, meet at Gazebo, outside of Lyceum, 10.45am

Volunteers:
10.45am : Eunice, Tammy (set up)
11-12pm : Eunice, Ally
12-1pm : Eunice, Ally
1-2pm : Eunice, Malini
2-3pm : Ally, Tammy
3-4pm : Ally, Tammy
3.45pm : Ally, Tammy (closing)

Feel free to drop by to help out!

(will be updated frequently, please check back)

Art Exhibition Reception: International Student Art Exhibit - Monday, April 7

2008-03-31T17:13:00.001-05:00

Who's participating: Komalaa
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Where: Union Art Gallery, near Wells Fargo

Go support Komalaa's artwork!

International Food Fair - Tuesday, April 8

2008-03-31T17:12:00.002-05:00

In-charge: Eileen, Roshini
Who's participating: MANY of YOU!
Time: 11am - 1pm
Items confirmed: Sweet and Sour Chicken, Vegetarian Biryani Rice, Vegetarian Noodle, Fried Wantons, Fried Curry Puffs, Watanho, Egg Tarts, Pineapple Tarts, Nyonya Sago
Where/when to meet: Baptist Student Union (opposite Union, East entrance), set up starts 10am

From last year's experience, at the entrance, you can buy a minimum of $5 coupons. So bring cash and appetite!

(will be updated frequently, please check back)

World Cultures Tour - Wednesday, April 9

2008-03-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

In-charge: Poh-Lynn
Who's participating: Eileen, Ally, Alycia
Time: 9.30am - 12pm
Items provided: Posters/Board
*Items needed*: Cultural exhibit, crafts, display items
Where/when to meet: Go - meet Poh-Lynn in front of Union, 9am; Return - arrange for transportation with tour committee

(will be updated frequently, please check back)

World Cultures Performance Festival & Fashion Parade - Thursday, April 10

2008-03-31T17:10:00.001-05:00

In-charge: Debbie (Performance); Poh-Lynn (Fashion Parade)
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Items provided: Flag
Where/when to meet: To be confirmed

Thanks to our dance team and choreographers for giving your time and effort in producing this performance. It's MASA's first dance performance! Come and cheer our dancers!

Badminton Tournament - Friday, April 11

2008-03-31T17:09:00.002-05:00

In-charge: Eunice, Naresh
Time: 5pm - 9pm
Where/when to meet: PEB Courts

Sign up sheets available at:
PEB (Fridays),
REC (Sundays),
Kendall Hall Room 103, or
Contact Eunice at eunice0687@yahoo.com or Naresh at naresh_b85@yahoo.com

Deadline: April 9

Badminton Tournament (Finals) - Sunday, April 13

2008-03-31T17:08:00.001-05:00

Time: 5pm - 8.30pm
Where/when to meet: REC Center Courts

Come and cheer our friends!

MASA Contact

2008-02-16T04:41:00.000-06:00

Eileen: eileen86@gmail.com
Poh Lyn: pohlynnng@yahoo.com
Naresh: naresh_b85@yahoo.com
Alycia Lum: alycialum@gmail.com
MASA: untmasa@gmail.com

MASA Committee

2008-02-16T04:25:00.000-06:00

UNT Malaysian Student Association

President: Eileen Kuah

Vice President: Naresh Ramasamy
Secretary: Alicia Ng
Treasurer: Jasmine Chan Wai Mun
Event Coordinators: Malini Sivapragasam & Ming Kai
Blog Administrator: Alycia Lum Siew Mun

Former Committee Members

President: Poh-Lynn Ng
Vice President: Naresh Ramasamy
Secretary: Debbie
Treasurer: Eunice
Event Coordinators: Eileen and Ally

....

President: Roshini Surendren
Vice President: Komalaa Valluru
Secretary: Naresh Ramasamy
Treasurer: Casey Chong
Event Coordinators: May Kuen and Poh-Lynn Ng

Chinese New Year of the Rat

2008-02-02T20:32:00.000-06:00

Xing Nian Quai Le!
Happy Chinese New Year!
It's the Year of the Rat in 2008

Here's a suggestion by Eileen to have CNY dinner at nearby restaurant somewhere in Denton. I am suggesting Red Pepper or Grand Buffet since they're the only Chinese restaurant I know that's good. But hey, suggestions are always welcomed!

As for the date, the 1st day of CNY is Thursday, Feb 7. Some of you have exams on Friday morning, so we can either have the dinner on:

~~Feb 8, Friday - anytime~~
~~Feb 9, Saturday - anytime OR~~
Feb 11, Monday 6pm

Tuesday update:
Due to limited cars available, the dinner will be on Monday evening, 6.00pm onwards at Siam House - near Sack and Safe. See you there..

Click image to enlarge.

Original photo by greendragonarts.com and tinamessinger.com

World Fest - hosted by FACES

2008-02-01T22:51:00.000-06:00

This email is directed to all Masa members:

Hello my name is Brittney Stewart and I am a junior coordinator for
FACES (a UNT club dedicated to promoting cultural awareness).

This concerns you because our club is hosting a UNT wide event known as World Fest. World Fest is a charitable event held in the area in front of Willis library on March 29. We understand that you are the contact person for your UNT club.

Because your club is of international interest, we were inquiring if your club would be able to contribute anything for our event. Your club could perform, set up an interesting activities booth to exhibit your club, or donate some cultural fashion wear that would be given back to you after the event. For the performance, your club could do a cultural dance, play a musical instrument, or anything that your club thinks would be entertaining.

If you want to set up an activities booth, people would pay to participate in your activity (so it would have to be money worthy) but all money you receive from your booth go to FACES chosen charity. If you think that your club may be at all interested in participating in this UNT cultural event, please email me back so that I may give you more details. If you are positive that your club is not interested then still send me back so I can cross you off. Any help from your club will be highly appreciated. Thank you.

---------
If you have any suggestions, feel free to email Roshini or Poh-Lynn or leave your suggestions here asap.

Malaysian Gathering Spring 2008

2008-01-31T23:29:00.001-06:00

Here's some pictures of our first Malaysian Gathering this Spring :)

New Committee - Spring 2008

2008-01-22T17:33:00.000-06:00

President- Poh Lynn
Vice President- Naresh
Secretary- Debbie
Treasurer- Eunice
Event Coordinators- Ally & Eileen
Blog Administrator- S. Gajendira

Congratulations & Good Luck To Them!!!! ALL DA BEST GUYS & GIRLS!!!!

Fresher's Party

2008-01-13T12:10:00.000-06:00

Welcome back! I hope you all have had a great winter break. As we start off this brand new year with new semester, new resolutions, new expectations and new challenges ahead, let's welcome our new Malaysian students: Ally Lim, Tammy Lim and Malini.

Fresher's Party, Jan 21 (MLK Holiday) @ 7pm *new and updated*
Host: Roshini
Food-in-charge: Komalaa

The venue for the party is in your e-mail from Roshini. For privacy reason, we will not publish addresses in this blog.

Please confirm your attendance and choice of food by posting your name, food in the comment link below or email Roshini or Komalaa.

So far we have:
1) Fried noodles - May Kuen
2) Drinks (3 bottles) and Chips - Kenny
3) Agar-agar, Salad - Komalaa
4) Cup cakes, 60 plates, 80 cups, 60 forks, spoon and beverages (at least 2 bottles) - Alycia, Lisha and Eileen
5) Ice, Drinks (3 bottles) - Gajen
6) Kari ayam - Poh Lynn
7) Cabbage Rolls Hueyeen, Vivian and Amrita
8) Yong Tau Foo - Ally and Tammy
9) Kuih Bakul - Charis

Can't think of what to bring? Let us suggest some to give you an idea what we're missing from home.. Ada macam-macam!

~~kuih muih~~
curry puff / spring roll
fried chicken / fish fingers
fried rice / biryani
~~vege dish~~
egg / fish sambal
soup / porridge
~~sandwiches~~
sesame ball
pisang goreng
cutlet
finger food
chinese dish
indian dish
malay dish
~~yong tau foo!~~

(As long as it reminds me of home, you'll be alright) Justtt kidding.
Don't worry if you do not see anything on the list. Just email Roshini or Komalaa.

Help us improve!

2008-01-12T19:33:00.000-06:00

In order to improve the layout of this blog, help us answer the question below. Thank you!

Reviving MASA website, no, blog!

2008-01-08T20:47:00.000-06:00

Welcome to UNT MASA blog.

This blog is created because I was thinking, since our MASA website is dead and buried, why don't we come up with a blog? I don't know about you, for me, with replying emails and all, it gets pretty messy in my inbox sometimes. And every semester I spend a significant amount of time deleting emails. Want to see MASA website? Click here.

We will include upcoming events, announcements for recruiting people for events, and if we have one current event (say, Malaysian gathering) then everyone can reply under the same thread, instead of emails because I get dyslexic when I see tooooo many different emails sitting in my inbox. Also, we can upload all photos and post them in the blog. (Then we don't have to wait for a year for those who have cameras to email them to everyone!)

Just so you know, I'm not a CSCI major nor some high techie person. So bear with my limited skills of tweeking html or designing professional website! Kata orang tua, sedikit sedikit lama lama jadi bukit.

---

Jokings aside, having this blog will enable us to inform you of the latest (or upcoming) events, known issues, or any MASA/UNT-related stuff that we think will benefit you. Nothing fancy, this blog will serve as a channel to communicate with former, current and new UNT Malaysian students and staff. However this is not the only place to look for information and it is best for you to verify certain information with the right people (such as F-1 status issues with International Advising office, etc).

When we post an event, we are either looking for attendance or recruiting volunteers. For example, Malaysian gathering - you can confirm your attendance, food, etc. For major events such as International Week, we are looking for volunteers to help set up, cook, etc. Therefore everyone can reply directly to the related post and the event coordinators will follow up. In other words, read a post, comment on the post! That's all we need actually.

If you'd like us to post events that will benefit MASA students, please e-mail untmasa@gmail.com. Any suggestions or comments for this blog are welcomed.

Thank you and have a fruitful semester and year ahead!

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2008-01-04T23:11:00.000-06:00

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