Malaysian Association of America celebrates 57th 'Merdeka' day

The Malaysian Association of America (MAA), an umbrella organisation that represents the interests of Malaysians in the United States, held a gala celebration Friday night in Flushing, New York, to mark its

30th anniversary and, also, the 57th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence.

The guests included Malaysia's permanent representative to the United Nations Datuk Hussein Haniff; Malaysia's consul general Abdul Razak Abdul Wahab; United States congresswoman Grace Meng; New York state assemblyman Ron Kim; New York City Council member Peter Koo; former New York City comptroller John Liu and Kim Bong, a Malaysian community leader who is credited with raising the MAA

to its present level.

The gala evening was punctuated by traditional Malaysian dances and the Chinese lion dance.

MAA's chief executive director Jack Liaw, a Malaysian who runs an accounting firm in New York, retraced MAA’s 30-year history and the growth of the Malaysian diaspora in the United States.

“We try to promote Malaysia in a number of ways and help Malaysians whenever they have any problems,” he said.

Former New York City comptroller Liu, who attends many Asian events, told the gathering that he was “truly humbled” by the presence of the “outstanding members of the Malaysian community which is a proud community, a happy community”.

He also praised the progress made by Malaysia. “In the great nation of Malaysia, there is diversity of culture, religion and ethnicity. We should learn something from Malaysia.”

Interspersed between the speeches, Atama Katama, a Malaysian recording artist from Sabah, played the indigenous music of Sabah with the 'sompoton', the free-reed mouth organ of Sabah.

Atama, who looks after international liaison within a community-based organisation called Pacos Trust based in Kota Kinabalu, told Bernama he was in New York to attend the UN Conference on Indigenous Peoples.

“I am proud to see so many Malaysians here to celebrate our 57th independence anniversary,” said Malaysia's UN permanent representative Hussein, emphasising Malaysia’s “success story” manifested in the harmonious and peaceful co-existence between the various ethnic, cultural and religious groups.

Following up on US President Barack Obama’s “highly successful” Malaysia visit this year, Hussein called for greater people-to-people contacts between the United States and Malaysia.

Hussein presented a trophy to the winning team of the 7th Merdeka Cup soccer tournament, an annual event held in New York.

In an interview with Bernama at the Flushing venue, MAA president Jimmy Tan said the organisation was not just there to socialise.

“We proactively try to help Malaysians who live here. We try helping people in distress through a number of ways but, of course, we can always welcome support from the Malaysian government as well,” he said.

The MAA worked closely with the Malaysian consulate and other Malaysian government offices in New York City, he added.