Merah Putih held its annual Monophone music and arts festival on the 18th April at Limkokwing Hall of Fame, featuring Indonesian pop star RAN. The festival returned for the 5th time since its conception in 2010, and was attended by Indonesian Deputy Ambassador for Malaysia, Mr. Hermono.

The Indonesian students’ community; Merah Putih aims at sharing Indonesia culture and traditions with the multicultural Limkokwing community. The community plans and successfully manages many events yearly, with Monophone as one of their biggest. Some of the events the club has held includes Pakserda (Lapak Serba Ada) bazaar, Akustiko (Merah Putih’s member music performance), as well as Lubang Buaya Cup (soccer match).

Attended by over 400 students, Monophone 2015 invited students from other countries to join the festival performances through a segment titled ‘Monophone Looking for Talent’, where international students showcased their culture through music and dance, while showing various Indonesian cultures, and RAN debuting their performance in Malaysia at the end of the event.

Mr. Hermono applauded Merah Putih for planning and executing a cultural event of such scale, especially a culture based one. He said inviting international students was a smart move by Merah Putih, saying such endeavours would strengthen bilateral relations among students and their nations.

He went on to say the event prepared students for the future, especially in event management, which is a fast growing industry worldwide.

“This is a good start, and I believe Limkokwing University will continue to train students in event management at a larger, even global scale,” he said.
In relation to preparation for the event, outgoing club’s president Yusuf Auliadilaga said communication and teamwork were extremely crucial throughout the whole process of planning an event and eventually bringing it to action.

“We have a group chat-room where we share all the important details, and we hold a meeting to discuss a way forward every Friday night.”

Auliadilaga also said Merah Putih planned to incorporate other cultures more for the next year event, and will collaborate with students from other countries to plan a spectacular cultural event.

“I will reach out to international students so that I can learn their culture an incorporate it into our cultural concept.”

He said the University’s multicultural environment made it possible to plan and manage events like this, as every student was a pool of cultural knowledge to draw from.

“There are students from every part of the world in campus; it makes it easier to plan a multicultural event because you get to learn about their culture directly from them.”

Monophone 2015 is just one among the many platforms Limkokwing University offers its students in order to promote cultural diversity and tolerance. The University will hold its annual Cultural Festival on 8th May, where students from 160 countries set up stalls that showcase various aspects of their culture. Limkokwing University also holds various events every year, which equips students across disciplines with important skills in professionalism and teamwork through event planning and management. Students plan and execute event concepts, themes, itineraries, and entertainment.

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