Last Saturday evening, my friends, family and I attended the Malaysian Night concert organised by the Malaysian students. It was held within the premises of the National Library in the Haitian District in Beijing. There are about 300 of them studying in various universities in the capital. Our students come from various states and nearly half of them took time off from their busy study schedules to organise and participate in presenting the various multi-ethnic cultures to the mainly young Chinese audience. What a bridge of friendship to foster better understanding between the two nations.

The programme started off with a soul-stirring rendition of 'Sejahtera Malaysia' by the impressive student choir. Aspects of Hari Raya Aidilfitri were explained and portrayed in a skit. Students from Sarawak led in full-costume Iban dance. The concert hall then throbbed with the drumming of 24 drums, a beat unique to the Malaysian Chinese culture.

The audience were enthralled by dancers in resplendent costumes, a combination of baju kurung, songket, kebaya, batik, sarong and baju Melayu. Also, a group of local Chinese students from the Malay Studies Faculty of a Beijing university read the poem 'Kekasih' written by Usman Awang. Our favourite Malaysian favourite pastime, visiting the neighbourhood mamak stall, was also depicted in a skit. Of course, someone was there to 'tarik' the 'teh' and flip the 'roti canai'!

This concert brought back nostalgic memories of the time when I was involved in organsing a similar event in the UK more than two decades ago. Our students have been and will continue to be Malaysia's ambassadors wherever they congregate in cities overseas. They take great pride in promoting the country they love from a deep sense of patriotism.