On October 17, 2018, the International Student Program (ISP) and Myanmar Cultural Club (MCC) hosted its first Burmese Festival of Lights, Tha-din-gyut, at Skyline College. The festival brightened up the college with various dance performances, beautiful Burmese traditional attire, and cultural foods. Approximately 50 students, staff, faculty and community members attended the event.
Tha-din-gyut, one of 12 festivals celebrated in the country, showcases the beautiful and unique traditions and cultures of Myanmar. The festival is to pay homage to the elderly, relatives, teachers and parents, and to ask forgiveness for the wrongdoings of the year.
During the Tha-din-gyut event, the MCC students performed two traditional dances: oil lamp dance (See-Mee-Kwat) and an ethnic group dance. The audience also had a chance to test their knowledge on Burmese culture by actively participating in a series of quizzes presented by the MCC students. At the end of the event, attendees were treated to Burmese traditional rice cake, “Sa-Nwin-Ma-Kin.” They also enjoyed taking pictures with their friends in a photo booth themed with the Tha-din-gyut festival.
The Myanmar Cultural Club holds meetings every first and third Friday of the month from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. in Building 4’s Multicultural Center. Anyone who is interested in learning more about Burmese culture is welcome to join the club!
ISP will continue to conduct events and workshops to improve the services offered to its students and the entire Skyline College community. If you are interested in learning more about future ISP programs and events, contact the ISP office at skyinternational@smccd.edu.
Article by Soe Thura Hlaing |Photos by Nyi Wai Yan Tun
