Unique Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In the festive atmosphere of welcoming the Year of the Dragon 2024, from January 27-28, the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysia-Vietnam Friendship Association jointly organized the "Vietnamese Tet Festival 2024" right in the Bukit Bintang area in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

A traditional dance performance by members of the Vietnam-Malaysia Friendship Association. (Source: VNA)

Attending the opening ceremony on January 27th were the Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia, Dinh Ngoc Linh, and his wife; Mr. Mohamed Amin, Senior Director for Events and Domestic Tourism of Malaysia; Mr. Mohamad Shahrir, Deputy Senior Director for ASEAN Region of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia; and several representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Malaysian businesses, and many Vietnamese expatriates in the area.

Following the lively lion dance performance that opened the festival, Ms. Tran Thi Chang, President of the Malaysia-Vietnam Friendship Association, expressed her emotion at the active participation of the Vietnamese expatriate community in organizing the unique and joyful Vietnamese Tet Festival right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. According to Ms. Chang, Tet Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year) is the most important traditional festival of the year for Vietnamese people, a time to reflect on the past and express good wishes for the new year. She emphasized the commitment to continue supporting the Vietnamese expatriate community to build a stronger Vietnamese community, contributing to strengthening the friendship between Vietnam and Malaysia.

Deeply moved by the sentiments of the Vietnamese diaspora and the Malaysia-Vietnam Friendship Association towards the traditional Lunar New Year, Ambassador Dinh Ngoc Linh highly appreciated the Association's contributions to the Vietnamese community in the area, helping to strengthen community bonds and preserve Vietnamese cultural identity. The Ambassador hoped that the 2024 Vietnamese Tet Festival would help alleviate the longing for the flavors of Tet for those living abroad, fostering a deeper love and connection to their homeland.

On the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year, Ambassador Dinh Ngoc Linh expressed his hope that the Vietnamese community in Malaysia would continue to uphold their patriotic traditions, make positive contributions to the common development of both countries, and become a bridge to further promote the good friendship between Vietnam and Malaysia. The Ambassador particularly emphasized that overseas Vietnamese should continue to preserve the Vietnamese language and promote the cultural identity and fine traditions of the Vietnamese people.

A stall selling Halal-certified pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) run by overseas Vietnamese at the 2024 Vietnamese Tet Festival. (Source: VNA)

Amidst the unique atmosphere of the 2024 Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival, Mr. Mohamed Amin, Senior Director of Events and Domestic Tourism of Malaysia, expressed his honor to attend the important Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. He emphasized the dedication and diplomatic efforts of Ambassador Dinh Ngoc Linh and the Malaysia-Vietnam Friendship Association in strongly promoting the enduring relationship between the two countries. In particular, special events like the Vietnamese Lunar New Year are playing a crucial role in fostering the good friendship between the two countries in general and strengthening people-to-people exchanges in particular.

Mr. Mohamed Amin further shared that, based on the initiative to enhance economic , cultural, and tourism cooperation of the Malaysia-Vietnam Friendship Association, the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is committed to fully supporting the establishment of sister city models such as Melaka-Hoi An and Langkawi-Phu Quoc in the future.

In the spacious and attractive festival area, overseas Vietnamese displayed many food stalls featuring authentic Vietnamese Tet (Lunar New Year) dishes such as banh chung (sticky rice cake), banh tet (cylindrical sticky rice cake), Tet jam, pickled onions, coffee, etc., interspersed with stalls selling traditional ao dai (Vietnamese long dress) and Tet flower markets. The overseas Vietnamese community hoped to introduce the beauty of the traditional Vietnamese Tet to all their Malaysian and international friends.

The Vietnamese Tet Festival 2024 program continued on its final day, January 28th, with a series of other Tet-themed activities such as "Making Banh Chung (Vietnamese traditional rice cakes) to celebrate Tet," "Wearing Ao Dai for Tet," traditional cultural and artistic exchanges, and many folk games for children and visitors.

A stall selling traditional Vietnamese dresses (áo dài) at the festival. (Source: VNA)

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/doc-dao-le-hoi-tet-viet-o-thu-do-kuala-lumpur-malaysia-259062.html