THOUSANDS FLOCK TO FESTIVAL MALAYSIA IN MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- It was a joyous occasion when thousands of
Melburnians joined Malaysian students to participate in Festival Malaysia at the
Queenbridge Square here Sunday.

The festival, organised by the Malaysian Students Council of Australia, was
opened by International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed
and attended by his deputy, Mukhriz Mahathir, and High Commissioner to
Australia Salman Ahmad.

Also present was Malaysian-born Melbourne City Councillor Ken Ong.

Mustapa congratulated the students on "bringing Malaysia to Melbourne" in
the form of ethnic dances, songs, music and food in the event from 10am to 5pm.

He said Malaysian students here were fortunate as Melbourne was graded the
third best city in the world for excellence in education, after London and
Boston. Boston and Melbourne are sister cities.

Mustapa was here to meet leaders in the auto industry.

The festival served to demonstrate that Malaysia was a land of diverse
races, languages, religions and varied and remarkable cultural heritage, said
Farisa Roslan, who co-organised the event with fellow student Aida Zabidi.
Comedian Harith Iskandar won many fans with his 30-minute skit.
-- BERNAMA