UKR Hadrah Art Heritage Trail Programme in Southern Thailand

Kangar, 1 June – To experience variety in the studies of hadrah arts, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) Cultural and Recreation Unit (UKR) showed its support for the border community in Thailand by holding the recent Hadrah Arts Heritage Trail Programme in Phattalung.

The delegation consisting of 30 UKR staff members and eight UniMAP students also had the opportunity to perform and share the hadrah arts of Perlis and Thailand with the local community.

UKR Director Mohd Izwan Izhar Haris said hadrah was popular among people in the northern region of peninsular Malaysia about 60 years ago.

He said the art was then brought to southern Thailand as it is religious which has encouraged him to launch the Hadrah Art Heritage Trail program.

“The arts sharing between Perlis and Thailand was held at the Khuandonwittaya School, providing UKR staff and students with opportunities to broaden their knowledge about hadrah of the communities in both places,” he said.

In addition to this, UniMAP students from the Sutramaya team were also given the opportunity to perform at Halal Food Street Satun 2018.

Mohd Izwan added that in conjunction with the programme, they also have organised volunteer work and recreational activities, such as kayaking in Manang as a teambuilding activity.

“Volunteering activities were held by organising a gotong royong to clean the biggest mosque in Hatyai, namely the Nurul Din Mosque on the last day of the programme, including donating to the mosque committee members.

“This proves that the programme not only focuses on art but also on volunteerism and staff development programmes,” he said.

The programme ran for three days with the intention of establishing good cooperation and ties with the Thai border and to uphold the spirit of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).