News

Tuesday February 26, 2013

‘Keretapi Sarong’ on track in US


Rail-ly fun: Malaysians clad in sarong posing inside a train in Washington. They were joining the ‘Keretapi Sarong’ event for the first time. — Bernama Rail-ly fun: Malaysians clad in sarong posing inside a train in Washington. They were joining the ‘Keretapi Sarong’ event for the first time. — Bernama

WASHINGTON: They may live on the other side of the world but the spirit of Malaysia still lives in their hearts.

Keretapi Sarong, now in its second year in Kuala Lumpur, was carried out for the very first time in three major cities in the United States: Washington DC, Boston and Philadel-phia.

The event managed to capture the interest of Malaysians living in the United States and attract participants to join the one-of-a-kind movement despite the winter cold.

InsightPR LLC, a public relations company established in Virginia by Malaysians, had spread the word through social media to launch Keretapi Sarong in Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City.

Its creative director Lara Zaaba, 28, said rain did not dampen the spirit of participants and that they had a great time trudging in their sarong and getting curious looks during Saturday's event.

“We had fun because we made new friends,” said Zaaba.

The main event organiser, Random Alphabets (RA), is a Malaysian non-profit organisation which puts together event-based projects in and around Kuala Lumpur.

“Our objective is simply to bring people together and have fun,” said Zain HD, 28, of RA.

Yasmin Saulnier, who helped organise the Boston chapter of the event, said: “We all had so much fun and would love to do it again next year!”

Reggi Pagan, an American living in the Boston Metro area, had never heard of sarong but the uniqueness of the traditional outfit triggered her interest to join Keretapi Sarong 2013. - Bernama

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story
  • Bookmark and Share