Guest contributor
Seán Donal Barry
Members of the Karen community from Myanmar living in Malaysia gathered in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to mark Karen New Year at an event organized by the Malaysian Karen Organisation (MKO).
Organizers told DVB that the event was intended to “highlight the richness, uniqueness, and unity of the Karen community.” It featured traditional dance and live music performed by Sayar Chit San Maung and Nge Ngal Lay.
Karen New Year is observed on the first day of Pyathoe, which usually falls in December or January following the end of the rice harvest, and is marked by the Karen community as a cultural event.
Performances by Karen children and youth, speeches from community leaders, as well as readings on the history of the Karen New Year, were included. A representative from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Malaysia said it was an important reminder of the resilience and strength of the Karen community.
Members of other ethnic and refugee organisations were present at the event, including Kachin, Chin, Karenni, Rakhine, Mon and Shan groups, which are part of the Coalition of Burma Ethnics Malaysia (COBEM), an alliance founded in 2007 to coordinate services and advocacy for refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia.
Seán Barry is a Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist and audio producer, with a focus on authoritarianism, human rights, and humanitarian aid. He first visited Myanmar in 2015.
