Coming together

University of Canterbury student Husnain Mohd Idris lines up a shot during a badminton match at Unipol during the 2025 Bersatu Games.

This year the games are hosted by Otago Malaysian Students’ Association and are expected to bring 300 Malaysian students from across the country to Dunedin.

The opening ceremony on Tuesday was attended by High Commissioner of Malaysia to New Zealand Her Excellency Marzita Marzuki and Otago College of Education Dean Prof Vivienne Anderson.

The week-long games have been a fixture on New Zealand-based Malaysian students calendars since the 1960s — "bersatu" means to unite in Malay.

Hosting duties are rotated between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.