About 500 Malaysian students are coming to Iowa State this weekend for the annual Malaysian Temasya Jaguh Malaya Inter-University Sports Event.

It will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Lied Recreational Center on campus, and last through March 16.

The Association of Malaysian Students at Iowa State University will be mainly hosting students from the Midwest, though students will be coming from all over the country.

“They’re mostly coming from the big universities, such as Michigan, Michigan State, University of Iowa, Drake University, Minnesota,” said Danial Shafri, senior in geology and president of the ISU student organization. “We also have students coming all the way from Virginia and some even from the New York area.”

The association originally spoke with the Malaysian embassy to invite students from around the nation. They have been planning the sporting event since December 2013.

“We believe that sports is one of the ways to unite Malaysians all over the country, so by organizing this event, we have a chance to unite them from all over in one place,” said Muhammad Hariri Manor, junior in electrical engineering and one of the publicity directors for the event.

The sporting event began in 2011 when Malaysian students from Iowa State, Drake and Iowa got together to have fun and play sports, Shafri said.

“We started being serious and wanted to make it a real event that we could carry out every spring,” Shafri said.

Temasya Jaguh Malya is like a mini-Olympics, said Muhammad Syamil Suhaimi, senior in economics and accommodation officer for the visiting Malaysian students.

The competitions within the event will include soccer, badminton, basketball and futsal, a modified form of indoor soccer, among other sports.

“Everything that we do together just strengthens our bond,” Suhaimi said.

Each university in attendance will collect points, Shafri said, and the one with the most points in each event will win.

“The most exciting thing is the feeling of being home at another country,” said Hafiz Raslan, senior in finance program director for Temasya Jaguh Malya. “Having more than 500 Malaysians in one place definitely will bring the essence of Malaysia to Ames.”

Coming together for some friendly competition isn’t the only plan this weekend.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a jetliner with 239 people aboard that has been missing since March 8, is still a worry for many of the Malaysian students on campus.

“The event of MH370 was very unfortunate,”Raslan said. “I feel that the entire world and not just only Malaysians will feel the pain of loss. What we can do together, as Malaysians, is to pray for the best for the victims.”

Because hundreds of Malaysian students will be on campus, the association decided to hold a candlelight vigil to pray for the missing plane and its passengers.

“Malaysia is really diverse in race and religion,” Manor said. “There are many ways to pray.”

The vigil will take place at 8 p.m. March 14 on central campus by the Campanile. The public is welcome to join.

“The missing plane encouraged us to gather together and pray together, and hopefully we can find the missing plane,” Manor said.