Chinese essay competition in eight zones March 23
KOTA KINABALU: It is a big advantage to be able to read or write in Mandarin given the growing importance of the language and the rise of China as an economic giant.
Confederation of Chinese Communities Associations of Sabah and Labuan vice president Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen said Mandarin has become a valuable asset in business dealings with China.
With the advancement of information technology (IT), she said ability to write in Mandarin was also becoming increasingly important.
“Besides learning Bahasa Malaysia (BM) and English languages in Malaysia, we have to master Mandarin because it will be a great loss not being able to read or write in the Chinese language in the future,” she said at a press conference on the annual Chinese essay competition that would be held simultaneously in eight zones - Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, Tenom, Keningau, Lahad Datu, Kudat and Labuan.
The contest, to be held from 8am on March 23, is divided into Lower Secondary, Upper Secondary and Open categories.
Susan said the Assistant State Education Director of Chinese School Unit, Tham Yun Fook, had announced last year that the Chinese essay competition would be endorsed by the department.
She said the certificates issued to participants would be certified by the State Education Department, while students could also earn extra-curricular points for taking part in the activity.
Wong said schools should also encourage Chinese essay writing among their students to enhance their competitiveness.
Meanwhile, Confederation of Chinese Communities Associations of Sabah and Labuan’s Cultural Bureau chief Fung Mou Poon said the competition aimed to elevate the standard of Chinese essay writing and promote interest among the younger generation.
Additionally, he said the confederation had compiled selected essays from the competition for the past five years into a book and had gone into printing.
“We will be launching the book during the prize presentation ceremony.
“In another five years, we will publish the second edition to preserve our Chinese culture and publish the winning essays by students and avid writers.”
Fung said the book would be distributed to the community associations, schools and past winners.
Winner of the Lower Secondary category will receive RM300 cash prize, followed by RM200 and RM100 for the first and second runners-up respectively.
For the Upper Secondary category, the first prize winner will receive RM500 cash prize, whereas the second prize and third prize winners will get RM300 and RM200.
There are also 10 consolation prizes for the Lower Secondary (RM 50 each) and Upper Secondary (RM80 each) categories.
Meanwhile, winner of the Open category will receive RM1,000 cash prize. The first and second runners-up for this category will get RM700 and RM400 respectively, while the five consolation prize recipients will receive RM100 each.