SEAS English Camp 2019 closes with a bang and melody
The Sabah English Aspiration Society (SEAS) successfully completed another English Camp this year conducted at SJKC Pei Yin, Membakut on August 3-4.
Assistant Education and Innovation Minister Jennifer Lasimbang officiated at the closing ceremony.
A statement released by SEAS said the main attraction of the closing ceremony was the performances by various student groups, the first being the Kulintangan performed by pupils of SK Pengiran Jaya Membakut.
There was a demonstration of Taekwondo KATA and board breaking by SEAS Martial Arts Club led by a 13-year-old black belt holder Nur Hakeemah from London.
Mohd Hafiz Zainol Shokor, a professional photographer from The London Royal College of Arts, also impressed the audience with his interesting video show.
Finally, the audience was surprised by a solo vocalist performance by 10-year-old Azry who travelled all the way from Sandakan with his traditional Sabahan melody.
At the beginning of the closing ceremony, the three finalists in the Engaging the Audience Competition showed their skills on the stage.
Nur Ashiera Natasha from Inanam became the champion eventually. Aisha Fatimah and team from Manchester and Aqif Rahimi Khairuddin from London who mentored the contestants in the competition were very excited that their young mentees were very talented and passionate in public speaking.
Annabelle Magdalene and Lucas Chong, who are both from SJKC Kung Ming Beaufort, won the second and third places respectively. The trophies were sponsored by Associate Prof Dr Zainal Abidin Sanusi from IIUM.
Mohd Azmi Thauffeck, Marvin Ooi and Cecilia Wan from Kuala Lumpur were among the judges tasked with deciding on the winner among the young talents.
Jennifer presented 20 individual awards of various achievements to the winners. Among the awards were Asma Khan Awards for Generosity which was sponsored by Asma Khan, the owner of the Darjeeling Express Restaurant in Central London. A substantial amount was raised during a fund-raising event at her restaurant.
The other interesting award was Zaleha Olpin Award for Authenticity. Zaleha is a celebrity chef in England who is famous for her “Non-crispy Rendang”. Syebvonne Award for Charity was also given to a winner. Syebvonne is a Malaysian philanthropist in London who dedicates herself to charity causes.
One important skill that was emphasized during the English Camp was the pronunciation and this was done through reading competition.
The winner was Callister Hoven who won Nur’s Reading Trophy. The highest and most unique award is The SEAS Presidential Award which also comes with RM250 cash gift, sponsored by Dr Zainab Kassim and her Vice President Mohd Damshal Awg Damit from SOCSO Malaysia.
The contestants have gone through a rigorous assessment and interview reflecting the skills required for the Industrial Revolution 4.0. The trophy was jointly won by Lucas Chong and Nurain Shakira.
During the SEAS English Camp, hundreds of books mainly shipped from the United Kingdom and some were from Asia Foundation were distributed to all eight participating schools involved with Seeds of the Future Initiative With Maybank Sabah as one of the sponsors for this camp.
Zainab in her closing speech expressed her appreciation to Budreh Hj Ahmad, the Beaufort District Education Director for his support to SEAS.
This year the English Camp was participated by 200 students from almost 20 schools from all over Sabah and Labuan, half of which are from the eight schools participating in the Seeds of the Future Initiative With Maybank Sabah .
She attributed the success of this year’s camp to the able management and leadership of the camp director, Zaiazieyana Yanti Zainal from SK Pengiran Jaya Membakut who is also SEAS secretary.
Zainab also thanked the generous donors mainly from the UK and her alumni Class as well as other NGOs and individuals who sponsored the English Camp this year and Maybank Sabah who had kindly sponsored the T-shirt for the participants.