Bandar Seri Begawan – Ten year old Dk Nur Hidayah bte Pg Sulaiman from Tungku Primary School won over the judges‘ hearts with her colour-penciled depiction of Kampong Ayer in the "Postcards Across Asean" competition.
Yesterday,, the Singapore High Commission in Brunei held a prize-giving ceremony for the merit winner, who was also the only Bruneian to be awarded this year.
During the ceremony, Dk Nur Hidayah was presented with cash and a book prize by the guest of honour, Dyg Hjh Aishah bte Muhamad Husain, Acting Director of Schools, Ministry of Education.
She was also presented a return postcard from another Asean participant of the "Postcards Across Asean" project - 12-year-old Long Kahna from Cambodia, who wrote about his family and village.
In his congratulatory speech, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Singapore to Brunei Darussalam, Mr Joseph K H Koh said: "This, in a nutshell, is what ‘Postcards Across Asean‘ is all about: a simple idea organised to celebrate Asean‘s 40th anniversary and to help the youths in our region to build bridges of friendship and cooperation for the next 40 years and beyond."
He also added that apart from the postcard given to Dk Nur Hidayah, the Ministry of Education in Brunei is helping the Singapore High Commission to Brunei to distribute postcards from children who live in Asean to each of the 4,400 Bruneian children who had participated in the competition.
"In doing so, our young are reminded that while they may be very different in terms of language, culture, history, geography and customs, they are nevertheless still a part of a biggerAsean family," he said.
The Singapore High Commission in Brunei, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education, Brunei launched the "Postcards Across Asean", a commemorative activity to celebrate Asean‘s 40th anniversary this year, on April 25.
The launching ceremony, which took place at Amar Pahlawan Primary School, was officiated by Mr Joseph K H Koh and Dato Paduka Hj Sheikh Adrian bin Sheikh Mohamad, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education.
This initiative was also launched in Singapore on March 28 at Singapore Art Museum by Singapore‘s Minister of Education and Second Minister for Finance, Mr Thannan Shanmugaratnam. "Postcards Across Asean", which targets primary school students, aged between six to 12, aims to promote awareness of Asean and build a sense of community among the younger generation in the region through the universal language of art.
Source: www.brudirect.com (23 Oktober 2007)
