THE BEST: (From left) Shell Malaysia Corporate Affairs general manager Frank Saing, Federation of Sarawak Journalist Associations (FSJA) president Sulok Tawie, Ting. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi.
KUCHING: It was a clean sweep for The Borneo Post at the Kenyalang Shell Press Awards this year in the Sports Writing – English reporting category.
At the award presentation ceremony here on Saturday, senior sportswriter Ting Tieng Hee bagged first place for his article entitled ‘Divers Lead the Glory Chase’ featuring the success of national diving queen Pandelela Rinong Pamg at international competitions.
The article also touched on the achievements of other Sarawak-born divers such as Bryan Nickson Lomas and Traisy Vivien Tukiet.
Ting’s winning entry also wrote on the achievements of other state athletes for 2011 such as renowned bodybuilder Nolan Chee, squash sensation Mohd Azlan Iskandar and go-kart racer Freddy Lawan among others.
It was a case of third time’s the charm for the 52-year-old senior sports journalist who was a candidate for the award for 2010 and 2011 where he finished third two years ago. He walked home with RM1,500 and certificate for his effort.
Second place went to The Borneo Post’s Miri reporter Cecilia Seman who wrote a piece featured in thesundaypost called ‘Kung Fu Master Dances to Fame’. She received RM800 in cash prizes.
Former reporter Doreena Naeg completed the sweep with a two-part series articles on women’s bodybuilding featuring rising star Chaser Chan, a prominent state female bodybuilder who had won third place in her debut at the Melbourne International Natural Bodybuilding competition in Australia last year.
Doreena’s articles were titled; ‘Chasing Her Dream in Bodybuilding’ and ‘Chaser Scores a First for Sarawak’. She took home RM500.
“I am happy and honoured for the recognition given to me and I will continue to work hard to serve the readers and the community. This is also the first time I won the top prize in this award after losing to my colleague who is a feature writer for two years in a row,” Ting said when commenting on his success.
Ting admitted that he was undecided on submitting his entries until the very last minute. Even so, he said that he did not expect to win.
“For the past three years, I had submitted entries for the spirit of participating in the awards to recognise journalists for their work and contribution to the society,” he added.
Ting first worked with The Borneo Post in September 1993 as a sub-editor, before subsequently being promoted to sports editor. He was also a pioneer staff of the The Borneo Post’s Sabah branch in Kota Kinabalu.
After working with other local English dailies, he rejoined The Borneo Post in 2007 as a general reporter before becoming a full-time sports reporter three years later. Ting’s other previous accolades included winning the Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS) Best English Sports Reporting for 2009-2010.