Kang (right) hands over contest flyers to Lim at SMK Pending.
KUCHING: Secondary school students are encouraged to take part in the on-going ‘Kuching For Me’ online contest, which aims to make them reflect what Kuching means to them personally.
It is organised by well-known property developer Vanadium Land and is open to all Kuching residents aged 12 and above. Participation involves submitting an essay in English with a maximum 1,000 words, accompanied either by two photographs, a short film of no more than three minutes, a montage or a storyboard. For those submitting their essay with a short film, they must include the video link in their submission.
The entries are to be submitted in digital format at the contest website www.kuchingforme.com from now until Sept 30 (before midnight). Their entries must start with “Kuching for me is…”.
Attractive prizes await winners with the first prize of RM5,000, second prize of RM2,500 and third prize of RM1,000. There will be 27 consolation prizes worth RM100 each.
For more details about the contest, visit the website www.kuchingforme.com or Facebook page ‘KuchingForMe’.
According to Vanadium Land property manager and also contest organiser Kelvin Kang, the company hoped to capture what Kuchingites think and incorporate those ideas into their current and future development projects.
“All the essays from the contest will represent what Kuchingites think of their city. We want to capture the ideas of Kuching from all walks of life. It could be a vision of the future or a reflection of the past. We are seeking genuine and personal thoughts of the people.
“When we are planning for development, we are not just planning a building. We want to plan for something sustainable that relates well to the people who live in this city. This is why we are holding this contest, to understand what Kuching means for the people,” he said when visiting several schools to inform them about the contest yesterday.
SMK Pending principal Ivor Lim expressed his excitement about the contest, saying he would let the English teachers identify a few students to take part in it.
“Besides their own observations and thoughts, it will be good if they could speak to their parents or older people who have lived long in Kuching. We will definitely initiate participation of our students, including those in lower secondary,” he said.
Lim believed there were many facets of Kuching that could be approached in this contest.
“For himself, Kuching is a wonderful fusion of old and new that should be preserved for years to come.
“I grew up in the old part of Kuching and my family is very connected to the place. With this background, I feel very sentimental about Old Kuching. Every place in Kuching is special to me. When it was holiday time, I never thought of Cameron Highlands or Genting but we visited around Kuching. It was simple yet satisfying.
“As developments come about in Kuching, the new Kuching is also impressive. I love the parks and the family spots. I believe Kuching is a healthy, safe and nature-centred place to bring up families. With commercial developments, we have many places where individuals and families can get different kinds of things. We have entertainment outlets and shopping malls that provide healthy events and educational activities for our youths.
“When we think of Kuching, we think of all these and how a meaningful place it is to us,” he said.
Meanwhile, SMK Teresa principal Mary John and language head Susie Mathew Ain also shared their enthusiasm for the contest.
They believed Kuching people love food as Kuching is famous for a huge variety of food such as kolo mee, Sarawak laksa, salted Terubok and Sarawak layer cake.
They also noted that Kuchingites were different from Peninsular Malaysians.
“Kuchingites are famous for being polite, courteous and welcoming. We can experience racial harmony and there is no barrier among the races in Kuching. Muslims and non-Muslims can have meals together because they respect each other. It is a common sight that a Muslim food stall and non-halal food stall are placed side by side.
“These priceless values have been taught among kids in schools and at homes by parents. Therefore, when they grow up, the values are instilled in them, thus, creating harmonious and friendly Kuching community with high tolerant and understanding of religions and racial differences,” they said when given the contest flyers.
Both of them praised the government’s effort to create the heritage trail as the conservation effort and tourist attraction.
However, they also hoped there are more places for performing arts such as theatres, halls, cultural centres and the likes of Kuala Lumpur’s ‘Istana Budaya’. They also said Kuching was lacking in recreation areas for extreme sports namely roller skating, extreme biking and wall climbing.
During Vanadium’s visit to St Joseph Private School, Father Alvin Ng noted that it was a good thing to ask Kuchingites what they think of Kuching and what they want.
“For me Kuching is home. It has changed a lot with many parts of Kuching gone or revamped for tourism. What makes it nice is that you don’t feel like you cannot breathe, it is a spread out city. We don’t pretend to be a big city and we are not competing to be another urban jungle.
“Tourists who come here are part of a niche market. Most of them are retirees and repeat visitors. I think I would dislike it if Kuching were overrun by tourists who are not here to appreciate Kuching.
“I believe there is a fine line between balancing to keep the heritage and wanting some sense of modernity. We could do with more ethnic-inspired designs in our buildings to reflect Sarawak’s heritage,” he said.
For more information about the contest or to participate, visit www.kuchingforme.com now.
Mary (second left) and her teachers hold up the contest flyers.