(From left) Timothea, Bruchel, Hii and Law pose with their champion trophies after winning the secondary school English team category at the Nilam National Awards recently.
KUCHING (July 28): Four Sarawakian secondary school students won the secondary school English team category at the Nilam National Awards held at Ipoh, Perak recently.
Nilam, which stands for ‘Nadi Ilmu Amalan Membaca’, is a national programme initiated by the Ministry of Education since 1999 to cultivate the habit of reading among Malaysian students.
The four Sarawakians winners are Shana Elizabeth Law Shen Yee from SMK Batu Lintang, Kuching; Bruchel Gilbert Ryud from SMK Lundu, Lundu; Caroline Hii Song Ting from SMK Chung Hua, Miri; and Timothea Clarissa Sambai Enteri from SMK Kidurong, Bintulu.
The 42 national awardees from primary and secondary schools in the Bahasa Malaysia, English, individual and team categories received their trophies and cash from Ministry of Education’s deputy director-general (policy and curriculum sector) Dato Pkharuddin Ghazali during the ceremony.
While on their way back to Kuching from Kuala Lumpur, the Kuching team led by SMK Batu Lintang’s English teacher Ho Jia Yiing had a chance encounter with Sarawak Deputy Premier Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Express transit terminal.
Dr Sim congratulated the team on their achievement and the teachers’ dedication in seeking success for their students, as well as supportive parents.
In a statement, Ho expressed her gratitude to her school and the parent-teacher association (PIBG) for funding the trip to Ipoh to receive the award.
“The competition was held online a month ago where contestants were to discuss on a topic selected by the judges.
“In the individual Secondary School English category, Shana shared about her all-time favourite Harry Potter book. It is J.K. Rowlings’ masterpieces that ignited her passion to read and how the stories created ‘lumos’ in her life,” said Ho.