Essay contest for Fourth Formers
IF you are a Fourth Former in any secondary school in Johor Baru with good writing skills, try your hand at an essay-writing competition.
Organised by the Sathya Sai Baba (SSB) Centres of Johor, (which recently organised a “Walk for Values” programme), the competition is divided into English and Bahasa Malaysia categories.
Fabulous prizes such as trophies and cash await winners. The main prize for each category is a laptop, sponsored by Johor Baru MP, Datuk Seri Utama Shahrir Abdul Samad.
Themed “Good thinking is inspired by good values that one practises on a daily basis”, the Bahasa Malaysia version is known as “Nilai-nilai kemanusiaan memurnikan perjalanan hidup seseorang”.
Supported by the Johor Baru district education office and the JB MP office, the competition is being held in conjunction with Malaysia Day.
Entry forms and essay-writing guidelines have already been delivered to all 44 secondary schools in Johor Baru. Students can also download the forms from the organisation’s official website.
District education officer Aminuddin Adam commended the SSB in hosting the competition. “Selecting fourth formers to participate in this competition will encourage them to master the languages, especially English, in preparation for the SPM examination next year,” he said.
He assured that qualified English and Bahasa Malaysia language teachers will select the top three winners in each category.
About 70 per cent of some 10,000 Fourth Formers in JB are expected to take part in the competition.
Aminuddin said the standard of both languages among students in the district is improving each year.
“Parents are now aware of the importance of the language and many of them attend additional classes provided by schools or take up lessons from tuition centres.”
Sathya Sai Baba Johor chairman K. Govindan said the main objective of the competition was to create awareness and propagate human values through writing.
“We expect the participants to start writing the essay as they are required to hand in their entries to their respective teachers by month end.”
The teachers will then select the best essays (one from each language) and submit them to the special committee. A prize-giving ceremony will be held at SK Angkatan Tentera, JB, on Nov 13.