Rokiah Mahmud
Pengiran Qaiyimah Nurul Bolkiah binti Pengiran Haji Mohammad Hakimmuddin, the granddaughter of His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, from Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha Girls Arabic Religious Secondary School (SUAMPRIPAHS) won first place in the secondary school category of the Khat Arabic Competition of the Arabic Language Carnival yesterday.
Ambassador of the Kindgom of Saudi Arabia to Brunei Darussalam Emad bin Abdul Aziz bin Saad Al-Muhanna handed over prizes and certificates to the winners. Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) Rector Dr Haji Norarfan bin Haji Zainal was also present.
UNISSA through the Arabic Language Faculty in collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Brunei Darussalam, organised the event, held in conjunction with World Arabic Language Day. The Arabic Language Carnival sponsored by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ran from October 5 to December 19.
A total of 12 competitions were open for over 60 educational institutions in the country including Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), Religious Teachers University College of Seri Begawan (KUPU SB), Brunei Arabic Language Association, Brunei Rabithah International Al-Azhar Alumni, Arabic schools, Ma’had Tahfiz, religious and secondary schools and the public.
UNISSA Assistant Rector (Academic) Associate Professor Dr Siti Sara binti Haji Ahmad, who is also Dean of Arabic Language Faculty, said the competition format for this year was different from the previous instalment.
The event was carried out for about two months compared to five days last year. Twelve competitons were divided into 36 categories using various platforms including videos and live feed.
She said the International webinar involved six institutions including UNISSA, Brunei Rabithah International Al-Azhar Alumni, Saudi Electronic Univeristy (Saudi Arabia), Tokyo Univerisity (Japan), Prince of Songkla University (Thailand), Al-Madinah International University (Malaysia) and Mindanao State University (the Philippines) attracting 930 participants globally.
Among the objectives of the carnival were to establish a conducive Arabic language environment, disseminate the importance of Arabic language as Al-Quran language; ibadah; knowledge and civilisation language in the community; strengthen collaboration with other Arabic embassies in the country especially the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; realise the Zikir Nation mission along with the vision and mission of UNISSA to uphold the use of Arabic language in the country.
