| Danial Norjidi |
BRUNEI Darussalam, through the Information Department at the Prime Minister’s Office, has been invited to participate in the 8th ASEAN Quiz (Regional Level) competition taking place from December 3-7 in Bali, Indonesia.
The Brunei contingent for the competition left yesterday.
The contingent comprises three students – Sharellyn binti Jonny from St Angela’s School, Siti Nur Insyirah binti Sahali from Sayyidina Ali Secondary School and Nurul Hidayatul Najiibah binti Haji Maiddin from Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah College.
The contingent is led by Assistant Supervisor at the Extra Curricular Activity Unit of the Co-Curriculum Education Department at the Ministry of Education Nur Nadirah binti Haji Mohd Daud as the guiding teacher.
Prior to leaving, the contingent was presented the national flag by Acting Deputy Director of Information Hajah Norashidah binti Haji Aliomar.
The ASEAN Quiz is a project under the Sub-Committee of Information aiming to encourage healthy competitive spirit among ASEAN youth by holding a quiz about cultural, political, economic and social ASEAN developments in the region.
The three students representing Brunei at the competition’s eighth edition were selected following the national level of the 8th ASEAN Quiz last October.
The students each spoke to the Bulletin about their preparations and hopes for the competition.
Sharellyn said, “We hope to win for Brunei, and hopefully we will obtain first place in the competition.”
She highlighted that the competition is about teamwork.
Nurul Hidayatul Najiibah, meanwhile, said, “I hope that I will gain experience and be able to make Brunei proud.”
She explained the competition has three rounds. The first round involves true or false questions, while the second round is based on multiple choice questions.
“The third round is fill- in-the-blanks. If we are able to answer a lot, then we will get a lot of points,” she said.
Siti Nur Insyirah said, “I hope I can make my parents proud, and I want to at least make it to the top three, because the highest place that Brunei got was third place back in 2014. I hope we can attain that kind of achievement again.”
She shared that preparations have been going well, saying, “I’ve been reading a lot of articles on ASEAN. I also searched up on the previous competitions on YouTube, in which I get questions, note them down and try to memorise how they (the participants) answered the questions.”
This year marks Indonesia’s turn as coordinator and organiser for the regional level of the competition.
The ASEAN Quiz (Regional Level) was first held in Thailand in 2002, followed by Brunei Darussalam in 2004, Malaysia in 2006, the Philippines in 2009, Cambodia in 2012, Vietnam in 2014, and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) in 2016.