Bandar Seri Begawan - The Department of Co-Curriculum Education, Ministry of Education through the Skills and Entrepreneurship Section yesterday held a prize presentation ceremony for the Jawi Calligraphy Writing Competition that was held for the first time this year for primary school, secondary school, cortege and pre-university students.

The prize presentation ceremony was held at the new Perpindahan Kampong Lambak Kanan Jalan 10 Primary School.

Present as guest of honour at the event was Pg Hjh Sarah binti Pg Hj Kamaluddin, Acting Director General of Education at the Ministry of Education.

The ceremony began with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, followed by a welcoming speech from the chairman of the event, Awg Roslin bin Suhailee, Acting Deputy Director of Co-Curriculum Education, Ministry of Education who took the opportunity to congratulate all the winners in the competition.

In his welcoming remarks, Awg Roslin also highlighted the importance of Jawi calligraphy as a form of writing in Bahasa Melayu since Islam was established in the Sultanate.

The event then continued with a speech from Pg Hjh Sarah, the guest of honour, in which she stressed upon the prolongation of the competition to be carried out annually so that it will motivate and encourage students to master the technique of writing Jawi calligraphy. She also highlighted that the Jawi calligraphy is part of the culture of the archipelago that should be appreciated and upheld.

"It is advisable that schools and colleges should organise several workshops for teachers in regards to Jawi calligraphy with the support from Co-Curriculum Department of Education as part of their staff development. From this, it is hoped that Jawi calligraphy will be reinforced among teachers in Brunei," she added.

The guest of honour then presented prizes to 224 recipients from schools all over Brunei.

The objective of the ceremony was to uphold Jawi script as a platform of education to enhance the skills and talent among students in Brunei. It was also aimed at creating awareness among the students about the importance of Jawi script as well as to increase the national spirit and love for their own country by preserving the Jawi script as part of the Malay cultural heritage.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin