A photograph by an eight-year-old was among the winning entries in the second edition of Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) Photography and Videography Competition.

Bernice Lau Yee Ting from Sarikei won RM6,000 when she was named the Grand Prize Winner for her entry titled ‘Night Scene Of Sibu Temple During Ghost Festival In August 2022’.

Her snapshot of the Hungry Ghost festival celebrated at the foot of Sibu Eng Ann Teng Tua Pek Kong Temple featured the offerings of the devotees. Its overall composition, muted evening tones, and cultural festival theme combined made it a winning entry.

During the prize-giving ceremony at Plaza Merdeka here yesterday, STB chairman Dennis Ngau said they were pleased by the turnout and the quality of the entries.

“I am happy to share that the competition, launched in November, received an encouraging number of entries, with a total number of 221 participants, with 1,268 photos and 61 videos submitted.

“Out of this, 16 per cent of the entries are non-Sarawakians. More impressive still, is that an eight-year-old stands out as one of the winning entries of this year’s competition,” he said.

Dennis informed that in this year’s competition, STB challenged amateur and professional photographers with the task to showcase Sarawak’s attractions under the theme ‘Sarawak Hidden Gems’.

He said entrants had to submit content for the following categories: Nature’s Wonders, Going Green, Sarawak at Night and My Hometown or My City, all the while incorporating Sarawak’s Culture, Adventure, Nature, Food and Festival elements.

“Just like Sarawak’s hidden gems, we need to cultivate our hidden talent, which is why we added a student category for this year. STB believes in tapping and developing our local talent for tomorrow, especially in the art of visual storytelling, and this competition provides a platform to discover and expose our state’s youth talent.

“In fact, we saw more and more young Sarawakians sharing their passion and creative point of view of Sarawak through photography and videography and have discovered new and amazing young talents in the art of storytelling,” he said.

Dennis said they also introduced three new video categories – documentary on Responsible Tourism for student category, an open theme for professional videographers and a TikTok category.

“The three new video categories will be able to inspire audiences and help them learn more about Sarawak’s adventures in motion. I understand that this year’s video entries were truly remarkable, and invite you to watch them on Sarawak Tourism Board’s website and social media links.

“With photography being a universal language that speaks to the heart, I am certain that through stills and moving visuals, it will pique the curiosity and create a connection among travellers to discover or rediscover Sarawak as well as guide them to an immersive experience of Sarawak’s Culture, Adventure, Nature, Food and Festivals they never expected,” he said.

This year’s STB Photography and Videography Competition was held in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Sarawak Photo-Arts Society.

The competition was launched on November 10 and ended on December 15. All winning entries will be uploaded to a digital exhibition at a later date.

Among those present at the prize-giving ceremony were STB chief executive officer Sharzede Datu Salleh Askor, competition head judge and Unimas Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts senior lecturer Sylvester Jussem, Unimas Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts lecturer Dr Hakimi Halim, Sarawak Photo-Arts Society president Jenny Kam and others.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by THE BORNEO POST

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