Students’ poignant videos impress judges in ICT Competition finals

SIX groups of finalists comprising Upper Sixth GP students from Tutong Sixth Form Centre (PTET) presented thought-provoking videos for the school’s ICT Competition yesterday.

The competition, which began in 2004, in the past had such themes as ‘Superstitions’, ‘Green Brunei’ and ‘Old is Gold’.

The theme for this year is ‘Global Issues’.

The six groups presented videos touching on global issues including poverty, racism, stereotypes, diabetes, the ‘Catfish’ phenomenon and drug abuse – areas of interest relevant to Brunei as well.

The event started with a warm welcome by the guest of honour and Principal of PTET, Hajah Murni binti Abdullah.

In her speech, she highlighted that the theme provided an insight into the “students’ interesting interpretations of global issues, and this exploration of world issues is relevant to the syllabus requirements of the General Paper”.

The competition’s judges were Faiq Airudin, chief judge and ICT enthusiast; Charles Lim Wei Siong, a tutor from PTET; and AbdulAzim bin Haji Morni, one of the finalists of the ICT Competition’s 2015 edition.

Before announcing the results, Faiq Airudin commented that all the finalists had demonstrated very good ICT skills in the videos they produced, with very strong messages conveyed in them, too.

He also said that the videos can be improved on by adding more of a local context to the interpretations of global issues.

There was also a replay of a touching old video finalist entry based on the theme ‘Old is Gold’ presented by Abdul Azim and his fellow 2015 ICT Competition team members.

A prize presentation followed, whereby consolation prizes of $80 in cash and certificates were handed out to groups that presented videos on racism, stereotypes and ‘Catfishing’.

The third-placed group, who presented a video on poverty, received a $150 cash prize and certificates.

Second place went to the group that presented a video on drug abuse.

The team received a $200 cash prize and certificates.

The competition-winning effort came from the Block 2 GP students – comprising Muhd Danish Asrien bin Muhd Masri (U6-1), Andrew Teo Kui Huang (U6-1), Muhammad Haziq bin Haji Imran (U6-1), Muhammad Izzuddin bin Ishak (U6-2), Nur Amirah Syakirah binti Airwan (U6-1), Nursyafiqah binti Sulhi (U6-1) and Swee Kae Yie (U6-1) – who presented a video on diabetes.

For their hard work, the team received a $250 cash prize and certificates.

Their video gave awareness on the rising number of diabetes cases in Brunei and the world, splendidly conveying the issue through a short introduction and background about the disease as well as an attention-grabbing dramatic sketch.