Essay Contest Yields a Literary “Star” in Quest to Raise Standard of English

Sunway University College collaborated once again with the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Malaysia to host the much anticipated annual Oxbridge Essay Writing competition recently, a highlight of the 2007 Oxbridge English Language Event.

A total of 960 students from 24 schools around the peninsular from the Klang Valley, Seremban, Melaka and Ipoh took part in the challenge.

Ms Elizabeth Lee, Executive Director of Sunway University College and the Sunway Group of Colleges, Cambridge graduate and President of the Oxford & Cambridge Society of Malaysia said “the event is a yearly commitment in a quest to encourage, promote and enhance the use of the English Language within the future leaders of Malaysia.”

The Oxbridge judges were clearly impressed by the standard of the competition. The panel was made up of Tan Sri Lal Chand Vohrah, Dr Lee Soo Ann, Ms Scoti Albrecht, Mr Justin Leong, Mr Teh Chi Chang, Ms Chook Yuh Yng, Ms Faridah Qamaruz Zaman, Mr Andrew J. Barber and Ms Emma Davidson from the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Malaysia, while from Sunway University College were Mrs Ruma Lopes, Mr Timothy Wong, Ms Evelyn Boey, Ms Sarojini Davies, Ms Jennifer Rathabai and Mr Leonard Chin.

This year, the cash prize was doubled to RM600 from RM300 in the previous year. The first prize winner was Nishyodhan Balasundram, a fifth former from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaann Subang Utama, with a compelling essay written on Malaysia’s teaching profession. He also received a trophy for himself and for his school and a certificate of commendation from the Oxford & Cambridge Society of Malaysia.
Participants in the competition were given an hour to compose an essay of a thousand words on a topic selected from a list of five questions on current issues.

The essay question selected asked about the ways to regain the teaching profession as it was losing its glamour since Malaysia gained its independence.

In his concluding paragraph, he urges the Ministry of Education and various educating bodies to “work together urgently to arrest the decline of the teaching profession to bring it up to the levels that it once commanded in the days before the independence. Malaysia cannot claim to be a developed nation in 2020 if its teachers are not up to par with these in more developed nations.”

When asked what his approach in writing the winning essay was, “I didn’t even do a mind map first. I just wrote whatever that came into my mind. Basically, I wrote what I felt,” he replied simply.
The young Nishyodhan has no plans to be an aspiring writer as yet, as his interests’ lies in debating competitions, which he often participates in.

Other activities at the Oxbridge English Language Event included workshops conducted by a panel of distinguished speakers who are graduates and members of the Oxford & Cambridge Society of Malaysia.