KUCHING: An eight year-old girl from Sarikei emerged the overall champion in the photography category of the Sarawak Tourism Board’s (STB) second edition photography and videography competition.
Bernice Lau Yee Ting, the youngest winner, bagged RM6,000 for her entry on the snapshot of the Hungry Ghost festival celebrated at the foot of Sibu Eng Ann Teng Tua Pek Kong Temple, featuring offerings by the devotees.
Meanwhile, Nazmi Nasseruddin from Kuching won RM10,000 in the videography open category.
His video showcased the magnificence of southern Sarawak’s hidden gems, highlighting trending attractions such as the Paku Maze in Bau and the state’s own version of Jurassic Park in Bengoh Dam.
Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chairman Dennis Ngau was present to hand over the prizes to the winners at Plaza Merdeka Shopping Mall here, today (Dec 21).
However, Lau was absent.
In his opening remarks, Dennis congratulated all the winners for their efforts, dedication and skills in documenting Sarawak in the competition.
He said the state has an array of hidden gems waiting to be showcased by photography and videography enthusiasts everywhere.
“And 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,” he said.
The competition, organised by STB in collaboration with Sarawak Photo-Art Society (SPAS) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) with the theme “Hidden Gems of Sarawak, saw entries from 221 participants, including non-Sarawakians with 1,268 photos and 61 videos this year.
The selection of winners was decided by the judging panel comprising five hand-picked judges coming from diverse backgrounds, namely UNIMAS lecturer Dr Hakimi Halim, SPAS president Jenny Kam Moi Joon, STB director of communications Margaret Apau, and STB graphic designer Dansley Rone.
The competition was divided into four categories for students under 18 years old, enthusiasts and the open-professionals group.
The categories introduced were Nature’s Wonder, Going Green, Sarawak at Night and My Hometown or My City while the video categories introduced three new video categories – a documentary on Responsible Tourism for students, an open theme for professional videographers and a TikTok category.
Meanwhile, the winning prizes for the different categories range from RM1,000 to RM6,000.
Also present was STB chief executive officer (CEO) Sharzede Salleh Askor.
