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The <strong>Sikh</strong>, July 2012<br />
Selangor emerge ‘12 champs<br />
KUALA LUMPUR: The state of<br />
Selangor emerged as the<br />
champions of the 22nd annual<br />
National Punjabi Bhasha Mela<br />
2012 that ended on June 3.<br />
They scored 186 points to take<br />
home the trophy for the event<br />
designed to promote the usage of<br />
the Punjabi language amongst<br />
school-going children between the<br />
ages of 6-19 years old.<br />
Federal Territory came second<br />
with 158 points while Perak thirs<br />
(152). Next comes the Southern<br />
Region with 136 and Northern<br />
Region with 80 points.<br />
The tournament, organised by<br />
the <strong>Sikh</strong> <strong>Naujawan</strong> <strong>Sabha</strong><br />
<strong>Malaysia</strong> and supported by the<br />
various Punjabi Education Centres<br />
(PECs) nationwide, includes<br />
events like debate, story telling,<br />
news reading, poetry recital and<br />
spelling bee.<br />
The Punjabi Bhasha Mela, first<br />
held in 1991, today hosts some 40<br />
PECs nationwide. This year, the<br />
community-run weekend schools<br />
first took part at the regional level,<br />
with the winners then representing<br />
the various regions to the national<br />
tewo-day event.<br />
The PECs are run by Punjabi<br />
Education Trust <strong>Malaysia</strong><br />
(PETM), a wing under Khalsa<br />
Diwan <strong>Malaysia</strong>.<br />
Singh Sahib Giani Kewal<br />
Singh, former Jathedar of Takht<br />
Sri Damdama Sahib, had<br />
declared open the event.<br />
“It is important to keep alive<br />
the learning and usage of the<br />
Punjabi language. You can see<br />
today, where the Punjabi<br />
language had languished, so has<br />
people’s attachment to <strong>Sikh</strong>i. I’m<br />
impressed to see that the <strong>Sabha</strong><br />
has been undertaking this event<br />
for so many years. Its an<br />
achievement to have sustained it<br />
for so long,” Singh Sahib said in<br />
his address when opening the<br />
event.Some 350 participants took<br />
part in the national event.<br />
Selangor comprises of PECs<br />
from Klang, Port Klang, Shah<br />
Alam, Petaling Jaya, Selayang<br />
and Rawang.<br />
Federal Territory consists of<br />
PECs from Sentul, KL South<br />
(Kampung Pandan and Sungei<br />
Besi) and Pulapol (national<br />
police training centre in Kuala<br />
Lumpur).<br />
Perak comprises of Kampar,<br />
Ipoh, Taiping, Tanjung<br />
Rambutan, Batu Gajah, Sitiawan,<br />
Tanjung Malim, Tapah, Bidor<br />
and Teluk Intan.<br />
Batu Pahat and Malacca joined<br />
regulars Seremban and Johor<br />
Bahru for the South Region.<br />
The Northern Region teams<br />
come from Penang, Butterworth,<br />
Sungai Petani, Kulim and<br />
Kangar.<br />
Ajj di taza khabar (Today’s<br />
Fresh News) and Shudh akhar<br />
jorh (Spelling bee) were two of<br />
the ebvents. In the former, a<br />
secondary school boy-girl team<br />
reads out news. The new items<br />
are given to them 30min before<br />
they go live. They decide how<br />
they present, who goes first, and<br />
how their interchange.<br />
In shudh akhar jorh, he<br />
three-member primary level<br />
teams compete on their spelling<br />
prowess. First, they get easier<br />
words. The competition then<br />
heats up with bigger and more<br />
difficult words or phrases.<br />
In prashnotri (quiz),<br />
participants are tested on their<br />
language as well as Gurmat<br />
knowledge. There is one round<br />
on muhaveray (idioms and<br />
proverbs).<br />
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