JOHOR BARU: It would have been a perfect Mothers Day gift, but the top prize slipped away from Khalisyah Rizqin Ali Anwar Marimuthu in the last minutes of the competition.

Lim Jia Qing (centre) flanked by the first runner-up, Khalisyah Rizqin Ali Anwar Marimuthu, and second runner-up, Ammir Zuhair Norrashidan. With them are NST Johor bureau chief Sheridan Mahavera (left) and RHB southern region manager Chang Chee Keong (right).

And the Year Five pupil of SK Bandar Baru Uda 2 was reduced to tears as she took second spot in the state-level RHB-NST Spell-It-Right Challenge.

Lim Jia Qing, 12, of SJK (C) Pandan emerged the winner. The third prize went to Ammir Zuhair Norrashidan of SK Temenggong Abdul Rahman 1.

Khalisyah Rizqin, 11, had very much wanted to win the prize as a tribute to her mother yesterday.

Her mother, Hasilawaty Ibrahim could only say, "She has always been a filial daughter," as her youngest child apologised for not being able to win the competition.
Lim said he fought hard because he did not want to let down his parents, teachers and friends who had supported him.

"Now that I will be representing Johor at the national level competition, I will train much harder and read more books."

Tie-breaker words were used to decide the winner, first runner-up and second runner-up in the individual category.

SK Taman Rinting 3 took the top spot in the schools category. In second place was SRK St Joseph with SK (P) Sultan Ibrahim close behind.

The team members of SK Taman Rinting 3 were from the same class and this enabled them to co-ordinate training sessions without difficulty, said their teacher Mohd Safiat Abdul Majid.

"They would get together whenever there was free time to get their spelling checked by each other. Such was their enthusiasm to win the contest," he said.

Pupils from 21 primary schools in Johor displayed their spelling prowess in the RHB-NST Spell-It-Right Challenge at Johor Baru City Square.

The chief judge for yesterday's contest, Roopvanti M. Gulabrai said the pupils would benefit if the competition was held yearly.

"I was impressed by the students' ability to spell difficult words that even some adults cannot," she said, adding that she had never seen such a supportive audience.