NATIONAL SPELL-IT-RIGHT CHALLENGE: Faces of SIR

THE Selangor and Sabah state rounds of the fifth RHB New Straits Times National Spell-It-Right (SIR) Challenge saw several familiar faces from near and far trying their luck at winning top honours or simply turning up for the experience and to cheer for friends.

1. Happy top finishers in Sabah secondary (from left) Ghazlina Poedjo from SM Maktab Sabah, Rachel Mahasen from SMK St Francis Convent (M), Nurul Shazleen Rozin from SMK Agama Kota Kinabalu, Diana Tsen Mei Fung from SMK Lok Yuk Kota Kinabalu and Chong Jia Cheng from SMK Lok Yuk Kota Kinabalu

2. Anxious parents and teachers watch as their young charges tackle words that a number of adults would find difficult to spell at the Sabah primary contest

3. A student captures his friend’s moment on stage at the Sabah secondary contest

4. Selangor primary champion Dhurga Kendra Menon from SK Assunta (2) gets a congratulatory hug from her father Sulip Menon after a gruelling contest

5. Darren Chong Kai Chieh from SJK (C) St James could not hide his joy at becoming the first contestant to go to the state finals at the Sabah primary contest

6. Zamir Ariff Zainal could not contain his happiness at becoming the new Selangor state secondary champ. He will represent the state at the National Challenge in Kuala Lumpur in July

7. Sean Kendrick Soh from SK Taman Jasmin is ecstatic to make it to the Selangor state finals

8. Former Selangor state champion Amirul Fitri Zainol Abidin (left) feels as if he is “passing over the baton” to new Selangor victor Zamir Ariff Zainal (middle) from SMK Seksyen 9. With them is second place winner Kashvini T Thanarajulu Naidu from SMK USJ 4

9. During the long wait for his turn on the SIR stage, this contestant catches up on some sleep during the Sabah state rounds

10. Former Perlis state winner and current Pusat Permata Pintar Negara student Pang Zheng Bin reacts after getting a word wrong at the Selangor state SIR Challenge

11. Jacquelina Jumper (right) from SMK Bahang shares her joy at getting a word correct at the Sabah secondary SIR Challenge with fellow contestant Nurshalin Sahi from SMK Perempuan Likas

12. SK St Anne’s Convent Port Klang teacher Sivaneswaary Hanippuya brings her Standard Four pupils Nur Arinah Husna Rahmat (middle) and Diviya Saravanan to the Selangor SIR primary rounds to note words down to prepare for their future entry to the contest

13. SK Bandar Tawau 2 English teacher Maznah Lamdin (back row, second from left) paid for the airfare for her student Muhammad Zaim Zufayri Solihin (next to her in uniform) to come to the Sabah contest while his family took an eight-hour drive to give moral support

14. SK Taman Muda Ampang’s Haikal Muzaffar Shamsul Bahri thinks about how his word might be spelt

15. SK Semenyih’s Chew Huo U puts his dictionary on his head for some inspiration during the Selangor state SIR Challenge

16. Presenter Raymond Goh had challenged Priyaa Tharisiny Aruldass from SMK Saujana Utama (right) to wipe the smile off the face of rival Muhammad Nabil Shafii from SMK USJ 4 by getting her word right and moving on to the state finals. Muhammad Nabil had the last laugh when he got his word right instead

17. MRSM Sabah’s Farhanah Safran could not hold back her tears after realising she made the state finals

18. SJK (C) Chung Hwa Likas’ Rita Maria Jaafar reacts after being told she is going to the Sabah state primary finals. She had hoped to improve on her 2011 third placing but had to settle for a consolation prize in the end

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NATIONAL SPELL-IT-RIGHT CHALLENGE: Faces of SIR

THE Selangor and Sabah state rounds of the fifth RHB New Straits Times National Spell-It-Right (SIR) Challenge saw several familiar faces from near and far trying their luck at winning top honours or simply turning up for the experience and to cheer for friends.

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