STATE champions will be battling it out for the grand prize in the RHB New Straits Times Spell-It-Right (SIR) challenge on Oct 21 and they are not taking any chances where preparations are concerned.
Most of them are intently studying dictionaries.
Muhammad Haziq Abdul Hamid from SMK Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, who will represent Selangor under the secondary school category, was going through dictionaries and the words in them, attempting to memorise as much as he can.
“I never really expected to win the state challenge. I hope I can make Selangor and my school proud,” said the 17-year-old, who is participating in SIR for the fourth time.
Haziq said he would give his best in the competition even though the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination was just about three weeks away.
“I feel blessed to have made it this far and hope to emerge victorious and be number one.”
Under a new format this year, the SIR preliminary and state challenges were held online.
For Haziq, being able to take the challenge online was a huge relief.
His father and sisters would be at Nexus, Bangsar South here, to give him support during the finals.
“This will really help put me at ease while on stage.”
The state representative for Federal Territory/Putrajaya is 13-year-old Ezrin Marissa Ramlan of SMK Seri Bintang Utara, Kuala Lumpur. She is the youngest finalist in the secondary school category.
She has participated in SIR numerous times when she was in primary school, but had never come this far.
She described her win in the state challenge as unexpected.
“I made mistakes during the challenge as there were words I did not recognise, so I really did not expect this. I am nevertheless very grateful for the opportunity to participate in the SIR finals.”
On the new online format, Ezrin said it took her a little while to adjust to the new method of spelling online.
“I was afraid I would not be able to hear the words or get distracted, thus I was happy when it was completed without hitches.
“I am now quite nervous as I will be up against older contestants under the secondary school category, but I will give it my best shot.
“My family, teachers and friends have been very encouraging, telling me not to be too stressed out and to just try my best. I will take their advice,” said Ezrin, who loves to read and play chess.
Ezrin said she would be going through words from spelling bees abroad to prepare for the finals, as well as get her mother to quiz her on the spelling of various words in the run-up to the big event.
“I will also carry out breathing practices to calm myself down.”The Federal Territory/Putrajaya representative in the primary school category is a familiar face in SIR, being the overall primary school champion last year.
Sidessh Sivalingam of SK Bukit Damansara will stay true to his method of preparation — reading books to brush up on his vocabulary and spelling.
Even though he was the champion last year, Sidessh was still nervous when he took the preliminary and state challenge online.
“I was surprised when my mother told me I had made it to the finals. I thought she was lying at first.”
Sidessh’s mother, Gurmeet Sivalingam, said it was a pleasant surprise to see Sidessh in the finals again.
“I had to make sure he was in the right state of mind before attempting the challenge.”
The 11-year-old, who loves sports, said he would definitely do his best in the finals.