Arab Reading Challenge 2018 attracts 10.5 million participants

Source: Dubai Media Office. Participants of the Arab Reading
Challenge at the closing ceremony for the event. Amjoun is in
centre, with HH Sheikh Mohammed.

The Al-Ikhlas School from Kuwait has received the Outstanding School award and a cash prize of AED1 million to develop its educational capacities at the third edition of the Arab Reading Challenge in Dubai, UAE, while Aisha al-Tuwairqi from KSA won the Outstanding Supervisor title and a cash prize of AED300,000 in recognition of her efforts as an inspirational teacher.

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai said, “A river starts with many drops, and the participants of the Arab Reading Challenge are the first drops in the river of knowledge that we look forward to discovering in every corner of the Arab world and beyond. We rely on the reading champions to help us build a knowledge-based future for the region.

“The finalists of the competition have become role models for millions of Arab students in their keen interest in acquiring knowledge and their determination to succeed. Every book read by the contestants serves as a gateway to communicate with the people of the world.” 


HH Sheikh Mohammed added: “Books are the source of ideas and values for the next generations. A generation that reads is a promising one, and a nation that reads is one that invests in the future. Reading creates global citizens who care deeply about making the world a better place.

“The participation of 10.5 million students is indeed a great accomplishment for all those who have supported our initiative. The Arab Reading Challenge is just a start. I call on everyone who has the means to do so to launch similar literacy and knowledge projects in the Arab world.”

Five schools – Al-Ikhlas School, Mujamma al-Salam School from KSA, Abdulhamid Dar Abid Sidi Ali High School from Algeria, Al-Wehda High School from Morocco and Al-Awda Girls’ School from Palestine – competed for the Outstanding School title.

All 7,871 students of Al-Ikhlas School participated in this year’s Arab Reading Challenge. The school has adopted an innovative approach to instilling a culture of reading among its students as well as in the community, including people with special needs, earning it the title of Outstanding School. In addition to launching six literacy initiatives in Kuwait and two abroad, it organised the Sana al-Ikhlas literacy drive, 12 workshops, seven reading trips, 10 literacy events and motivational campaigns, and more than 140 studies and debates.

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, presented Morocco student Maryam Amjoun, the cash prize of AED500,000 as champion of the third edition of the Arab Reading Challenge in Dubai, UAE.

Maryam Amjoun from Morocco, champion of the Arab Reading Challenge 2018, impressed the audience with her confident interaction with the jury and her profound knowledge, manifested in her eloquent expression. She highlighted the crucial role of reading in shaping knowledgeable individuals that are ready to contribute to society, participate in development and generate knowledge. In recognition of her exceptional abilities, Amjoun received the highest numbers of votes from the audience, matched by the jury’s assessment.

Other finalists included Qassam Sbeih from Palestine, who received a standing ovation for his statement that reading to him is life and has given him the determination to achieve his ambitions. Meanwhile, Mohammad Khaled Hussein from Jordan expressed his wish to continue acquiring knowledge and shared his aspiration to become a scientist and win the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Huawei Singapore's Mother's Day contest ends 24 May

Source: Huawei Mobile Singapore
Facebook page. Watch the video

The Singapore Huawei Consumer Business Group is running a contest for Mother's Day (13 May) that ends on 24 May.

Singapore consumers need only answer what lengths their mother will go for them as a comment to the video on the Huawei Mobile Singapore Facebook page, with the hashtag #SeeMooore, for a chance to win the HUAWEI P20 in Pink Gold, and a W Singapore Sentosa Cove experience for two*.

The video, which was launched on 11 May, had over 19,000 views at the time of writing.

The Singapore Huawei Consumer Business Group's latest phone is the HUAWEI P20 Pro. The HUAWEI P20 Pro comes with the world’s first Leica triple camera and artificial intelligence. With a 40 megapixel RGB sensor, a 20 megapixel monochrome sensor, and an 8 megapixel sensor with telephoto lens, the HUAWEI P20 Pro is widely considered to have the best phone camera today.

A Twilight version of the phone reached Singapore stores on 21 April 2018. For the Twilight phone chassis Huawei used advanced optical coating techniques and materials to achieve a gradient effect that is inspired by the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).

Details:

Watch the video

*Terms and conditions apply

12th Sheikh Zayed Book Award winners announced

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2017-2018 winners have been announced.

The Literature Award went to Syrian novelist Khalil Sweileh for his Novel Ikhtibar al-nadam (اختبار الندم, Remorse Test) published by Nofal-Hachette Antoine, Beirut (2017), while Emirati author Hessa Al Muhairi was named winner of the Children’s Literature Award for Al-dinoraf (الدينوراف, The Dynoraf) published by Al Hudhud Publishing and Distribution, UAE (2017).

Judges said of Ikhtibar al-nadam: "The novel portrays an inward view of the Syrian civil war tragedy; the author takes the reader on a trip around Damascus, trudging down the memory lanes and presenting the psychological conflicts amid the shattered reality of place and society – marking an important addition to the Syrian literature, with a unique use of narrative tools and vocabulary construction."

 On ’Al-dinoraf judges said: "The story is set in the animal kingdom, where a dinosaur is out on a mission to find his parallel among the rest of animals. Throughout his journey, he gets to know the differences between the animals, which finally lead him to find his connection with the giraffe, hence becoming the Dinoraf, in a unique portrayal of the contemporary case of peaceful coexistence and mutual tolerance of cultural differences within the global society. The story is written in an aesthetic language that is beautiful, artistic and carefully crafted."

In the Young Author category, the Egyptian writer Ahmad Al Qarmalawi won the title for his novel Amtar Sayfiyyah أمطار صيفية<, Summer Rains), published by Maktabat al-Dar al-Arabiyah lil-Kitab, Cairo (2017).

"(Amtar Sayfiyyah) tackles the interrelations between the music and the soul, and the sublimity of the spirit versus covetousness. The work showed an extensive knowledge in music that creates a tangible setting of melodic notes transcending to that of the Sufism station (مقام, maqaam)," judges said.

Néji Elounelli from Tunisia won the Translation Award for his Arabic translation from of the work of German author Theodor Adorno, Natharayya ‘astiteeqyya (نظرية استيطيقية, Ästhetische Theorie), published by Al-Jamal Publications, Beirut 2017

"The book represents an authentic depiction from the German text that is considered a valued work in philosophy whose author is a prominent figure in the Frankfurt School of thought. The work investigates the theoretical paradigm of aesthetics that shifts the perspective from the traditional theory of knowledge to the critical philosophy in society," noted judges.

The Literary and Art Criticism Award went to Moroccan academic Mohammad Mishbal, for his work, Fi balaghat al-hajjaj: nahwa balagha hajjajiyyah litahleel al-khitab (في بلاغة الحجاج: نحو مقاربة بلاغية حجاجية لتحليل الخطاب, The Rhetoric of Eloquence), published by Kunouz Al Ma’refa Publishers, Amman (2017).

"The book elaborates on Al Hajjaj connections to the rhetoric and discourse, analysing the foundational strategies in ancient rhetoric up to present-day, in a well versed language, clear analysis and based on extensive bibliography," judges commented.

The Arab Culture in Other Languages Award went to German researcher Dag Nikolaus Hasse for his work Success and Suppression: Arabic Sciences and Philosophy in the Renaissance, published by Harvard Press 2017 while Dar Al-Tanweer (Beirut/Cairo/ Tunisia) won the Publishing and Technology Award.

"The book is a significant work of scholarship that fills in an important gap in modern knowledge: the fact that works in the Arabic sciences and philosophy played an important role in Western Renaissance movement. Hasse monitors the influence of Arabic in the intellectual development, debates and controversies of the Renaissance," said judges.


Judges said Dar Al-Tanweer "is viewed as a luminary institute that contributes generously to spreading the Arabic culture, encouraging authoring and translation. The publishing house continues to assume a leading role in bringing young voices in philosophy and literature to the limelight".
 
Dr Ali Bin Tamim, the Secretary General of Sheikh Zayed Book Award commented: “The nominations went through a rigourous assessment towards selecting the best of the entire body of works received this year, followed by a series of evaluations lasting for three months by qualified judging panels, to be concluded by the reviews of the scientific committee and the final sign-off by the Award’s Board of Trustees to name the winning titles of the 12th session.

“Throughout the past 12 years, since its inception, the Award has won a reputation of recognising and celebrating the best text in the Arabic literary production, with a deeply rooted transparency engraved on a regional and an international level.”

HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Director General of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi, congratulated the winners for their achievement, stressing that their works deserve the recognition, and adding: “As we mark the Year of Zayed, this is fitting appreciation to the memory of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan; crowning this outstanding group of writers, intellectuals, publishers and young talent as winners of an award in his name, and echoing his vision of fostering the sciences to enrich the Arab cultural, literary and social life.”

There was no award for the Contribution to the Development of Nations category this year.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award was inaugurated in 2007, and aims to promote scholarship and creativity in Arab culture. It carries cash prizes totaling AED7 million – with AED750, 000 per winner in all eight categories. The winners also receive a certificate of merit and a gold medal.

Details:

The award ceremony is scheduled on April 30 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

IAMM International Photography Competition 2017 invites submissions

The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) is running the IAMM International Photography Competition 2017 with the theme A Spiritual Journey: Islamic Culture & Heritage in Southeast Asia.

The competition seeks to inspire creativity as well as document the world of Islam in Southeast Asia. IAMM encourages photographers to capture Southeast Asia’s unique mystic and spiritual Islamic subject matters, its architectural design ornaments, the distinctive motifs of its arts and crafts, and the serenity of its devotees. IAMM aims to communicate the Islamic component of the art and history of Southeast Asia which today is the home to over 230 million Muslims to photographers and the public alike.

International and local photographers are welcome to participate, and there is no age limit. The top prize is RM5,000 and a certificate. Finalists’ photos will be exhibited in the 2017 Photo Exhibition.

Interested?

The submission deadline is May 31, 2017, at 11:59 PM Malaysia time. By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest. View the terms and conditions

Boubyan Bank organises Quran Memorisation Competition

Boubyan Bank is organising the second Qur’an Memorization Competition, which is open to all children with priority given to those from customers.

The competition has categories for children aged seven to 12, and for teens aged 13 to 17, divided by gender. Cash prizes range from KD100 to KD350.

The younger ones will compete on Surah An-Naziat while the teens are to memorise Surah An-Najm. Participants should follow Quran recitation rules (tajweed). Male contestants will recite on June 12 and 13 and females on June 14 and 15. Each session will take place after tarawih prayers, at 10pm.

Interested?

Register by 6 June 2016

posted from Bloggeroid

Instagram contests for Mother's Day in Singapore

With Mother's Day on May 8, themed Instagram contests are all the rage. Check out these three:

Beautiful bouquets

Bucket Full Of Roses, which delivers roses and other flowers in a bucket in Singapore, has teamed up with ASHLEYSUMMER.CO to give away its Mother's Day Roses & Carnations Bucket (worth S$118) and a surprise Lace Bralette (worth between S$56 and S$69).

Follow @ashleysummer.co and @bucketfullof_roses on Instagram (double the chances if you 'like' their Facebook pages), then tag two friends in the comments of this Instagram post and tell them why you deserve to win.

Interested?

The winner will be announced on 6 May.

Bucket Full of Roses is also offering a discount up till 6 May. Take S$20 off your order with the ThanksMum discount code at checkout.

Hashtags: #ashleysummerco, #bucketfullofroses, #giveaway, #sggiveaway, #sgcontest, #ThanksMum, #mothersday

Video a memory

Share kids' responses about what they like most about their mother in Instagram videos, hashtagged
#foxmothersday! FOX shopping vouchers from Fox Fashion Singapore are up for grabs.

Interested?

Contest closes on Mother's Day, 8 May 2016.

Hashtags: #foxmothersday

For craft enthusiasts

Source: Etsy Craft Party 2016.

The organisers of Etsy Craft Party 2016 - The Summer Edition in Singapore are gifting tickets to a mother-child pair for the event in Singapore on 18 June.

To participate, make something for your mother, upload a photo or video of your gift to her on Instagram and tell us why you should win those tickets. Add the hashtag #CraftySGSummer, tag @craftysg in the entry and keep the Instagram account public.

Interested?

Entries must be sent in by 15 May, 2016. This contest is open to Singapore residents only.

Hashtags: #craftysg, #craftysingapore, #craftysgsummer, #etsycraftparty, #etsycraftparty2016, #sgig, #igsg, #singapore, #art, #creative, #design, #handmade, #craftworkshop, #workshop, #craft, #crafting, #craftparty, #etsy #diy, #artsg, #artssg, #sgart, #sgarts

Since Mother's Day is coming, we want to give you & your mum a pair of tickets to our Etsy Craft Party 2016 - The Summer Edition (18 June). We adore handmade things that are made with love. Make something for Mum, upload a photo or video of your gift to her and tell us why you should win those tickets. Remember to add the hashtag #CraftySGSummer, tag us in your entry and keep your Instagram account public. Submit your entry by 15 May, 11.59pm. This contest is open to Singapore residents only. Get crafty now and we look forward to receiving your entries. 😊

A photo posted by Crafty Singapore (@craftysg) on Apr 28, 2016 at 11:15pm PDT

Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest deadlines extended

Source: Mustafa Prize.

The organisers of the Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest in Iran have extended the deadline for registration in the face of overwhelming participation. More than 10 thousand students in groups of two or three have registered in this contest to date.

According to the Public Relations Department of the Mustafa Prize, the original deadline for registration was December 31, 2015 while the deadline for film submission was February 11, 2016. Students can now register themselves and submit their films with the subject of light and its applications at the same time at http://noor.mustafaprize.org. The extension of the registration of the contest to February 11, 2016, has pushed back other dates. The winners and selected films will be announced April 22, 2016 instead.

The prizes for the contest have also changed, from 100 Bahar Azadi gold coins to 200, and another 100 winners added for a total of 200. Top 10 schools and research centers, based on arbitration will receive 100 million rial grants to equip their laboratories.

The Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest aims to familiarise the students with optic sciences, light and its applications. Under the rules, each team of two or three must make a one-minute film on a relevant topic. More than 300 films are available at http://noor.mustafaprize.org as samples.

The Tehran and Fars provinces have the most registered students so far and the Razi research centre in Shiraz tops the list of registrars with more than 350 groups registered for this competition. Afarinesh research centre from Tehran district 4 and Avicenna research centre from Tehran district 15 are next with more than 200 groups registered. 

Annual National Quranic Reading and Recitation competitions open for applications in Singapore

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) has opened registration for the Annual National Quranic Reading (Tilawah) and Recitation (Tahfiz) competitions.

Both competitions aim to discover new talent in the field of reading and reciting the Quran, raise the quality of Quranic reading and recitation, and encourage an interest in both practices. Competitors may represent Singapore for international Quran competitions.


Competitors are judged on their pronunciation, fluency, song and voice for the Tilawah competition and on recitation, pronunciation and fluency for the Tahfiz competition.

Singaporeans or permanent residents of Singapore may participate.

Interested?

For the Tilawah competition, semifinals for the child category will be held on 13 February, with the finals on 23 April. Youth competitors undergo semifinals on 27 February, and finals on 24 April. There will be a preliminary round for adults on 12 March, followed by semifinals on 19 March and finals on 23 April. The Tahfiz competition will be held over 2 and 3 April. All sessions will be held at Muis Hub.

A registration fee of S$10 is required for each competition. Completed forms and registration fee can only be made at the An-Nur Mosque payment counter, which is open 830am to 5pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on weekends. Download an application form 

Ramadhan offers in Singapore

Ramadhan tends to see a lot of food-related promotions in Singapore. Here's a selection:

Seen at the Geylang Serai Hari Raya Bazaar - buy S$25 worth of Mirinda drinks to get a free Mirinda jug, or buy S$25 worth of Yeo's drinks to get a free Yeo's jug.

Fanta invites consumers to "make Raya more special" by creating their own soda recipes with mixers, with lychee flavour as the latest. The recipes can be shared, but instructions will only be shared on radio at Warna 94.2FM.

Mr Bean has come up with takeaways from halal-certified suppliers. There are jelly delights, six for S$10, soybean biscuits (salted bean or pineapple flavours), eight for S$10.80, or grass jelly bowls (ala carte pricing).

McDonald's Singapore does not list its Ramadhan offers on its website. Its sunset and pre-dawn meals come with a free picnic mat, and the sunset meals include free dates. Sunset meals range between S$20.95 and S$49.95. For S$49.95, the sunset feast includes 1 Big Mac, 1 Quarter Pounder with cheese, 2 McSpicy burgers, 1 Filet-O-Fish, 1 McChicken, 1 Spicy Nuggets (20 pieces), four large French Fries, three banana pies, three hot fudge sundaes, three medium iced Milos, three medium Cokes, and six free dates. Plus the picnic mat. The pre-dawn meals range from S$17.95 to S$29.95. For S$29.95 enjoy a breakfast supreme, a sausage McMuffin with egg, one portion of hotcakes, a chicken muffin, three hash browns, two medium iced Milos and two medium cappuccinos. The meals can be pre-ordered. McDonald's delivers 24 hours a day. Terms & conditions apply; there is a surcharge for delivery and a minimum order amount, for example.

Hashtag: #sghalal