All smiles: Camilla (back row, fourth from right) and Kong (front row, far right) at the reception. With them are the three other top awardees and guests. - Credit: Photographs by Photographer London
PETALING JAYA: Not many Malaysians can claim to have set foot inside a palace, let alone being hosted by a queen.
But Kong Yong Sin earned the rare opportunity to be feted on Thursday (Nov 16) at a special award ceremony hosted by Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace in London.
The 15-year-old student from SMK Tinggi Kluang, Johor, had come in as the runner-up in the senior category of the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) 2023, the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools.
While a number of awards were given for both the senior (ages 14 to 18) and junior (under 14) categories, only a winner and a runner-up were named for each category.
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Past winners include Malaysia-born Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mei Fong, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the late British author Elspeth Huxley.
In this year’s edition, the winners of both categories, as well as the junior runner-up, are from India.
The entries from the cream of the crop stood out from a record-breaking 34,924 received from all Commonwealth regions.
ALSO READ: Essay wins teen ticket to the UK
As part of their reward, Kong and the three other top awardees had enjoyed a “Winners’ Week" in the United Kingdom, which began on Monday (Nov 13).
Among their experiences included witnessing the UK House of Commons in action, touring the Bloomsbury publishing house, visiting William Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, and touring Westminster Abbey and the BBC Broadcasting House.
Kong, who is a participant of The Star’s BRATs Young Journalist Programme, said she felt extremely privileged to have been given the incredible experience
“It feels surreal that I've attended a reception at Buckingham Palace. Meeting the queen was very delightful. She was exceedingly nice. Her grace and charm took the edge off my nervousness,” she said.
Among the guests present at the royal reception were luminaries in their fields Ayesha Dharker, Sir Ben Okri, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal and Dame Joanna Lumley.
Kong said her UK trip had opened her eyes to the different aspects and inner workings of Britain and, by extension, the Commonwealth's history and culture.
“It has lit my passion to learn more and deepen my knowledge,” she said.
On how she planned to take her writing further, Kong, who will undergo an exchange semester in the United States under the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme next year, said she looked forward to expanding her network of mentors and peers to “continue seeking valuable insights and fresh perspectives on my writing”.
In her QCEC entry, Kong tackled the question “Does age matter?” with a short story titled “Observations made at a Local Kopitiam, 13th of March, 2023”.
Open to all Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and under, the QCEC, hosted by the UK-based Royal Commonwealth Society, celebrates its 140th anniversary this year.
Each year, it welcomes participants to write on a theme that stems from the Commonwealth’s values and principles, while at the same time working towards developing key literacy skills and fostering an empathetic and open-minded world view.
This year’s theme was “A Youth-Led Commonwealth”, challenging participants to explore the power young people hold within the global community and to consider how this power can be harnessed to make a meaningful impact on the world.
Applications for the 2024 edition of The Star’s BRATs Young Journalist Programme are now open. For details, go to facebook.com/niebrats.
