THREE environmentally conscious students have written their way to victory in a new essay contest - and all are from Anglo-Chinese Junior College.
Kirsten Anne Tan, Nicole Chaang and Sarah Chew were voted joint winners by the public after penning from 200 to 250 words about the environmental issues they would tackle over the next five years if they were in the Government. Each gets to take home a $200 book voucher.
The JC1 students were the first to triumph in the weekly contest, part of the National Current Affairs Quiz. Their entries were among 10 uploaded on The Straits Times' current affairs website Singapolitics for voting from last Monday to Wednesday.
Front runners Kirsten and Nicole, both 17, received more than 1,600 votes each, while 18-year-old Sarah bagged more than 570. Between them, the trio garnered two-thirds of the almost 6,000 votes cast.
With their strong showing, they beat competition from Anderson Junior College, Dunman High School, Innova Junior College, Nanyang Junior College and Yishun Junior College.
The trio credited their family and friends with rallying support.
"Some of my friends got so excited about it," said Nicole.
Researching and crafting her essay has piqued Sarah's interest in environmental issues. She said she would use her prize to "buy the books I have been eyeing".
Another 27 sets of $200 vouchers are up for grabs, and a grand prize of $1,000 in vouchers.
JC1 or Integrated Programme Year 5 students of 24 participating schools can win by responding to a question posed alongside The Straits Times' current affairs primer series on Mondays.
The 10 best responses will be posted online for voting. Writers of the three most-voted-for entries will win the $200 voucher. The writer of the overall best essay will win $1,000 in vouchers.
Known as the Thought Leadership Question segment, the essay contest is sponsored by Shell.
In July, school teams will compete for the The Big Quiz championship trophy and $5,000. It is being organised for the second year by The Straits Times and the Ministry of Education. The presenting sponsor is the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation.
ayiying@sph.com.sgFor more information, go to www.straitstimes.com/thebigquiz
The next batch of 10 essays up for voting will be posted on Singapolitics this afternoon at www.singapolitics.sg
