Sembawang Secondary School Goes To Hollywood!

Panasonic KWN 2010 winner wins prestigious finalist slot in Global Contest

Panasonic Singapore is proud to announce that the winner of its Kid Witness News (‘KWN’) 2010 video competition, Sembawang Secondary School, has made it to the finals of the Global Contest to be held this July in Hollywood, USA.  This is a first for a Singapore school. 

Sembawang Secondary School first made history with their entry titled “Mad About Water” by winning three awards including the Top News Award in the Singapore competition last November, as well as the Regional Award in December. 

“It’s the KWN version of the tennis Grand Slam,” says Panasonic Singapore Director, Mr Daniel Tan, “They’ve won the Local and Regional Awards; can they take the International trophy as well?  Judging by the originality, creativity and execution of their work, we think they stand a good chance!”

All country winners in this international contest are subjected to a final round of judging and Sembawang Secondary is one of only six Grand Prize Finalists selected out of a total of 26 countries and regions.  The other finalists are from Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Slovakia, and the United States.

Come 19^th July, the team – comprising (above photo L-R) Dylan Conceicao, Calvin Leong, Logayashini Ragumathan, Santian Subramaniam, Toh Wei Liang – and their teacher-in-charge, Mdm Aileen Chai, will go on an all-expenses paid trip to Hollywood.  They will join the other national teams on a ‘Global Contest Winners’ Week’ programme which includes some sightseeing, a visit with a US KWN school and a tour of Universal Studios Hollywood. 

The Global Awards Ceremony will be held on 21^st July at the Globe Theater in Universal Studios.

“The team was absolutely thrilled when we received news that they had made it into the final round,” said Mdm Aileen Chai who was the teacher in charge at Sembawang Secondary.  “That the news included a trip to Hollywood was the icing on the cake!

“The team members are honoured that they have the opportunity to represent Singapore in this global competition, and they look forward to meet students from other countries who share the same passion.”   Mdm Chai also said that Sembawang Secondary entered their first KWN competition in 2008, with a loaned videocam and free production workshops by Panasonic, and have never looked back since.  They won the local contest and the prize for Best Presentation in the regional round that year.

Calvin Leong, Sembawang Secondary School student and presenter of the documentary, said, “During the entire course of KWN I have learnt many life skills, and key is that one must persevere to attain excellence.  We have given it our best so, whether or not we win, we are proud of what we have done, and we can say our work made it to Hollywood!”

“Mad About Water” is a documentary which records a 30-day experiment carried out by a young boy who is very concerned about the water sustainability of his country. He embarks on a social experiment to create awareness to encourage others to be more conscious of their use of water. In the experiment he forces himself to live within a specific amount of water each day. The video shows how he learns to make decisions on water usage, the importance of water conservation, the challenges he faced and the triumph he achieved.

In addition to winning the KWN Top News Award in the 2010 Singapore competition, Sembawang Secondary’s entry also won The Spotlight Award (Best Education Content) and The Clipper Award (Best Editing).  Their teacher-in-charge won the Best Facilitator Award (for leadership and motivation of students).  The video can be seen on this web link: kwn.com.sg/KWNehalloffame_news_spotlightaward.html

The 26 countries and regions participating in KWN:

North America - Canada, U.S.A.; Central and South America - Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Peru; Europe - Austria, CzechRepublic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, U.K.; Middle andNear East - United Arab Emirates; Asia - China,Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam; Oceania - Australia, New Zealand.

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