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Japan-Pakistan Friendship Fest 2007
ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: A speech contest and children's art competition were organised on
Wednesday at the National Art Gallery (NAG) as part of the Japan-Pakistan
Friendship Fest 2007 by the Japanese Embassy in collaboration with the
Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association (PJCA), Islamabad, and MEXT Alumni
Association of Pakistan (MAAP). Nearly 100 enthusiastic students from over 33
different schools of Islamabad and Rawalpindi participated in the competition.
Addressing the prize distribution ceremony, Japanese Ambassador Seiji
Kojima said the youth of Pakistan were well acquainted with Japanese culture and
traditional values but he stressed the need for holding such competitions to
further promote creative activity involving the young talented artists of
Pakistan. He said, "Some of them (the participants) have pointed out some
interesting details which I had overlooked."
OPF Girls College's Yasmeen
Khan grabbed first position in the art competition while Zarlish Amjad, Roots
International College, Islamabad, and Mahnoor Bashir, Presentation Convent
School, Rawalpindi, took second and third positions respectively while a
consolation prize was given to Sara Farooq, City School, Mirpur, Azad
Kashmir.
In the speech competition, Maryam Ghaznavi, Roots Schools
System, Rawalpindi, took the first position, the second prize went to Sundus
Rauf, OPF Girls College, Islamabad, while Saif Jamshed, City School, Islamabad,
took third position. The consolation prize was awarded to Amal Basit, Roots
International College, Islamabad.
The theme of the Children's Art
Competition was "How I Visualise Japan on Canvas" while the theme for the Speech
Contest was "How Japan can become a role model for Pakistan." This art
competition and speech contest has proved to be very popular event among school
children for the past 13 years, mainly because of the interesting subjects and
the opportunities for the children to freely express themselves.
The
panel of judges for the speech contest included Sultan Sikander Khan, the former
MAAP president, Shabnam Riaz, newscaster and columnist, and a representative
from the Embassy of Japan.
Ghulam Rasool, a renowned painter and former
PNCA director Ggneral and Fauzia Minallah, a renowned painter, along with a
representative of the Embassy of Japan made up the panel of judges for the art
competition. The purpose of the competition was to reinforce the friendly
relations between Japan and Pakistan and to allow the students to become more
familiar with various aspects of the Japanese culture. Daily Times
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