Eleven of Malaysia's brightest young performing arts talents flew the Jalur Gemilang at the 28th World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, from July 13 to 21.
Organised by MyCreative Promotion (MCP), the exclusive organiser and national licence holder for WCOPA Malaysia, Team Malaysia comprised 11 contestants aged between 7 and 24 years, with most of them still in school. Together, they competed in 61 events across the Junior and Senior divisions in Vocal, Music, Dance, Acting and Modelling. The Team achieved a 57% success rate, winning 35 medals in total.
This year, Team Malaysia presented the nation with 14 gold medals, 13 silver and 8 bronze medals plus four Overall Champions.
The biggest winner was our youngest contestant from Penang, 7-year-old Choong U-Faye, who won five gold medals and five silver medals. U-Faye entered 11 competitions in Vocal, Instrumental and Dance and bagged three gold and three silver medals in Vocal, and also two gold and one silver in Instrumental plus another silver for Dance.
The next top winners were Malaysia's Senior contestants, both scoring three gold medals and one silver medal each – Siow Shawn Young (Ethan) and Leong Wai Yan (Gloria).
Siow Shawn Young from Negeri Sembilan entered five competitions in Instrumentals. He not only qualified to be in the semifinals, but also moved to the Grand Finals as the only representative from Malaysia to the Grand Finals.
Meanwhile, student Leong Wai Yan, also from Penang, competed in five styles in Acting. She scored three Gold and one Silver medals for her acting. It was very refreshing to have won in Acting after Malaysia had been absent from that category for the last 10 years.
Muhammad Rafeeq Mohd Razali, the Vice Consul, Consulate General of Malaysia in Los Angeles, was also present to witness the Grand Finals and medal presentation.
The Malaysian juniors, who made up 65% of the Team members, excelled in this year’s WCOPA. Another outstanding success was 10-year-old Tee
Xeneallyn from Seremban. Competing in seven competitions in Vocal, Dance and Instrumental, she took home a gold for Ballroom Dancing and two silver medals in Dance, one silver in Instrumental Original Works while taking another three bronze medals for Vocal and one each for Instrumental Classical and Contemporary.
Muhammad Aimansyah, a 15-year-old from Kajang, brought another gold medal for Instrumental Original Works, while Lee Yun Ni, who partnered with her brother Lee Jun Ming, brought another gold medal for Instrumental.
The day was not over when Choong U-Faye was also presented as the Overall Champion for Vocal with Accompaniment and Siow Shawn Young was awarded three Overall Champion titles for Instrumental Contemporary, Jazz and Original Works.
Beyond competing for international honours, our young performers also served as cultural ambassadors, showcasing Malaysia's creativity, diversity and artistic excellence to participants from more than 70 countries.
Muhammad Rafeeq was proud of Team Malaysia’s success and said: “Team Malaysia carried the hopes and pride of Malaysia. The young ambassadors not only won in their competition but most importantly introduced our country's rich culture, warmth and talent to the international community during Visit Malaysia Year 2026."
Often described as the "Olympics of the Performing Arts", WCOPA is the world's premier international competition for aspiring performers. Besides competing before internationally renowned judges, participants attend workshops, masterclasses and cultural exchange programmes designed to nurture future performers.
In conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2026, Team Malaysia took the opportunity to promote Malaysia's tourism, cultural diversity and hospitality throughout the championship by engaging with fellow contestants, officials and international visitors.
Intan Jalaludin, the Chair of MyCreative Promotion, was surprised that our youngsters did such an amazing performance at the World Championship. “We were hoping for a modest win, but the Team members were determined and committed to prove us wrong. I am so very proud of them," said Intan.
