Sabahans do college proud at art festivals

Versatile: Fredo (left) and Salieni won recognition for their performance beyond their culinary arts studies.

EVEN though the culinary arts are his foremost passion, Fredo Foo Sau Yi has shown that he is open to exploring new experiences and skills as a student.

Under the encouragement of his English language teacher, Sirhajwan Idek, at Keningau Vocational College in Sabah, the 17-year-old took part in an online art festival and came away with a bronze medal.

For his participation at the Magic Bridges of Budapest – an international music, dance and vocal competition and festival – Fredo wrote and narrated a tale entitled The Dragon of Mount Kinabalu.

The story is centred around three princes from China who each made the journey to the island of Borneo to steal a gem guarded by a dragon. The one succeeding at the attempt would inherit the throne from the emperor.

Fredo shared that he was surprised to receive news of his win, saying, “I honestly didn’t expect it.”

In preparation for the competition, he had researched how to come up with a good story before applying local knowledge of a mythical tale to his entry submission, which highlighted the intercultural link between Borneo and China, he told StarEdu.

Grateful for Sirhajwan’s guidance, Fredo said, “He supervised my progress, making sure I pronounced every single word right during the voiceover recording.

“He also went the extra mile in connecting me with his former college graduate, Roswell Rusilin, who brought my story to life through his brilliant illustrations.”

Keningau Vocational College director Johari@Jaibet Sabin praised the student’s effort in writing and performing the tale as a way of reviving the arts and preserving the nation’s cultural heritage.

He also emphasised the significance of art and culture in educating students to be more artistic and versatile with great sociocultural competence.

Sirhajwan expressed pride in Fredo’s “unwavering dedication and a love for trying out new things”.

Urging students to take part in competitions and activities beyond the school syllabus, he said this would enable them to gain additional experience, and national and international certificates that would be useful in the future.

“Fredo’s accomplishment is proof of how important it is to provide our students with platforms where they’re able to develop their talents accordingly.

“We should not confine students to certain types of opportunities when there are endless ways they can showcase their many capabilities,” he said.

Separately, another culinary arts student Salieni Balakrishnan did the college proud by bagging the silver award at the Vienna Stars 2021 online international arts festival for her poetry recitation.Alyson, 16, a student in Kuala Lumpur, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.