Utar and IACT teams win big at video contest

PETALING JAYA: A group of students here put their English language skills to good use and walked away with cash prizes totalling RM10,000.

The golden opportunity came to these students from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) and IACT College after they joined and won The Star’s “English for More Opportunities” video contest.

Utar’s best video which was titled Battlefield won the first prize of RM2,500. It pictured a soldier getting killed in a gunfight because his partner could not communicate well in English.

Team leader Catherine Lee, 23, who is doing her degree in broadcasting, said she got the idea from her father who loved watching war-themed movies.

“We wanted to pass the message that entering the working world is like going into the battlefield, and we don’t have second chances so we need to prepare ourselves,” she said at the prize presentation ceremony at Menara Star yesterday.

Top of the class: The winning team of the English For More Opportunities Video Contest: at the prize presentation ceremony.

Lim’s coursemate Lim Shao Ying, 21, said they wanted to present the importance of English in a creative way.

“We went to Malacca to shoot the video for about two days because we wanted the war scene set in a jungle,” said Lim.

For IACT College the first prize of RM2,500 was won by the short film Aangilam, which depicted a man who doesn’t speak English struggling to communicate with a shop owner to find his missing wallet that he lost in the shop.

Kirran Prashaanth, 19, who is doing his diploma in mass communication said this was the most suitable idea he had for the contest.

“I have an interest in directing, so when I heard about this competition the idea stuck with me,” he said.

The first- and second-runners up from each institution won cash prizes of RM1,500 and RM1,000.

TheStarTV.com senior general manager David Yeoh hopes that the programme can be expanded to include more universities and students in the future.

“In terms of content I think both colleges were equally good in passing the message and it is a good way to encourage students to come forward,” said Yeoh.

“It was also good to see the students as they enjoyed it and were excited when coming up to get their prizes.”

English For More Opportunities is part of The Star’s ongoing efforts to highlight the importance of the language in helping people get ahead in life.

To view the videos, visit thestar.com.my/english.