BRUNEI-MUARA
Friday, May 8, 2009
HOST school Pehin Datu Seri Maharaja Mentiri Secondary School claimed the top prize of the Inter-school Hadrah Competition for the third consecutive year, while Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit Arabic Religious Secondary School for Girls won the contest for girls during yesterday's final round.
With scores of 83.4 and 82.1 per cent, the two schools won the traditional drum ensemble (hadrah) competition after overcoming 10 out of the 23 private and government secondary schools and colleges which made it to the finals.
Deputy Permanent Secretary Hj Mohd Zin Hj Salleh of the Ministry of Development said: "This competition is an effort to find talents among students for hadrah. We need to make hadrah become a popular activity so that it will not lead into becoming extinct among the society."
He hoped that students will cultivate love towards hadrah, and encourage students to learn it as it is part of Malay Islamic Monarchy or Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB).
Hassanal Bolkiah Arabic Secondary School for Boys was named the first runner-up for both the boys and girls division, while the second runner-up for the boys and girls division was Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien College and Pehin Datu Seri Maharaja Mentiri Secondary School respectively.
Supervisor Hj Kifli Begawan Pehin Udana Khatib Hj Junit from the winning school of the boys division said that the competition is held annually to promote one of Brunei's traditional cultures of playing hadrah.
"I hope that hadrah will be practised continuously as part of the culture of Bruneians. This will also help to develop students' self-confidence and for them to develop their skills," he said.
Hj Kifli said that this is the third year in a row their school has won the competition. "This year the students have been very competitive and most of them have performed very well."
Siti Zazilah Hj Jufri, 17, from Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit Arabic Religious Secondary School for Girls said: "I am very excited that we won and I must say I love hadrah a lot. It also helps promote teamwork, communication and MIB among our group when we practise."
Siti said that she will encourage her friends to join the competition next year by telling them that it helps individuals build their self-confidence and hadrah is a "whole load of fun."
However, Hj Kifli said that for future competitions, he hopes it would include other types of cultural performances such as radat.
"Radat is similar to hadrah except that it has different movements. I also hope that they include gambus which is another performance which uses traditional instruments," he said.
He added that he would also like the hadrah competition to join with comtemporary musicals to make it more interesting next year.
Principal Hjh Monaliza Hj Abd Halim of Pehin Datu Seri Maharaja Mentiri Secondary School said: "I hope this competition will continue as a platform to discover new talents and preserve our cultural heritage."
Held for the 27th time by the Ministry of Education's Co-Curriculum Department, this year saw the competition open to female students. Half of the ten groups of students who made it to the finals were females. (RTM1)
The Brunei Times
