Severino presents awards to competition winners

JAKARTA (JP): ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo C. Severino presented awards and prizes yesterday to the winners of the ASEAN Essay, Photo and Poster Competitions.

Aung Gyi, a Myanmar university student, won first place in the essay competition and prize money US$5,000, followed by Gabriel Liow of Singapore who won $3,500 and Ian Gacayan of the Philippines who took home $2,000.

In the poster competition held for high school students, Maria Taniguchi of the Philippines won first prize and received $2,000. The runner-up was Aye Maung Maung of Myanmar who won $1,500, followed by Lim Wee Keat of Malaysia who received $1,000.

In the photo competition, that was open to the general public, there was no first prize winner. Bambang Supriyanto of Indonesia won second prize and received $5,000. The third prize of $3,000 went to Yau Choon Hiam of Malaysia.

The competitions were launched by the Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) last September in conjunction with the body's 30th anniversary. A total of 221 essays, 876 photos and 512 posters from all member countries were submitted.

An exhibition of the winning entries is being held at the ASEAN Secretariat on Jl. Sisingamangaraja in South Jakarta, from March 1 to Apr. 30. It will be open between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. except on Saturdays and Sundays, the secretariat said in a statement.