B-@ktif winners announced

SENTIENT and Belia Berilmu emerged as winners of silver medal in the B-@ktif 2008 competition organised by the Youth and Sports Department, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

During a certificate and prize presentation ceremony yesterday, both groups received cash award of $1,000 each with their projects titled H.A.P.P.Y (HIV Awareness Programme For Peers and Youth) by Sentient and Motivational Camp Towards Youth's Excellence by Belia Berilmu respectively.

B-@ktif is a competition to draft a working paper on various topics. The ministry then select the best project to be competed internationally.

The competition, was the second of its kind being held for youth aged between 15 and 25 years old. Among the objectives of competition were to provide opportunities for the youth to involve in project planning and implementation and allow them to learn and increase their knowledge in managing the social activities.

It also aimed to give the youths freedom to organise and choosing activities according to their preferences and to instill sense of ownership and responsibility among them.

The competition was divided into three phases: the first was in the form of assessment and evaluation of the participants' working papers. The proceeding phase saw the project proposal, and the final phase comprised implementing the project within the given budget of $500. Some 35 groups participated in this year's B-@ktif competition. Out of the total, only 16 had successfully completed their projects in three months which commenced early this year.

Present at yesterday's event was Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pg Hj Bahrom Pg Hj Bahar, who also presented the prizes and certificates certificates to the respective recipients.

The ceremony also included the performing of B-@ktif theme song by the Emergence group, a musical and theatrical act titled "Belia Benci Dadah" by the Belia Berwawasan Sungai Bunga young performers, as well as presentation of certificates and medals for the Commonwealth Youth Silver Award 2007-2008 to the winning team, Penyinar Club of the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council with their project title HIV Awareness Programme.

Belia Pro-aktif 2, SEPAKAT and Adai-Adai received bronze medalists bringing home a cash prize of $750. Sentient also won the best overall project proposal and Belia Pro-aktif 2 won as the outstanding group.

There was no gold medal winner at this year's competition. (NJA1)