Wikipedia

RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship

The RHB-The Straits Times Spelling Championship, informally known as the Big Spell, is a spelling bee held annually in Singapore open to Primary 4, 5 and 6 students. It is organized by The Straits Times and RHB Bank, in partnership with the Ministry of Education. In different years, it has also been supported by various organisations, companies, and institutions such as the National Library Board, HP, and ITE College Central.[1] Its highest turnout was of approximately 1800 students in 2016's preliminary round.[2] It was first held in 2012[3] and last held in 2017.

Championships edit

Big Spell 2013 edit

The 2013 competition was held from March 9, 2013 to April 27, 2013 at the Raffles City Convention Centre. Round one of the Big Spell was held on March 9, 2013. An estimated 1,400 children from 120 schools in Singapore were registered for the first round of the Big Spell. The contestants took a vocabulary test, in which their answers were to be written on answer scripts.[4] The duration of the test was an hour, and participants were given fifty words to complete.[5] Out of the 1,400 children, some eighty of them were short listed for the zonal round, where the final thirty would be selected through the results.[6] The Grand Finals of the Big Spell commenced on April 27, 2013.[7] There were thirty finalists in total. In all, ten rounds were played that day. Ashvin Sivakumar of Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), the eventual winner, was described as a "standout at the microphone", with his looming height and inquisitiveness.[6] As the victor, Sivakumar received $5,000 in cash and a school trophy.[8] The runners-up, Kua Le Yi and Loi So Xian, were awarded $3,000 and $1,000 respectively.[6] Footage of the elimination rounds and Grand Finals were broadcast on RazorTV.[9]

List of winners edit

Year Winner Winning word School
2012 Jordan Foo Bao Luo[10] Jodhpurs Anglo-Chinese School (Primary)
2013 Ashvin Sivakumar[6] Pulchritudinous Anglo-Chinese School (Primary)
2014 Nicole Lim[11] Glockenspiel Singapore Chinese Girls' School (Primary)
2015 Justinian Guan[12] Zeitgeist Rosyth School
2016 Sophi Tan Xuan[13] Intelligentsia Raffles Girls' Primary School
2017 Eashaa Pillai[14] Braggadocio Raffles Girls' Primary School

References edit

  1. ^ "The Big Spell 2014: Record turnout for competition's preliminary round". The Straits Times. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  2. ^ Ang, Yiying (26 March 2016). "Biggest Big Spell round starts as around 1,800 pupils test their skills at Suntec". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Four zonal champions emerge in Big Spell battle". The Straits Times. April 16, 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Biggest turn out for first round of The Big Spell". The Straits Times. March 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "Award-winning Big Spell returns for the second year". Singapore Press Holdings. January 23, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d Ang, Yiying (April 27, 2013). "Ashvin Sivakumar, 12, from Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) is Big Spell Champion". The Straits Times.
  7. ^ "Speeches". Ministry of Education, Singapore. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  8. ^ "Indian-origin boy wins Singapore's spelling championship". NDTV. April 28, 2013.
  9. ^ "National Spelling Championship". National Spelling Championship. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  10. ^ "ACS' (Primary) Jordan Foo is national Champion Speller". AsiaOne. 28 April 2012. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  11. ^ Ang, Yiying (26 April 2014). "The Big Spell 2014: SCGS pupil spells 'glockenspiel' to become the first girl to win RHB-ST spelling contest". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  12. ^ Lee, Laremy (25 April 2015). "Rosyth School pupil wins RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship 2015". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  13. ^ Ang, Yiying (30 April 2016). "Nine-year-old Sophi from RGPS emerges youngest champ in Big Spell's five-year history". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  14. ^ Ang, Yiying (24 April 2017). "Nine-year-old crowned winner of Big Spell 2017, takes home top prize of $5,000". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
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