BANGKOK: It turned into an all-Malaysian affair at the 4th Asia Spelling Cup here today as two of the nation’s young spellers clinched the top spots.
Fourteen year-old Ng Wan Wei won first place in the secondary school-level category, with his winning word 'schipperke'.
To make his triumph even sweeter, his sister, Anna Ng, 12, won first place in the primary school-level category, with her winning word, 'vigilante'.
Both Wan Wei and Anna received US$2,000 (RM8,540) each.
Considered the largest spelling bee on the continent, the Asia Spelling Cup draws contestants from far and wide, and our Malaysian champions had to compete against spellers from Indonesia, China, Thailand.
Besides Wan Wei and Anna, another Malaysian speller, Michelle Ong Shu Tian, 16, won the third place in the secondary school-level category and received and iPad.
Ten finalists representing Malaysia were chosen in partnership with the RHB-NST SIR competition.
Wan Wei was the SIR 2016 national secondary-level category champ while Ong and Anna took the second place for the national secondary and primary-level category, respectively.
The 4th Asia Spelling Cup was sponsored by Qooco, a mobile language solutions provider which helps improve spoken English language skills.