Pakistani students bag top positions in music, speech competitions held in China

BEIJING: Pakistani students clinched top positions in music, speech and photography competitions, organized within the framework of the 2nd Silk Road and Young Dreams, an international gala event of youth exchange.

Over 30 young Pakistani students from educational institutions in China and Pakistan took part in the competitions and elegantly displayed their talents in the three-day event.

Nearly 300 contestants from 70 countries in five continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Oceania participated in the event, organized to welcome the forthcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scheduled to be held later this month.

The students of Pakistan Embassy College Beijing (PECB) won five positions in speech, photography and music categories of the competitions.

Abdul Rehman, a talented and young student of PECB, secured the first position in the speech contest while Islam Khallili and Thembekeli secured third place in the photography competition. 

In the music category, Maaz Ali and Fareen Maharver were declared winners of the third position.

Bilawal Khan, Istahsan Arshad and Ronica Wilson, students of the Superior College Lahore, who were sponsored by their college to

participate in the contest, secured top slots in different categories of music competitions.

Cultural Counselor, Raheel Tariq, who provided a stage for Pakistani youth to shine with talents and potentials at the second edition of Silk Road and Young Dreams, informed that most of the students, participating in the event, were studying in China while some contestants came from Pakistan.

“We apprised our students in China particularly studying in educational institutions in Beijing, about the event and invited them to participate,” he added.

In the beginning, they were reluctant to participate but the Pakistan Embassy fully encouraged them to take part in five categories i.e. music, speech, photography, arts and electronic gaming.

Commending the young student of PECB, who obtained the first position in speech competition, he said his success was a result of hard work and commitment besides the efforts of his teachers and parents.

Raheel Tariq remarked that participation of Pakistani youth in the

contest would further cement cultural ties and promote people-top-people contacts between the all-weather friends and iron brothers.

“This international event has also provided our youths with an ample opportunity to display their talent at the international level and introduce Pakistani culture to the international audience,” he added.

The first position holder, Abdul Rehman said although he was not expecting such a big win and he was able to win the first position just with the blessing of Allah Almighty, prayers of his parents and efforts of teachers.

Giving a message to other fellow Pakistani youth, he emphasized that reading, writing and practice were key ingredients for his success. He dedicated the award to his father and his teachers.

Bilawal Khan, who was very excited after winning the trophy in the singing competition, said it was really an amazing experience to participate and perform along with young talents of other countries.

“I have also got an opportunity to meet people from Russia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and several other countries and interact with them to learn more about the music,” he added.

The event was organized by Silk Road Cities Alliance, China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, Beijing Belt and Road Cooperative Community, and Chongyang Research Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China. More than 40 diplomats in China from Pakistan, Bahrain, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka and the Maldives were present to cheer for their outstanding players.

The cultural figures, business leaders, media representatives and other distinguished guests also joined to share knowledge and dreams.

Compared with the previous event, this year, more contestants took part in competitions. On the basis of the music, speech and photography in the last event, three activities of sand painting creation, essay exchange and e-sports were added to event this year.

At the end, a prize distribution ceremony was held in which winners, runners-up and third position holders in different categories of music, speech, photography and sand painting competitions were awarded trophies and certificates.

Youths from different countries presented cultural performance to showcase their respective cultures and traditions. However, Pakistani youths stunned the audience with their impressive musical performance and patriotic songs.