KUCHING – An undergraduate at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus was the first prize winner of the ‘Heritage for Unity’ design category in the Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak competition, recently.
Dayang Maani Zuriah Abang Othman, a first year graphic design student, won the RM10,000 cash prize for her entry which featured three differently coloured balloons in one hand, to signify unity.
Her achievement was widely published by the local newspapers in Sarawak, one of which featured her on the front page.
“It took me a few weeks to come up with the design. I was on holiday then so I had a lot of time. I did some research into what represented unity and I was inspired by the Iban motif. I then incorporated that into my design,” said Dayang Maani, 20, who had been interested in design since she was very young.
“One of the techniques I used in my design was taught just before the competition. It worked, so yes, I would attribute winning the competition to what I’ve learnt at university,” said the former SMK St Columba, Miri, student.
The daughter of a retired civil servant father and homemaker mother, Dayang Maani said the win has given her more confidence and motivation in her studies, especially after having beaten her competitors who were years her senior and who were also well-qualified.
On what she plans to do with the cash prize, the youngest of five siblings said: “I haven’t really decided but the first thing I’ll like to do is to take my family out for a good meal.”
The Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak competition was organised as part of a three-day International Youth Cultural Conference at the Sarawak Cultural Village, about 30km from Kuching.