As one of the universities that has a Mandarin Language Department, this year the State University of Malang (UM) was entrusted with holding the 18th Chinese Bridge, specifically for the East Java region. Chinese Bridge is an international standard competition which is a forum for students in the world who are studying Mandarin to compete in Chinese speech and compete for knowledge and skills of Chinese culture. The event, which was shaded by the East Java Chinese Language Education Coordination Institution, was held on Sunday (7/4) at the Graha Hall of the UM Rectorate. The theme carried was "One World, One Family". The event brought together students from the Chinese language department from various universities in East Java to compete with each other, such as Mandarin speeches, knowledge tests about China, and talent shows related to Chinese culture.
This program is promoted by the Chinese National Hanban with the aim of introducing Chinese culture to the world. The event, which began in 2002, has been attended by more than 50 countries in the world every year. This year, UM again received the mandate to hold the Chinese Bridge in the East Java region after becoming the organizer in 2016. "Starting yesterday, we have conducted a written test regarding the participants' knowledge of Chinese culture, and today is the holding of a speech competition and talent show," said Astina, one of the committee members when met by the Communications crew at the event location. Furthermore, Astina said that the event which was attended by 38 participants from seven universities in East Java was aimed at strengthening friendship and brotherhood among students of the Chinese Language Department in the world.
This series of events started on Wednesday (6/3) at 16.00 WIB. Participants must first attend a briefing and complete a written test on knowledge about Chinese culture. On the following day, a speech competition and talent show was held starting at 09.30 WIB. In the series of events, there were also various entertainment in the form of performances of Chinese culture and Indonesian culture. In fact, the Chinese Language Department lecturers also appeared to fill the event. The participants in the speech competition and talent show were no less interesting. They managed to amaze the participants and the jury present.
In Chinese Bridge, there are three competition categories, so that the scores in each category are accumulated to determine which participants are entitled to take home the first, second, and third titles. The winners will bring home a trophy, award certificates, and prizes worth IDR 2.5 million for the first winner, IDR 1.5 million for the second winner, and IDR 1 million for the third winner. As a result, Jesslyntan Calista from Petra Christian University, won the first place in Surabaya. The second winner went to Steven Wihono from Ma Chung University, while the third winner was Marco Sihombing from UM. "The winners who won the first, second and third place will represent the East Java region to go to Jakarta. If they succeed in winning the title in Jakarta, then they will have the opportunity to take part in the top event in China, "said Astina closing the interview conducted by the Communications crew. Azril