Singapore Press : National Chinese Challenge 2017 calls for registration

Singapore, 24 February 2017--- National Chinese Challenge (NCC), a nationwide Chinese language quiz for students, is back for the fourth year.

For the first time, the quiz, which is jointly organised by Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) Chinese Media Group and Nanyang Girls' High School, will have its finals held at a public venue - Our Tampines Hub on 21 April 2017.

Registration for the quiz is now open till 9 March 2017.

The event aims to attract students who have a good grasp of Chinese language and culture to challenge themselves and pit their knowledge against one another for the championship trophy. It has both Primary School and Secondary School categories.

Primary School Category
There are two rounds in the Primary School Category, namely the preliminary and finals. The top four schools with the highest scores from the preliminary round will enter the finals. Each team will consist of four students, including one reserve participant. Participants must be Primary 5 and 6 students in a local school. There is no limit to the number of teams from each school. Each team can include only one non-Singaporean student.

Prizes
Champion : S$2,000 cash/book vouchers with trophies and certificates.
1 Runner Up : S$1,000 cash/book vouchers with trophies and certificates.
2 Runner Up : S$500 cash/book vouchers with trophies and certificates.
Top 20 scorers : S$30 cash plus certificate each

Winners who are Primary 6 students will have their administrative fees waived for the Direct School Admission programme to Nanyang Girls' High School or Hwa Chong Institution.

Secondary School Category
The Secondary School Category will consist of three rounds - the preliminary, semi-finals and finals. Participants must be Secondary 1 to 5 students in a local school. There is no limit to the number of teams from each school. Each team can include only one non-Singaporean student.

Eight schools with the highest scores from the preliminary round will enter the semi-finals. Each team will consist of four students, including one reserve participant.

Prizes
Champion : S$3,000 cash/book vouchers with trophies and certificates.
1 Runner Up : S$2,000 cash/book vouchers with trophies and certificates.
2 Runner Up : S$1,000 cash/book vouchers with trophies and certificates.
Top 30 scorers : S$50 cash plus certificate each

All participants will enjoy 2 weeks of free digital access to SPH's Chinese publications including Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News.

NCC is co-presented by the National Translation Committee (NTC), Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL) and Our Tampines Hub is the venue partner.

Registration details:
Primary School Category: http://cn.nygh.edu.sg/events/cn_national_chinese_challenge_primary_2017
Secondary School Category: http://cn.nygh.edu.sg/events/cn_national_chinese_challenge_secondary_2017

Registration Deadline: Thursday, 9 March 2017

Details of Event
Preliminaries : Saturday, 1 April 2017@ Nanyang Girls High
Semi-Finals & Finals: Friday, 21 April 2017@ Our Tampines Hub

Issued by Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
Co. Regn. No. 198402868E

For media queries, please contact: Susan Tan
Manager
Culture, Education and New Growth
Chinese Media Group
Singapore Press Holdings
DID: 6319 1902
Email: tanccs@sph.com.sg Francis Mah
Senior Manager
Corporate Communications & CSR
Singapore Press Holdings
DID: 6319 1028
Email: mahys@sph.com.sg
About Singapore Press Holdings Ltd

Incorporated in 1984, main board-listed Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH) is Asia's leading media organisation, engaging minds and enriching lives across multiple languages and platforms.

Media The English/Malay/Tamil Media group comprises the print and digital operations of The Straits Times, The Business Times, The New Paper, Berita Harian and their respective student publications. It also includes subsidiaries Tamil Murasu Ltd, which publishes Tamil Murasu and tabla!; book publishing arm Straits Times Press; SPH Data Services, which licenses the use of the Straits Times Index in partnership with the Singapore Exchange and FTSE-Russell Ltd; financial data company ShareInvestor; the two English stations of SPH Radio - Kiss92 and ONE FM 91.3 and SPH Golf (including SPH Pacom Ltd).

The Chinese Media group publishes three Chinese newspapers in print and digital format - Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News; four student weeklies - zbCOMMA, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Up Junior and Thumbs Up Little Junior, and ZBBZ Newsgazine. It also operates SPH Radio's Chinese radio station, UFM100.3, and Focus Publishing, which produces a range of books and magazines including U-Weekly.

SPH's other new media initiatives include AsiaOne, Stomp, zaobao.sg, zaobao.comand SPH Razor.

On an average day, 2.5 million* individuals or 59 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of SPH's news publications in print copies or one of our digital platforms.
(* Nielsen Media Index 2016, Monday-Sunday, read any SPH newspapers in print or digital format)

SPH Magazines, SPH's wholly-owned subsidiary, publishes and produces more than 100 magazine titles and has various online sites, like hardwarezone.com, herworldplus.comand luxuryinsider.comin Singapore and the region, covering a broad range of interests from lifestyle to information technology. It has also invested in digital newsstand Magzter.

SPH also provides out-of-home (OOH) advertising options where it manages large format digital screens and static billboards at key locations in the Central Business District, Orchard Road, City Fringe as well as major heartland hubs.

SPH Buzz is a modern retail convenience chain with a network of stores around the island.

SPH has a 20 per cent stake in MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates free-to-air channels 5, 8 and U, and a 40 per cent stake in MediaCorp Press Limited, which publishes the free newspaper, Today.

PropertiesSPH REIT is a Singapore-based REIT established to invest in a portfolio of income-producing real estate primarily for retail purposes. SPH REIT comprises Paragon, a premier upscale retail mall and medical suite/office property in Orchard Road and The Clementi Mall, a mid-market suburban mall in the centre of Clementi town.

The Seletar Mall, located in Sengkang, is SPH's latest retail development. This property is a potential asset to be injected into SPH REIT. SPH's wholly-owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, also developed a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road.

Other Businesses

Online ClassifiedsSPH's online classifieds include the leading online marketplace for jobs (STJobs, FastJobs), property (STProperty), cars (STCars) and general classifieds (STClassifieds,Trezo), sgCarMart and StreetSine.

SPH's regional joint venture online classifieds business has a number of leading online classifieds sites in the region.

Events and ExhibitionsSphere Exhibits, Sphere Conferences, Exhibits Inc and Bizlink Exhibition Services organise innovative consumer and trade events and exhibitions as well as large scale conferences in Singapore and the region.

EducationSPH has a 22 per cent stake in preschool and enrichment provider MindChamps.

For more information, please visit www.sph.com.sg