‘CAPTURE, CAPTION, COMPETE’ – BruROSA’s New Photography and Writing Competition for 2020/21

Photo submission by Muhammad Naizul Hanafi Bin Haji Ismail, the winner from Category B of the competition

LONDON, 26/4/2021 – For the first time ever, Brunei Religious Officers Student Association (BruROSA) hosted the ‘Capture, Caption, Compete’ event, which seamlessly combined both annually-held BruROSA’s photography competition and BruROSA’s writing competition from previous years into one.

‘Capture, Caption, Compete’ aimed to provide a safe platform for students to express their creativity and showcase their talent in the art of photography and writing. With the theme ‘Islam Around The World’, the competition also aimed to encourage students to be more aware and appreciative of how Integrated Islam is in different cultures around the world, especially in light of this current pandemic.
‘Capture, Caption, Compete’ is divided into two categories: Category A and Category B. Category A is only open to Bruneian students who are studying in the United Kingdom (UK) and Eire, meanwhile Category B is open to overseas Bruneian students who are studying in other countries beside the UK and Eire. In total, there are four participants from across the UK competing in Category A, and six participants competing in Category B hailing from Egypt, Malaysia and Australia. Judging of submissions from participants consisted of three main components: 30% from the caption, 30% from the photo and 40% from the number of ‘likes’ received on Instagram. The panel of judges for the caption is none other than the BruROSA’s Writing Team and an invited guest from Unit Penuntut-Penuntut (UPP), the Religious Officer, Uztaz Fahmi. For the photo, the panel of judges consisted of the BruROSA Media Team and another invited guest from UPP, the Director of Studies himself, Cikgu Danny Aimi. After the submissions are scored by the panel of judges, all the submissions are then posted on the official BruROSA’s Instagram account. This gave the public the ability to judge the participant’s submission by adding ‘likes’ on the post for a week, finalizing the score each participant received.

For Category A, Izzat Itqan Haji Hayrul from University of Nottingham emerged victorious with his submission, ‘Is This Halal?’, scoring 84.9%. The runner-up position is taken by Muhammad Za’eem Bin Haji Abdul Majid from University of Southampton, scoring 66.3% with his submission, ‘Aya Sofya’. Lastly, the third place is won by Nurin Ridhwah Binti Abdul Rahman from University of Manchester, with a score of 60.3% from her submission, ‘The Good in The Bad and Ugly’. On the other hand, for Category B, Muhammad Naizul Hanafi Bin Haji Ismail from Universiti Malaysia Sabah became the winner with a total score of 81.3% from his submission, ‘Islam: A Total Lifestyle’. Coming in at second place, scoring 74.4% with her submission, ‘Fridays with a View’, is none other than Ida Faizah Haji Ibrahim from Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Finally in third place, Fauziah Fakhrunnisa Binti Haji Jopry/H.M Mujiburrahman from Al-Azhar University in Cairo as well, took the spot with her submission, ‘Playtime’, scoring a total of 48.0%. In both categories, the first-place winner, the second-place winner and the third-place winner won a total cash prize of £150, £100 and £75 respectively. To view submissions from all the participants in the competition, visit the official BruROSA’s Instagram account (@brurosa.uk).
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BruROSA is an association of Bruneian religious officers from across the UK and Eire that provide assistance to the spiritual and religious welfare of all Bruneian students studying in the UK and Eire. BruROSA was officially established on the 1st of February 2015. Currently, the association has 16 Executive Committees and 29 Religious Officers from all Bruneian student societies in the UK and Eire. Other than the Photography and Writing Competition, BruROSA also organises various annual events such as Unsung Heroes, Regional Khatam Al-Quran, Umrah Easter Trip and Kem Ibadah.

Photo submission by Izzat Itqan Haji Hayrul, the winner from Category A of the competition