The 15-year-old – whose impressive math skills earned him the nickname “Human Calculator” – makes history as the first Malaysian to earn a top two placement at AGT.

The announcement was made live around 10.30pm on April 11 from Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, where the show’s grand finale was held.

The SMK Bandar Tun Hussein Onn (2) student was among nine finalists vying for the top prize at the reality talent series.

“I didn’t expect to reach this far. People don’t expect to be entertained by numbers. So I’m happy to see people entertained by what I do,” Yaashwin said during the episode.

Meanwhile, another Malaysian contender, all-female vocal group Nama (comprising Nur Fazrina Ani, 28; Noor Syamimi Makhetar, 24; Nor­fazira Malik, 24; and Nur Farahida Dolhadi, 24) placed among the bottom three. 

First place went to Eric Chien, a magician from Taiwan, while Power Duo, a dance duo, from The Philippines nabbed third place.

With Yaashwin placing second and Nama among the nine finalists, this season marks Malaysia’s strongest performance at AGT yet.

Previously, the furthest Malaysia has gone in the competition was during Season Two. Sobhi Shaker – a Syrian magician who came to Malaysia to escape the Syrian civil war – became the first contestant competing under the Malaysian banner to make it to the finals.

https://malaysiadailynews.com/malaysian-yaashwin-sarawanan-wins-2nd-place-on-asias-got-talent/

Their toddler did not respond to her surroundings until she was very close to the objects.

When she turned five, Sophie was diagnosed with cone rod dystrophy, a progressive loss of one's vision.

While the extent of the visual impairment differs, there are many patients who become legally blind as the disease progresses.

Now, Miss Soon, 19, relies largely on her peripheral vision to make out her surroundings.

"My vision has been deteriorating and will continue to deteriorate," she said.

For now, she is still able to get by her daily activities like a person with normal vision.

And despite the odds, the Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) student is both a violinist and swimmer.

These achievements and her positive attitude have won Miss Soon the Platinum Award for Special Achievement at NYP's Student Talent & Achievement Recognition (Star) Awards.

https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/poly-student-wins-award-special-achievement-despite-visual-impairment

Mr. Ismail Shariff and Mrs. Syeda Saba, the parents of Ifra Shariff have been doing this work pretty well. She is the student of United International School in Class LKG. The family belongs from Bangalore. Ifra started modelling at the age of 4. Apart from modelling she loves dancing, drawing and painting. 

      She also participated in IKFW season 7, she was the first runner up at Karnataka’s kids fashion show, she has also participated in YS international fashion show and won the title of Little princess of Karnataka. Ifra featured in little’s glow handwash add in Snapdeal and Blitz today Kiwi Food production popPuff.

The parents of the five year old play a big role in her successes as they provided her with the opportunity to polish her talents as talents need openings to develop. If no opportunity arises for a skill to flourish, it may remain suppressed throughout a child’s formative years, after which it may be too late to develop it to its full potential.

Talking about how to help your kid to recognise and polish their skills, her parents say that praise and encouragement will go a long way to developing your child’s recognized talents. Let her know you’re proud of her abilities and show an interest in the subject of her passion whether or not you share it. Look out for opportunities for her to demonstrate her skills to friends and relatives; their support will reinforce yours. Her school teachers may be able to provide openings for her talents, too. But for serious development, you may need to invest in private tuition and other support such as courses, competitions and equipment.

https://pkglifestylenews.com/daily-news/its-the-responsibility-of-parents-to-spot-and-nurture-talent-in-a-child-say-ifras-parents/

The entries were then evaluated by a team of NASA experts, and the winners will be selected based on its originality, execution and effective use of code.

Congratulations Alvin Voon, and kudos to his parents for supporting him. 

Now, we also want to go and learn some coding so we can get noticed by NASA. 

https://rojakdaily.com/news/article/8290/out-of-this-world-11-year-old-malaysian-boy-wins-nasa-challenge

Matrix Private School student Darren Voo, Form 5, scored gold in the annual Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition.

The world’s oldest international writing competition for schools has been organised by The Royal Commonwealth Society since 1883. This year’s competition attracted nearly 13,000 entries on the theme ‘Climate Action and the Commonwealth’. 

When asked about how he prepared for the competition, Darren said, “When I first started the process of writing the essay, I was reluctant to start as I had never written a creative written piece. It was through Ms Josephine’s encouragement and guidance that I was able to discover my niche in writing.

“I started off with a basic draft of each scene in the essay: the setting; new characters introduced; and the main events that occur in each scene. After that, I slowly fleshed out the story. Then I adjusted it accordingly to make sure it was within the word limit.

“All in all, this competition was a very good experience for me to discover my love for creative writing, and I’m extremely thankful to Ms Josephine for giving me this opportunity and helping me come out of my comfort zone and start writing creatively”.

Congratulations to everyone who took part, including Thierry Maritim Andrew, Form 1, who won silver, Cho Yoon Sang  (Form 5) and Nur Syazwannie Humairah (Form 5) who both won bronze.

Matrix Global Schools promotes literacy, expression and creativity through a range of activities in story writing, essay writing, debating, presentations and drama. By linking these to the various academic and international topics we cover, we allow our students to have better development of the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding for 21st Century learning and a greater awareness of their important role as global citizens.   

https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/people/2021/01/15/malaysian-teen-wins-silver-award-in-queens-commonwealth-essay-writing-competition