The Department of Asian Studies and the Asian Library at the University of British Columbia are pleased to announce the 2019 essay competition in Punjabi for Punjabi language students, in association with the Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program at UBC. Students who were enrolled in a Punjabi language class or classes at a university, college, or at the pre-collegiate level in B.C. during the last three years (2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19) can participate in this competition.

The essay topics for the competition are:

Beginner’s level: What is the importance of recycling?  

Advanced level: Discuss the pros and cons of social media?

Students can enter in this competition in either one of the following TWO categories, depending upon their level in Punjabi (Proof of level of most recently taken class is required):

Beginners: For those students who have completed or who are enrolled in the first-year level of Punjabi at a university or college or grade 8 to 11 in a high school in B.C. Students at this level should write a 400 – 500 words essay on the above topic.

Advanced: For those students who have completed or who are enrolled in a second year or higher-level Punjabi course at a university, college, or in grade 12 in a high school in B.C. Students at this level should write a 800 – 1000 words essay on the above topic.

One winner will be selected from each category and will be given an award of $200.00; one runner-up will be selected in each category, who receive an award of $50.00. These awards will be presented at a function in Liu Institute, at UBC, Vancouver on the evening of March 14th.

Those students who are currently enrolled in Punjabi classes can submit their essays to their teachers (who are then responsible for submitting them by the deadline); other students can forward their essays to the address given below. All submissions must be received on or before March 1st. No exceptions will be made.

For further information, please e-mail Sarbjit Randhawa, South Asian & Himalayan Studies Librarian, at sarbjit.randhawa@ubc.ca.

To submit your essay, please send to:
Punjabi Competition
Asian Studies Department
Asian Centre, UBC
1871 West Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z2