It has been a long time since I last entered a khat competition. This time, the competition, which was opened only to Kelantanese, was held in conjunction with MAIK expo at Kubang Kerian castle. I was determined to get something from it because I really thought that I had a genuine chance. I knew about the competition from the announcement made before the khutbah in Tanah Merah mosque a week before.
Eagerly, I arrived at the competition venue early. To my dismay, the competition started an hour later than the actual time. Nevertheless, I put my anxiety behind and prepared for the competition. I was aghast to know that I was required to write an excerpt from an old Malay manuscript written in Jawi. It was not pretty, and some of the words were unreadable. Luckily, the organiser explained that competitors only need to copy the excerpt, without having to write in any type of known khat. Thus, I meticulously wrote my khat within the 3 hours given.
While waiting for the results, I went around the exhibit booths. I also stepped inside the castle to enjoy the historical Islamic artifacts. Fifteen minutes before 3 p.m., the supposedly announcement time, I was already sitting at the venue, only to find that the announcement was to be made an hour later. How flabbergasted I was when the winners were let known by the chairman. All the pain of waiting was duly forgotten, and I returned home euphorically.
Below are some pictures for you to share my joy.
When I searched for the official website of the 'Grand Event' of MAIK, I could only come across this link, which was a Facebook page. Is it too hard a task to provide a proper website?
