LAHORE, Oct 2: The Pakistan-Japan Friendship Festival, 2003, began here on Thursday with the holding of a Japan children art competition and speech contest.

Around 70 students of over 20 schools of Lahore and Sialkot participated in the event, arranged by the Embassy of Japan in cooperation with the Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association and the Japanese Universities Alumni Association of Pakistan.

The theme of children’s art competition was ‘my image of Japan’ whereas the theme for the speech contest was ‘my dream about future relationship between Japan and Pakistan’.

Students between 12 to 14 years of age participated in the art competition while two students per school took part in the speech contest.

In the speech contest, Musafirah Shafi of the Lahore Grammar School, Shah Jamal, got first prize; Yumna Pervaiz of the Beaconhouse School, Liberty Campus, got second prize while Hina Bhatti of the City School, Gulberg, got third prize.Izzah Ijaz of the Lords International School, got consolation prize. In the arts competition, Kinza Bazigh of the Lahore Grammar School, M.M. Alam Road, got first prize; Waqas Hassan of the National Grammar School, Upper Mall, got second prize while Sharoze Ahmad of the Lahore Grammar School received third prize.

Shahzeb of the National Grammar School, Upper Mall, got consolation prize.

Embassy of Japan Counsellor Mr Hajime Kido said the main purpose of organizing this event was to apprise the children of the friendly relationship between Japan and Pakistan during the past 55 years. It was an attempt to familiarize them about some aspects of Japan, its people and culture.

Punjab Minister for Education Mian Imran Masood appreciated the hard work of children both in speech and art competition. He said the show provided an ideal platform to the school children to display their talent.—APP