News Room

RHB Spells Its Way To Singapore!

Singapore, 14 January 2012 – Spelling rocks! Over six weeks from March 10, some 1,500 students from about 170 primary schools in Singapore will be battling it out to make it to the grand finals of the inaugural RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship 2012, in what is set to start a spelling bee craze in Singapore.

VIPs preparing to launch the official logo for the RHB -The Straits Times National Spelling Competition with the RHB Bank and Little Red Dot mascots From left: Mr Han Fook Kwang (Editor, The Straits Times)Tan Sri Azlan Zainol (Chairman, RHB Bank Berhad) Mr Wong Siew Hoong (Deputy Director General of Education, Curriculum, Ministry of Education, Singapore)

The first spelling competition, the Spell-it-Right Challenge, started in Malaysia in 2008 which is a collaboration between the New Straits Times in Malaysia and RHB Banking Group. It has grown from strength to strength and to date we have had over 10,000 students participating in the competition. Entering its fifth year in Malaysia and following four very successful seasons, it has indeed become a household name and has taken Malaysia by storm. Hence, it is only apt that the Group realizes its aspiration to take the Challenge to the regional level and bring it across the causeway where RHB Bank’s biggest international operation is present with 7 branches throughout the island.

This year and for the first time in Singapore, RHB Banking Group is collaborating with  Singapore’s Straits Times to launch the National Spelling Championship, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Singapore and supported by the National Library Board and the Speak Good English Movement.

Tan Sri Azlan Zainol, Chairman, RHB Bank Berhad said, “It has always been RHB’s aspiration to bring the Spelling Competition to countries where our business operations are present. At RHB, we believe that youth should be given the opportunity to achieve their full potential, so that they can contribute to the nation’s development. This requires taking a broad view on ways to optimize their thinking skills and getting them on the right track, through educational and fun activities that can instill a love for knowledge, wisdom and intellectual leadership."

Open to all Primary 4, 5 and 6 pupils in Singapore, the championship will see the champion speller take home $5,000 cash and win for his or her school the Challenge Trophy. The first and second runners-up will win $3,000 and $1,000 cash
prize respectively.

The preliminary round of the RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship Singapore 2012 will start on March 10. Contestants will sit for a 60-minute written test, at which they will have to spell 50 words read out to them. Eighty who clear this first hurdle will get to take part in the zonal round. The zonal round will take place on April 14. The 20 top spellers who emerge from the zonal championships will go into the Grand Finals, to be held on April 28.

Issued by the Corporate Communications Division, RHB Capital Berhad. For more information, please call Shima Reza at 03-9280 2533.

About the RHB Banking Group
The RHB Banking Group is the fourth largest fully integrated financial services group in Malaysia. The Group's core businesses are streamlined into seven Strategic Business Groups ("SBGs"): Retail Banking, Business Banking, Group Transaction Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, Islamic Banking, Global Financial Banking and Group Treasury. These businesses are offered through its main subsidiaries - RHB Bank Berhad, RHB Investment Bank Berhad, RHB Insurance Berhad and RHB Islamic Bank Berhad, while its asset management and unit trust businesses are held under RHB Investment Management Berhad. RHB's Global Financial Banking Division includes commercial banking operations in Singapore, Thailand and Brunei. The Group also has a non-ringgit based offshore funding operations in Labuan as well as a representative office in Vietnam. It is RHB Banking Group's aspiration to deliver superior customer experience and shareholder value; and be recognised as one of the top financial services group in the ASEAN Region.

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