Participants had the opportunity to take a
breather from all the action, however, with
a delicious bento box lunch sponsored by
Makan Mate, and another two talks from
our guest speakers: Ms Khong Swee Lin –
a trainee docent at the National Gallery
Singapore – who spoke about the Buginese,
and actress Ms Debra Teng, a marine
ambassador for Shark Guardian.
The finals were upon us with the three
leading teams from Hwa Chong Institution
taking to their buzzers, answering 10
picture-related questions. Team E emerged
victorious as the Asian Geographic Hot
Soup School Challenge 2017 Champions,
walking away with the grand prize: a four-
day, three-night educational and cultural
trip to Bangkok, Thailand, sponsored by the
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The trip
will take the students to the floating market,
Dinosaur Planet, a family-owned eco-village,
and to Ayutthaya, the second capital of the
Siamese Kingdom. They will also be able to
participate in a cooking class, and attend a
Muay Thai training session.The winning team – Alvern Mak Wei Jie,
Cleon Yong Tzen Wen, Ernest Ng Wei Jun and
Ho Choong Kai, spurred on by their teacher
Ms Li Young Chua-Ngui – were all smiles and
fist pumps as they claimed their enormous
gold trophy and medals. In the spirit of
the competition, the first and second
runner-up teams gave the champions their
hearty congratulations and applause.We were honoured to have the Vice-
President of the Singapore Nature Society,
Mr Leong Kwok Peng, grace the event.