Makkah governor honors youth

JEDDAH: More than 300,000 young Saudi men and women attended various competitions during the month-long Makkah youth forum, making it the largest such event in the Kingdom. Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal attended the forum’s concluding ceremony on Tuesday when 24 talented youths were honored.
“We are meeting here following the arrival of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. His arrival has added color to this beautiful city,” the governor said to the applause of a mammoth audience at King Abdulaziz University’s King Faisal Conference Hall.
“This is your day. This whole region is proud of you. You have participated in the competition to obtain the honor of participating rather than winning, making this youth forum the largest in the Kingdom,” the prince told the youths.
“More than 800 young men and women came to Jeddah from different parts of the region. This shows the youths’ desire to compete with one another for the top positions,” the governor said. “I am proud of you and your achievements,” he added.
“You have proved that the youth of this Kingdom are on their way to the First World. I wish you success always,” Prince Khaled said in his opening remarks.
The ceremony was attended by Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed, Prince Bandar bin Khaled Al-Faisal, Prince Fahd bin Khaled, chairman of Al-Ahli Club, Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja, mayors of cities and top university officials.
Youths who participated in the ceremony thanked Prince Khaled for attending the concluding event and for his interest in youth welfare. They commended the prince’s efforts to develop youths’ capabilities and create a suitable atmosphere for them.
They also pointed out that the forum was instrumental in enhancing their skills. “I also encouraged us to work for the development of the country in various fields,” said one young man.
Eight hundred students including girls participated in the month-long final round of sports, cultural, art and tourism competitions in Jeddah. They included contests in Qur’an recitation and memorization, scientific projects, drawing and painting and photography.
Makkah schools grabbed 10 prizes in the final contests, followed by Al-Laith (four prizes) and Jeddah (three prizes) while Qunfudah, Khulais and Taif had to be satisfied with one prize each.
Bakr Abdul Rahman Bakr of Abuzaid Al-Ansari Secondary School in Makkah was the first prize winner in the Qur’an contest while Abdul Aziz Al-Hekami of Zubair bin Al-Awam Intermediate School in Makkah received first place in memorizing 15 parts of the Qur’an.
Enas Al-Bar of the Fourth Secondary School in Jeddah grabbed first place for memorizing the whole Qur’an while Safa Qutub of Makkah received first prize for memorizing 15 parts of the holy book.
Hamza Al-Kharoubi of Abdul Rahman Faqeeh Model School and Abdullah Nasser Al-Maliki of Talaie School in Taif won first places for poetry. In scientific innovations, Nawaf Al-Dubyani of Makkah, Faisal Aseeri, Khaled Aseeri, and Ashwaq Faisal Al-Ajami of Makkah and Sara Tarek Hashim of Jeddah won the first prizes.
Miteb Ali Al-Qarni and Walid Sabir Bilal of Makkah, and Raghed Al-Misaari and Hanan Al-Hilali of Al-Laith won first prizes in the drawing competition. Makkah and Al-Laith won first places in photography and the winners were Hassan Ahmed Al-Baz, Bandar Khaled Al-Zubaidi, Arwa Adnan Shafi and Saja Al-Ghamdi (Jeddah).
The first place winners for wall painting were Naif Al-Muntashri of Qunfuda and Hassan Al-Hindi of Makkah.
The football team from Al-Laith won first place after it beat the team from Jamoom 2-1 in the finals. The Turba team won first place in coastal football after it beat Jamoom team 4-2 in the finals. In table tennis, Jeddah’s team won first place. In the running race Matar Al-Mutairy from Al-Laith won first place.