KUALA KANGSAR, MALAYSIA - Some 130,000 primary school pupils set a new national record yesterday for the highest number of participants in a single spelling event.

"Perak Spelling Day" was aimed at improving the English vocabulary of schoolchildren in the state. Every pupil from Year Four to Year Six in Perak's 847 schools was tested for their ability to spell words ranging from "island" and "peacock" to "quarantine" and "extinguish".

The third Knowledge Discovery-Champs spelling competition beat its own record in the Malaysia Book of Records for involving 53,000 students from Pahang's 527 schools in a similar competition last year.

Perak will host the national level competition on Oct 13 and 14, and co-organisers, the Perak Education Department and the Knowledge Discovery children's magazine, held the event to create a new record while holding written tests to choose the best spellers in the state.

"If we want to seek knowledge, we need English to do so," said Education Ministry (schools division) deputy director Abdullah Mohd Yunus.
He also said that writing was a skill, and many stumbled in their spelling.

"Spelling is an important component in writing exercises as it involves vocabulary, the meaning of words and their pronunciation," he said, reading a speech on behalf of Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi.

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Chemical Company of Malaysia (CCM) Bhd sponsored the competition.