UAE, November 28, 2016 – The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) recognized the winners of its Smart Book Club’s ‘Reading Knights Competition’ during a special ceremony held at its campus in Dubai Academic City attended by top management, deans and directors. 

The ‘Reading Knights Competition’ invited interested participants to submit Arabic or English critiques of not more than 1,000 words in Arabic & English on ‘My Vision’ and ‘Flashes of Thought’ authored by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai featured books uploaded on the Smart Book Club’s online portal. The competition sought to heighten awareness on the importance of reading, develop the habit of self-learning and continuous learning, enhance analytical and critical thinking, and encourage knowledge sharing among readers of different cultural and cognitive backgrounds.

The winners under the Arabic Category included Alia Khaled Mutref (UAE) with an average score of 84.3, Eid Awad Aljohani (Saudi Arabia) with 83 and Mohammed Barbari Abdullah (Egypt) with 81.3, while winners under the English Category were Shabbir Bandukwala (India) with 83, Abdulbasit Qureshi (US) with 79.5 and Rosy George (India) with 78.5. All winners received cash prizes and a complimentary one-year access to the HBMSU Smart Library.

Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, HBMSU Chancellor, said: “The Smart Book Club launched the ‘Reading Knights Competition’ in honor of the proclamation of 2016 as the ‘Year of Reading’ by H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. We were pleasantly surprised by the positive response of our learners who eagerly submitted their entries and made us proud of the high quality of their work. We congratulate the winners and encourage them to continue being young ambassadors of reading. The University will continue to introduce and support similar initiatives that emphasize the importance of reading to national development and cultural identity.”

Athbah Al Kamdah, Vice Chancellor of Learner Development, HBMSU, added: “Today’s generation needs to be educated on the importance of reading and highly encouraged to embrace it as an important habit. Reading stimulates the mind, expands knowledge and boosts analytical skills, thus making it a vital tool in achieving personal, professional and social development. We are proud of the participants of the ‘Reading Knights Competition’ who enthusiastically answered our call to help establish a reading culture and are impressed with their thoughts on the select literature we challenged them to critique.”

A total of 325 participants registered under the ‘Reading Knights Competition’ organized by the Smart Reading Club, which aims to disseminate knowledge and encourage the community to adopt a habit of acquiring general information. The Club upholds the university’s philosophy of lifelong learning and excellence in knowledge transfer.