Brac organises talent contest among employees

Brac, a development organisation, will reach its 50th birthday in March this year. To celebrate the occasion, the organisation has arranged the contest "I am Brac – Apon Tara" to discover and inspire cultural talents hidden among Brac employees across the country.

Open to over 67 thousand members of Brac's staff, the competition had its final round today (15 February) at the Brac Centre auditorium in Mohakhali, Dhaka, said a press release.

A star-studded panel with famed singers Bappa Mazumder and Miftah Zaman and celebrated actor Azmeri Haque Badhon judged the winners of the final round at the gala finale, all of whom also opened the competition on 21 November last year. 

The winners of the contest, held in three categories – music, poetry recital and acting – were awarded prizes. In music, the first prize went to Akhi Palit (Selp programme), second prize to Md Razibul Hasan (Finance and Accounts) and third prize to Opu Chandra Gope (Aarong).

In the poetry recital and acting categories only one prize has been given for each. Munmun Khan (GJ&D programme) was the winner in the poetry recital and Mohammad Ashibuzzaman won in the acting category. All winners were awarded with crests. 

Tamara Hasan Abed, managing director of Brac, said, "Brac was born around the same time Bangladesh was born as a sovereign nation. As part of the celebration of our golden jubilee we initiated this contest to find the hidden talents of our organisation. We are truly grateful for the spontaneous support we have received from the contestants and judges, from each and everybody while organising this event." 

Singer Bappa Mazumder said, "Brac and I are of the same age. I am honoured to have this opportunity to be present in this golden jubilee celebration. I request Brac to take initiative for the publicity of these talents we have discovered through this contest across the country."

Actor Azmeri Haque Badhon said, "I have been deeply touched by all these great arrangements and your performances today. I believe all organisations should take such initiatives for their staff."

Designed in three episodes – primary, divisional and final – the primary round was held through online submission. Participants submitted a total of 1,383 video clips of their performances which were judged by a 32-member panel to select 160 participants for the divisional level.

The divisional episode was held in-person in six districts – Dhaka, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Jessore, Moulvibazar and Chittagong. A 3-member expert panel for each category judged the performances to select 20 participants to move to the final round.