By Balwant Sanghera
Surrey based Indo-Canadian Business Association of British Columbia (ICBABC) has been doing an excellent job in encouraging and recognizing our young people who have demonstrated academic excellence, leadership and community involvement. It has been doing this for 18 years. The latest 19th Annual Achievement Awards Ceremony at Arya Banquet Hall in Surrey on Friday, May 11th was another huge success. It was a sold out event with more than 600 persons in attendance.
ICBABC started the scholarship program known as Achievement Awards in 1997. To date it has raised and distributed over $350,000 in scholarship funds. Not only that, ICBABC has also done a commendable job in raising funds for numerous charitable organizations. It has been inthe forefront in recognizing and encouraging outstanding students in our community. A well-educated youth is an essential component for the growth and development of any community. In this context, ICBABC has been in the lead. Every year, it provides scholarships to very deserving students who have been excelling not only academically but also in supports and other areas. This year, ICBABC added two new categories, Sports and Special Needs.Like previous years, this year’s awardees were outstanding. Thus ICBABC ‘s screening committee selected sixteen students-thirteen for their academic achievement, two for the Sports category and one for Special Needs. These sixteen students were from all over Metro Vancouver-Surrey, Vancouver,Delta, New Westminster, Burnaby and Richmond.These awards reflect their dedication and commitment to excel.
ICBABC officials stated that the response by students has been excellent. It received 140 applications for scholarships from very well deserving students and had a difficult time picking out the 16 finalists. Encouraging and supporting our young people toexcel in post-secondary institutions should be very helpful in this regard.The recipients of these awards come from diverse backgrounds form all over Metro Vancouver. They are:Amarpreet Powar (New Westminster),Gita Minhas ((Richmond),Monica Jandu ((Delta),Harjot Uppal (Delta),CoralleTcheune(Surrey),Aman Turna (Surrey),Harleen Rattan (Delta),Jovin Khehra (Burnaby),Karanvir Dhillon (Surrey),Tanveer Brar (Delta),Arshvir Dhari (Vancouver),Nishaaan Dulay (Delta) Kharanshu Desai (Burnaby),Helen Lord (Delta),Ravleen Rattan (Richmond),Saleha Ali (Richmond). Our hearty congratulations and best wishes go to all of them. They are a pride of the community.
To its credit, ICBABC has also been in the forefront in helping with implementation of Punjabi language classes at Simon Fraser University (SFU) .Three years ago, ICBABC collaborated with SFU in offering Punjabi language classes at its Surrey campus. Prominent businessman and ICBABC Board member Arvinder Bubber, along with Board member Kanwarjit Sandhu played a key role in making it happen. Consequently, ICBABC offered tocontribute $30,000 -$10,000 each year for three years-in order to offer Punjabi classes at its Surrey campus.This is the final year for the Punjabi language support at SFU by ICBABC. It is very encouraging to note that SFUhas agreed to continue the Punjabi classes at its Surrey campus.However, we need to ensure that each year enough students enroll in these classes in order for the program to continue.
Balwant Sanghera is a retired School Psychologist and Community Activist. He is president of the Punjabi Language Education Association.
