11yo Sarawakian twins contribute 5 medals for Malaysia at US championships

File photo of Ryan Zachary Shareef (left) and Aleysha Shareef.

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, July 12: Eleven-year-old Sarawakian twins Aleysha Shareef and Ryan Zachary Shareef contributed five medals for the Malaysian contingent at the 27th World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Long Beach, California, recently.

Aleysha won gold in the Broadway Vocal category for ages 11 and 12 and was crowned the Division Winner for the same category, which led to her receiving a scholarship from the New York Film Academy.

At the same time, the twins each earned a bronze medal for their duet performance in the Pop Vocal category under the Junior Division.

After that, they each won a gold medal for another duet in the grand finals.

According to TVS, the twins arrived home in Kuching yesterday (July 11).

“It was a very good competition. If I were to join the next WCOPA, I wish to bring home more medals,” Ryan reportedly told TVS at Kuching International Airport (KIA).

Sharing their experiences while in the United States, the twins admitted that they missed Sarawak’s local dishes when they were there.

“In the United States, I was longing for ‘teh tarik’ because I love it,” said Aleysha.

Ryan also mentioned that local dishes such as laksa and nasi lemak were difficult to find abroad.

In the meantime, they expressed their gratitude to the supporters and promised to perform better in the future to represent the country and Sarawak.

“Thank you for supporting us and helping us throughout this journey; we will try to bring home more medals in other competitions,” they said. — DayakDaily