She went up against dozens of other junior high students from Greater Bangkok in answering questions on a wide range of issues and came out on top.

Nipaporn thanked her mother, a factory worker who sews purses for a living, for buying books in spite of the limited budget the family has to live on. Her father is critically ill, so her mother is the only breadwinner of the family.

In an interview with The Nation yesterday, the Mathayom 2 student from Pracharatbamrung School never described herself as "poor". Her cheerful tone and enthusiasm suggested that "poor" was merely a state of mind.

Despite growing up with all kinds of difficulties, Nipaporn never let poverty get in her way or interfere with her education. Her dream of being a teacher one day led her to lending a helping hand with fellow students living next door. "Their grandmother sometimes pays me. but I don't tutor them for money," Nipaporn said. "Besides, it is an opportunity for me to get my hands on more books," she said.

Nipaporn said she reads everything that comes her way. She makes it a habit to read each book three times. The idea is to understand the subject in depth, said Nipaporn, quoting her teacher.

The first time is a quick read. The second highlights the important aspects of the subject and the third is to recap what has been underlined.

As the school's first representative, Nipaporn was awarded Bt1,000 in coupons to purchase books at a book fair held at the same time as the final contest. She returned home with four comic books and entrance-exam book to help her prepare for admission to secondary education.

As the victor yesterday, Nipaorn was awarded with a plaque, a free field trip to Hong Kong and Bt10,000 in prize money. She plans to give part of it to her mother and save the rest for more books and school.

Since the semester ended, she has been working part time at her mother's factory. When asked what she was saving up for, Nipaporn said a mobile phone.

The questions yesterday were not concentrated in any particular field. Organisers of the event wanted to detect a young reader whose reading habits cast the widest possible net. The questions included the day dedicated to international physic day and the name of the Thai Buddhist monk who established Suan Mok, a well-known monastery in Surat Thani.

Nisit Rangkhan, a Prathom 4 student from Wat Chong Nonsri School, won the primary level. Nisit could not be reached for comment but the young lad collected the same rewards, including the Hong Kong trip. The schools that Nipaporn and Nisit belong to were also awarded with a plaque and Bt50,000 worth of books for their libraries.

The "TK Park Top Readers" project - launched at the end of last year - was one of many projects to encourage reading among youths, and promote Bangkok as the World Book Capital.

About 300 city schools joined the project that required students to read books of their choice or picked from the TK list of 100 recommended books for either primary level or junior high level. They had to compile a list of the books they have read and write each book's main message. Each school then held an internal contest to find its two top readers, in primary level and junior high level, to compete in the final round yesterday at BEC Tero Hall in Lumpini Night Bazaar.

Premyuda Boonroj

The Nation