Television station TV3 has successfully retained its pantun championship crown at the HAWANA-DBP 2026 Pantun Festival, which formed part of the broader National Journalists' Day (HAWANA) 2026 celebration held in Butterworth. The victory represented back-to-back triumphs for the broadcaster, as the four-member team of Mohammad Nor Affiq Norshamsudin, Mohd Safwan Sawi, Azrin Md Isa, and Mohamed Hirsham Azmi secured top honours ahead of defending rival Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency, which finished in the runner-up position. The competition, which took place earlier at Panggung Sari, Kompleks Kraf Kuala Lumpur on May 9, drew a total of 32 participants representing eight different media organisations competing in Malaysia's premier pantun championship for journalists.

The prestige of the event was underscored by the presentation of prizes by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the HAWANA 2026 main gathering held at the PICCA Convention Centre @ Butterworth Arena. The occasion attracted prominent government figures including Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, and Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, highlighting the cultural significance attributed to the traditional Malay art form within Malaysia's media landscape. The championship victory delivered tangible rewards to TV3, which claimed RM3,000 in cash alongside a trophy and participation certificates, while second-place finisher Bernama took home RM2,000 in prize money and similar recognition items.

Beyond the top-two finishers, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) secured the third-place position while Berita Harian claimed fourth place among the eight participating teams. The festival also recognised individual excellence, with Bernama's Muhammad Syukri Khairulannuar named Best Pantun Performer in a demonstration of technical skill and artistic merit that transcended his team's overall ranking. Additionally, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) impressed the judging panel sufficiently to secure the Best Attire Award, recognising the cultural presentation and sartorial presentation that complemented the pantun recitations throughout the competition.

The HAWANA-DBP Pantun Festival represents more than a straightforward competitive entertainment event; it functions as a cultural preservation initiative within Malaysia's professional media community. The pantun, an intricate poetic form rooted in Malay literary tradition, demands not merely linguistic fluency but also rhythmic precision, imaginative metaphor, and performative sensitivity. By establishing this festival specifically for journalists, the organisers emphasise that cultural literacy and traditional artistic expression remain integral to the professional identity of media practitioners, even as the industry navigates digitalisation and contemporary news cycles. This positioning ensures that the traditional verse form remains vibrant within institutional frameworks rather than becoming purely historical.

TV3 team leader Mohammad Nor Affiq reflected on the emotional dimensions of defending the championship title, acknowledging that leading the team initially presented considerable psychological pressure. His willingness to undertake this responsibility was significantly bolstered by mentorship from Ahmad Fedtri Yahya, a TV3 host whose encouragement proved decisive in his decision to accept the leadership challenge. In his statement following the victory, Nor Affiq emphasised the collective nature of the achievement, extending gratitude to his teammates, family members, and supporters who maintained confidence throughout the preparation and competition phases. His remarks underscore how competitive achievement in traditional cultural domains depends not merely on individual talent but on sustained collaborative effort and emotional support networks that extend beyond the immediate competition environment.

The competitive landscape remains tightly contested entering future editions, as Bernama has signalled its determination to challenge TV3's dominance. Muhammad Syukri, the Bernama team leader who personally secured the Best Pantun Performer accolade despite his team's overall runner-up finish, articulated a strategic approach to future competitions that emphasises systematic analysis and targeted improvement. His commitment to conducting comprehensive reviews of weaknesses identified during the 2026 competition demonstrates how serious media organisations approach cultural competitions, approaching them with the same rigorous methodology applied to journalistic challenges. This competitive dynamic suggests that the festival's future editions will likely witness increasingly refined performances as organisations invest resources in developing pantun expertise among their personnel.

HAWANA 2026, organised under the overarching theme of 'Media Integrity Strengthens Credibility', represents an institutional initiative by the Ministry of Communications in partnership with Bernama serving as the implementing agency. The thematic choice reflects contemporary concerns regarding media credibility and public trust in news institutions, positioning traditional cultural practices as complementary to professional standards and ethical journalism. By integrating pantun competition into the HAWANA celebration framework, organisers implicitly argue that cultural grounding and traditional artistic practice reinforce rather than distract from journalistic professionalism and credibility-building endeavours. This approach offers an interesting contrast to Western models of journalism culture, which typically divorce professional training from cultural or artistic practice.

The HAWANA grand finale functions as Malaysia's most significant gathering of media practitioners, serving explicitly to recognise journalist contributions toward nation-building objectives. By conferring prominence upon pantun mastery through competitive recognition and high-level government participation, the event legitimises traditional cultural forms as central to professional media identity rather than peripheral entertainments. The attendance of senior government figures including the Prime Minister sends a powerful institutional message that cultural literacy and traditional artistic expression represent valued dimensions of professional journalism in the Malaysian context. This institutional positioning reflects broader Southeast Asian approaches to cultural preservation that integrate traditional practices within contemporary professional frameworks rather than relegating them to nostalgic or ceremonial contexts.

For Malaysian audiences observing the media industry's internal competitions and cultural practices, the HAWANA-DBP Pantun Festival offers insight into how news organisations cultivate distinctive institutional cultures and professional identities. The festival reveals that Malaysian media institutions consciously invest in developing their personnel's cultural capabilities beyond journalistic skills narrowly defined. Television viewers familiar with TV3's output may find particular interest in learning how the station's commitment to traditional cultural forms manifests within competitive institutional contexts. Similarly, the festival's prominence within HAWANA celebrations indicates that contemporary Malaysian journalism deliberately positions itself as culturally rooted rather than culturally rootless, maintaining connections to vernacular artistic traditions even while operating within modern professional frameworks and digital distribution environments.

Looking forward, the competitive momentum evident in HAWANA-DBP pantun festivals suggests that Malaysian media organisations will likely intensify their investment in pantun training and development programmes. The visible rewards—monetary prizes, trophies, and elite government recognition—provide tangible incentives for organisations to identify and nurture pantun talent among their staff. This dynamic creates a potential virtuous cycle whereby increased institutional support generates higher-quality performances, which in turn attracts greater audience interest and media coverage, further elevating the festival's cultural and professional significance. For regional audiences beyond Malaysia, the festival exemplifies how Southeast Asian nations are negotiating the relationship between globalised contemporary journalism and locally rooted cultural practices, offering alternative models for professional development that reject the false choice between modernity and tradition.