Working on their memory skills
MORE than 90 schools, colleges, universities, centres and kindergartens from various parts of the country took part in the Mind Competitions this year.
Jointly organised by the Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement (MMLM), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC), the competitions were open to all ages from pre-school children to university students and working professionals to retirees in their quest to hone memory, mind mapping and computational thinking skills.
The number of registered participants for the Memory Competition was 3,854 while 472 signed up for the Mind Mapping Competition and 439 for the Mental Calculation Competition.
Emma Yeo Fei Ern and Sybil Vathani Sivakumar, aged four and five respectively, had an amazing time learning how to make DIY slime at the STEM workshop. They met many new friends during the workshop, saying that they would join the workshop again next year.
A Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) exhibition and workshops were also held in conjunction with the Mind Competitions this year. It was jointly organised by MMLM, UTAR and TAR UC together with the Kuala Lumpur Engineering Science Fair (KLESF) with the objectives of increasing STEM literacy and providing authentic STEM learning experiences to students. Various interesting activities were held. A robotics exhibition provided handson experience to the participants
Participants also had the opportunity to witness 3D printing while SMK Bandar Tun Hussein Onn students tried laser tag.
The competitions consisted of three main categories, namely Memory Competition, Mind Mapping Competition and the Mental Calculation Competition. The main categories also consisted of sub-categories, namely Random Words, Random Numbers, Dates & Events, Random Letters of the Alphabet, note making on given topics, note taking from speech and text, and Mental Calculation (Additions and Multiplications).
The total cash prize for the competitions was RM60,000, with the top three winners receiving RM5,000, RM2,000 and RM1,000 respectively. Besides, the competitions also offered different prizes for various categories, including five consolation prizes worth RM100, Best School Prize, Special Prize for Senior Citizens (aged 60 and above), and Children (aged nine and below) worth RM500 each for all categories.
Students Iyas Izdiyad, G. Shaun Wyrennraj, Prevind Innocent B. Dromeo and Muhammad Osama Luqman Rozimi from the Royal Military College said: “The event held today was very challenging.”
Student Tai Weuy Liang, 13, from Tsun Jin High School, Kuala Lumpur said: “My interest is public speaking and poem recitation and I have previously taken part in some competitions.”
“We are from Sekolah Menengah Agama Persekutuan (SMAP) Kajang and we had a lot of fun today at the Mind Competitions.
“We learnt to memorise faster. It provided us with good mental training. Now we will be able to apply it in our classroom at school,” said Ain Adidah Mohd Kamal, 17.
Beaconhouse Sri Inai International School principal Nicki Coombs said a competition like this is a very important aspect of learning for children.
“The children learnt a lot while having fun and more about different aspects.
“They also had the opportunity to see different science experiments that made them think out of the box,” she said.
The winning result for the Mind Competitions 2019 will be posted on www.
utar.edu.my/mmlm on Aug 2. Winners will be notified via e-mail and invited to attend the award ceremony at the 15th Malaysia Festival of the Mind, which will be held in conjunction with the Kuala Lumpur Engineering Science Fair 2019 from Nov 1 to 3 at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre.