Maktab Sabah champ in maths, science contest
KOTA KINABALU: Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC), Sabah branch campus held its inaugural National Mathematics and Science Merdeka Challenge 2017 that saw Maktab Sabah emerging as the champion.
The quiz on May 20 attracted 12 secondary schools from the east coast of Sabah.
Building on the success of the first two editions held at the Kuala Lumpur main campus, the quiz has expanded its reach to all the branches to allow more students from across the country to participate and prove their mettle.
In a tense two-round competition, Muhammad Chairie Bin Faris from Maktab Sabah beat Javier Vilson and Glenn Gerald from Sekolah Menengah St Michael to emerge champion in the individual category.
The slim margin victory of Muhammad Chairie over all the participants in this category showed that there were ample young Sabahan geniuses.
In the team category, teams from Sekolah Menengah All Saints trounced the 19 teams in the competition to claim victory. Their first team of Issac Tang Jing Wen, Mikra M Kiandee, Nurul Firzanah Binti Mohd Darwis and Nurul Iman Binti Nur Elahi defeated 19 teams from various schools in Kota Kinabalu and Penampang to take the champion trophy home and won the cash prize of RM2,400.
Sekolah Menengah St Michael was the first runner-up and received a cash prize of RM1,600 after its students, Faizal Fath Bin Muhammad Iskandar, Jeremiah Millenn Law Kin Seng, Liew Su San and Valerian Paul Lasiuan slightly edged out Lim Wan Xing, Thaddeus Lee Kie En, Ng Yu Jin and Valerie Voon Kher Ying from Sekolah Menengah All Saints who won the cash prize of RM1,200.
The quiz is part of TARUC’s endeavour to stimulate interest in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields among secondary school students, and to support the STEM initiative as promulgated in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. This is in line with Malaysia’s aspiration to become a developed nation with a STEMdriven economy.