Mr Chan Kum Wing, making a salient point in his opening speech.
Valencia Lau (leftmost) from Kuen Cheng High School receiving her certificate award and prize from Assoc Prof Dr Ng Swee Chin (centre), Vice President of TAR University College, for being the first prize winner of the 'Let Your Imagination Soar' essay writing competition, while Ms Looi Li Chin, Head of CPUS looks on.
The Champion team from SMK (L) Methodist receiving their prize from Mr Chan Kum Wing (4th from left) for winning the CPUS M@S Challenge, while Ms Looi Li Chin (3rd from left) looks on.
School students watching the demonstration of separating chlorophyll from green leaves at the Biology lab in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Computing.
The Auditorium of Bangunan Tun Tan Siew Sin in Kuala Lumpur Main Campus being filled with teachers and students from 17 participating schools as well as CPUS lecturers and Senior University College officials.
The Centre for Pre-University Studies ('CPUS') has for the very first time organised a Maths & Science Quiz, aptly named "CPUS M@S Challenge 2015" for secondary school students. The challenge took place on 16 November 2015 at the Auditorium of Bangunan Tun Tan Siew Sin.
The main objective of the challenge is to stimulate interest in STEM, acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in view of the declining interest in mathematics and science among secondary school students. Science and Mathematics play an important role in today's globalised world.
A total of 29 teams of Form 4 students from 17 schools participated in this challenge. Some of the participating schools from Kuala Lumpur were SMK Taman Melawati, SMK Bandar Sri Damansara 1, SMK Tmn Tun Dr Ismail as well as three schools that came all the way from Seremban. The participating students were divided into teams of 4 and each team attempted the challenge online. The teams were given one hour to complete 40 objective questions. The questions given to them were from the syllabus of Form 4 Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
During the opening speech, Mr Chan Kum Wing, Vice President of TAR University College, made a salient point about the overall purpose of the competition. "The University College feels very strongly that the CPUS M@S Challenge is very timely and in line with the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, which mentions that 'Malaysia places great importance on education as a means of becoming a developed nation to meet the challenges and demands of a STEM driven economy, by 2020," said Mr Chan Kum Wing.
The winners of the competition took home wonderful prizes. The champion of the M@S Challenge 2015 was SMK (L) Methodist. The second prize went to SMK Bukit Mewah, Seremban and SMK King George, also from Seremban, clinched the third prize. The students not only won prizes for themselves, but they also won a laptop for their schools.
Apart from the M@S Challenge, there was also the prize-giving ceremony for the 'Let Your Imagination Soar' essay writing competition. The essay writing competition was held much earlier and the judges had selected 13 final essays. The 13 essays were then displayed on the CPUS' Facebook page– Achievers Daily – and everyone was asked to vote for their favourite essay.
The voting was very close and in the end, Valencia Lau from Kuen Cheng High School won the first prize, a Lenovo Tab S8 tablet worth about RM800, with a whopping 459 votes. Second prize went to Lim Wen Huey from SMK Seri Mutiara and Wen Huey won a Lenovo Tab 2 A8 tablet worth about RM700. Third place went to Jack Loh, also from Kuen Cheng High School, and he won for himself a Lenovo Tab A7 tablet worth about RM550. The remaining 10 finalists were also invited to receive consolation prizes.
Overall, both the M@S Challenge and the 'Let Your Imagination Soar' essay writing competition were a great success. The students not only got an opportunity to showcase their immense talent, but also had an opportunity to experience the magnificent TAR University College campus and its facilities. CPUS hopes that next year there will be an even bigger number of participants from schools all over the country and that the M@S Challenge becomes one of the most awaited competition in the coming years.
