The Star - Mighty Minds

Friday April 9, 2010

Buzzer quiz and on-stage presentation added to contest
By ALYCIA LIM


educate@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: After last year’s huge success, the RHB-The Star Mighty Minds Challenge is back, this time with extra “ingredients” to add even more zing!

The bar has been raised at the state challenge because a buzzer quiz and an on-stage presentation have been added to the mix.

Held for the second year running, schools are allowed to send only one team per category this year, as opposed to two teams last year.

This means that teachers need to choose their mightiest minds to clash head-on with their peers from around the nation on the brains battlefield.

At the partnership signing ceremony yesterday, group managing director of RHB Banking Group Datuk Tajuddin Atan said last year’s questions were not easy, and really pushed young minds to think quickly and creatively.

However, he said: “The participants are very bright students whom I think, if challenged, will be leaders of the future.”

Tajuddin added that he hoped to see more students from rural schools participate this year.

“We should focus on encouraging more rural schools to come into the picture rather than having just the elite boarding and urban schools.”

Star Publications (M) Bhd’s group managing director and chief executive officer Datin Linda Ngiam said the competition required much more from the students than just textbook knowledge.

She said, “As seen last year, the questions were really mind-boggling, but students as young as 13 could not only answer the questions, they were also able to apply Science and Maths principles to the projects they were doing and demonstrated that they could think on their feet.”

Ngiam added that The Star collaborated with RHB Banking Group because they were like-minded in their holistic educational objectives.

RHB-The Star Mighty Minds Challenge 2010 will sweep through all 14 states from April to September, before culminating in the national finals in the Klang Valley in October.

The competition is divided into two categories – the Lower Secondary for Forms 1-3 and Upper Secondary for Forms 4 and 5.

Besides the invaluable exposure to a mind-blowing competition and the opportunity to be seen on national television, attractive cash and school prizes await the top five teams in every state.

What more are you waiting for? Grab two teammates, badger your teacher and sign up for a chance to win RM6,000 at the national finals.

For enquiries, call 03-7967 1777 or 03-7967 1388 ext 1040/1043 from 9am to 5pm (Monday to Friday).

Alternatively, e-mail cir.ccu@thestar.com.my.