Education

Sunday November 8, 2009

Learning through competitions

BOARD games can be more than just tools to alleviate boredom. They can also teach students practical skills, as the recent Catur Bistari Challenge 2009 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) demonstrated.

Organised with the cooperation of the National Entrepreneurship Institute (Insken) and the International Trade and Industry Ministry, the competition was held to encourage university students to embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship.

The half-day event saw 69 student teams from 28 local public higher education institutions (IPTA) pit their business acumen against each other through the game of Catur Bistari.

Edric and principal Annette Theresa Perera with Heneberry.

At first glance, the board game appears similar to Monopoly, complete with cash transactions as well as a designated banker.

However, game distributor Johor Corporation was quick to point out that playing involved much more than simply buying and selling property.

“The game takes players through the process of handling a business and managing expenses,” said chief executive officer Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim.

“Points are also given for the charitable impact of their entreprises.”

He added that the winners of the university level challenge will go on to a nationwide competition later this year. Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Team 2 emerged as champions of the competition, with each team member walking away with a laptop.

Team Opal from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak clinched second place to bag digital cameras, while third place winners from Universiti Teknologi Mara Sarawak received iPods for their efforts.

Meanwhile, in another competition, two thousand pre-schoolers aged between four and six took part in the Zespri Kiwifruit Colouring Contest in conjunction with a programme for those in kindergarten.

Students engrossed in their board game at the Catur Bistari Challenge 2009

The winner was Edric Ong Khai Jien from R.E.A.L Kids USJ2. The six-year-old took home the grand prize – four tickets for a fun family day at Sunway Lagoon, plus RM1500 for his pre-school.

Shawn Goey Zhang from the Wangsa Melawati branch took the second prize, while the third prize went to Vinitha from the Kajang Prima branch.

Zespri had partnered with the kindergartens to launch a month-long programme to encourage children to cultivate healthy eating habits.

Zespri International market manager of Southeast Asia, Daniel Mathieson said the company is committed to nurturing a healthy society.

“It is difficult to get kids to eat fruit and vegetables, so we want to make sure every mouthful counts,” he said.

During the month-long programme, children were treated to a magic show, interactive games and sing-along sessions by ‘Mr. Zespri’, the kiwifruit mascot and his crew.

The final artwork of the three winners will be published in Zespri’s 2010 Calendar which will be distributed across Asia Pacific.

Also present at the ceremony was Tony Heneberry, managing director of PDQ Management Sdn Bhd, which coordinated the competition.

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