UTAR wins prizes at Taylor & Francis Online Quiz 2020

With the recent Covid-19 pandemic plaguing the world, fake news has become much more prevalent; with people spreading false information about the virus, giving others a flawed perspective towards it. Thus, Taylor and Francis Asia Pacific organised the Taylor & Francis ‘Fake News’ Online Quiz from 4 May to 30 June 2020.

A total of 260 UTAR students and staff took part in the quiz. The quiz centred around the issues of fake news, with its aim to educate people on the detriments of fake news in their lives, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The grand prize was two AEON vouchers worth RM200 each; the second prize offered two AEON vouchers worth RM120 each and the third prize was four AEON vouchers worth RM70 each. The fourth prize was 12 AEON vouchers worth RM30. Fourteen UTAR students and one staff emerged as winners out of the 260 UTAR participants.

One of the grand prize winners Cheong Sue Yin

“Honestly, winning the quiz was never my intention. I just thought it was fun and submitted a few sentences regarding the topic. However, receiving the grand prize was a surprise and genuinely made me happy. I like how Taylor & Francis and UTAR try to spread awareness about fake news while also making it fun and enjoyable. Props to them!” said one of the two grand prize winners, Business and Finance student Cheong Sue Yin.

One of the third prize winners Mosharrof Hosen

“To be able to participate in the prestigious Taylor & Francis Online Quiz 2020 competition was a fantastic experience for me. I was also very honoured and happy when I received the email from the Taylor & Francis Group representative, informing me that I was one of the winners,” said Business and Finance student Mosharrof Hosen, one of the third prize winners. He added, “We should participate in various competitions because it can help us develop our confidence. Once our confidence is set in place, we would be brave enough to tackle any challenges in our lives.”

Another third prize winner, Computer Science student Liaw Mun Kin said, “Participating in the quiz was overall a new experience for me, as I was very interested in sharing my opinion on the recent widespread of fake news, especially those concerning Covid-19. I was actually quite shocked when I found out that I won the third prize. I do hope quizzes like this would keep coming.”

One of the fourth prize winners Sivarajan

Foundation student K. Sivarajan, one of the fourth prize winners said, “First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all who were responsible for organising this quiz with the intent of raising awareness on the negative impact fake news has on society. It was a true honour to be able to participate in this quiz and I am even more honoured to be one of the winners. I hope more efforts like this will continue to be taken and more students will engage themselves in positive activities such as this quiz to ensure they do not divert their minds towards something that can negatively impact their lives.”