Unleashing the brainpower

Participants during the competition

About 1500 participants, consisting of public and students from all over the area, put their brain power to work in the Mind Competitions.

The competition was jointly organised by Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement (MMLM), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC). It was held at Sungai Long Campus on 14 April 2018. The whole-day event aimed to boost mental literacy and increase its awareness among the Malaysians.

Participants working on their mind mapping test

With RM60,000 cash prize to be won, the competition consisted of three main categories, namely Memory Competition, Mind Mapping Competition and Mental Calculation Competition. The main categories were sub-categorised into Random Words, Numbers, Letters of the Alphabet, Dates & Events, Note Making on given topics, Note taking from speech and text and Mental Calculations (Additions and Multiplications).

Attending for the first-time, a teacher from SJK(T) West Country Timur, Vijaya Lekshmi Govindasamy said the competitions have helped in increasing her students’ memory power. “The students can use the skills they have acquired in the competition to memorise science and mathematics terms, which is very helpful for their exam,” she said. 

She then added, “Our school usually have programmes such as English week and Bulan Bahasa Malaysia. It would be a good idea if we can organise competitions like this in our school to encourage more participation in the future.” Her two students Dvivaniya Suthagar and Lakwin Thanoarasu participated in both random words and mental calculation competitions. 

Ragavan Arumugam, a 44-year-old participant who joined the mind mapping competition said he initially thought he was too old to join the competition. He has been practising mind mapping for a long time, and he wanted to try and see if he can do it. “I was there and I’m glad that I can actually do it, especially the part when I was asked to listen to the text,” he said.

When asked to describe his feeling during the competition, he said, “I did feel my hands shaking and I was able to sense the tension and pressure the children felt at the competition. This was a good experience for me.” He also stressed that mind mapping is a very good technique and that everyone should learn to utilise it.

Koh (centre) with his daughter (far left) and student

Desmond Koh, a memory teacher from Melaka said he came to know about the competition in 2015. He won the consolation prize for mind mapping competition for consecutive years since he joined the competition in 2016. His daughter Vikki Lim Koh Bing who also took part in the competition, expressed her wish to get a better result this year.

Meanwhile, a student from University of Science Malaysia Fashareena binti Roslan said, the competition was good, especially for school-going children. They gained a lot experience and got to know more people from other schools. “The competition helps students to practise their brain, which in return, helps them to perform better in their studies,” she said. 

Rose Adeh during her interview

Besides local participants, the event also saw some international contestants. When asked, Rose Adeh from Nigeria, who is currently pursuing her management study in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said, “This is my fifth year taking part in this competition. The competition was very challenging yet motivating. I saw children trying their best to memorise the numbers and alphabets. Although the competition is very challenging, I like it.”

One of the event highlights this year was 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube Competition, which was organised by MMLM, WBS Dynamic Workshop (WooBrainSystem) and Kids Station Marketing Sdn Bhd. This competition was held to challenge the participants’ visual thinking and solving skills.

A fifteen-year-old student from Seremban, Hemawaty Marar shared her story of being a Rubik’s cube amateur. She bought her first Rubik’s cube from a night market and practised it every day. On her birthday, her uncle bought her another Rubik’s cube, one with a better quality. With her unremitting effort, she was able to solve the Rubik’s cube in less than one minute at the competition. “I have been practising to solve the Rubik’s cube for the past three months and I really want to take part in more competitions in the future,” she said.

Besides, a STEM exhibition and workshops were also held in conjunction with Mind Competitions this year. It was organised to provide participants with fun, engaging and interactive activities to build knowledge about STEM. The activities were opened to the public with free admission.

Results of the Mind Competitions will be posted on MMLM official website on 18 July 2018. Participants can view the results until 9 November 2018. The prize-giving ceremony will be held on 4 November 2018 during the 14^th Malaysia Festival of the Mind in conjunction with KLESF.

For more details on Mind Competitions 2018, browse the MMLM official website at www.utar.edu.my/mmlm. For more details on STEM workshops and exhibition, click here.
 

A participant wearing earmuff during the competition 

From left: Ariff Lutfi bin Shahrim, Noor Syahirah binti Mohd Taib, Nurdania Qistina binti Muhamad Saiful and Fauzul Izzaty binti Ismail from SMK Bandar Baru Sungai Long with their certificates of participant