Another successful MIND & STEM Festival

  The launching of the MIND & STEM Festival at Foon Yew High School in Kulai

From left: Toh Puan Ena Ling, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik (seated), Datuk Seri Mah King Seng, Prof Faidz Abd Rahman, YB Tuan Lee Ting Han, Datuk Lim Si Cheng and Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei.

The MIND & STEM Festival 2023 held at Kulai was a success with attendance from a diverse crowd of attendees ranging from students and teachers to parents and the public. Held from 24 November to 26 November 2023 at the rented hall of Foon Yew High School in Kulai, Johor, the festival was the collaborative effort of the Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement (MMLM) and the Kuala Lumpur Engineering Science Fair (KLESF), with assistance from UTAR staff, students and participation from the industry and other educational institutions.

The festival showcases the creativity and innovation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and the power of mental literacy that brings to life a wide spectrum of IQ games, memory workshops, mental calculation coaching, hands-on experiments, robotics showcases, and creative activities to engage the interests of students and the public.

Participating in the festival are staff and students from Universiti Teknologi MARA Pasir Gudang, University of Technology Malaysia, UTAR, Johor Weiqi Sports Association, Memory Sports Council of Asia, and many others. Together, they brought fun and excitement to the festival with their mind games and scientific activities.

The festival was launched on 24 November 2023 by Yang Berhormat Tuan Lee Ting Han, the Chairman of Investment, Trade & Consumer Affairs Committee of Johor State Government.  YB Tuan Lee represented the Johor Menteri Besar Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Onn Hafiz bin Dato' Ghazi.

MMLM Chairman YABhg Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Toh Puan Ena Ling graced the opening with other MMLM Committee members who are YBhg Dato’ Seri Mah King Seng, YBhg Datuk Lim Si Cheng and Mr Ong Whee Tiong. 

Also present to support YABhg Tun Dr Ling and the event were former MP for Tebrau, Johor YBhg Datuk Khoo Soo Seang, and former Exco Member of Johor YBhg Dato' Jimmy Low. Yang Berusaha Hj Mohd Kamal bin Ahmad Untong from PPD Kulai also attended to support the MIND and STEM Festival.

Through the commitment and the efforts of former MP of Kulai and MMLM Committee member YBhg Datuk Lim Si Cheng, who visited PPD Kulai and collaborated with Yang Berusaha Hj Mohd Kamal bin Ahmad Untong to bring in more than 500 school students to attend the MIND & STEM Festival at Foon Yew High School.

Also present at the opening ceremony were Mr Tay Chin Hein, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Foon Yew High School and Ms Ng Fui Cho, Principal of Foo Yew High School.

YB Tuan Lee, in his speech, mentioned the importance of STEM education for nation building and reiterated that efforts must continue to promote STEM subjects to gather greater interests among school students to pursue STEM subjects for further studies. He also lauded the foresight of YABhg Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik who set up MMLM to promote mental literacy and promote STEM education, even after his retirement from the government. YB Tuan Lee toured the event hall and spoke to the students and the participants, showing great interests in the various activities.

TAR UMT President Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei, who is also MMLM Secretary and KLESF Steering Committee Member, presented statistics that showed the declining interest among students enrolled in the field of STEM and its related programme of studies. He encouraged students to pursue STEM education and hopes that the festival will engage their curiosity and inspire their interests in STEM. Students must continue to explore and learn for progress.

UTAR Vice President Ts Prof Dr Faidz Bin Abd Rahman who is also Organising Committee Chairman and Steering Committee Member of KLESF, represented UTAR President Prof Dato' Dr Ewe Hong Tat. He mentioned in his speech that the Mind & STEM Festival has a legacy of success when it was held in Kuching with 2,610 visitors in 2019 and 2,023 visitors in 2018. He mentioned that the festival is not merely an event, but a mission championed by MMLM and KLESF to contribute to human capital development.

Click here to watch the video. 

 Photo Gallery of the MIND & STEM Festival 2023 at Kulai, Johor:

Datuk Lim with Yang Brs Hj Mohd Kamal bin Ahmad Untong at PPD Kulai