Fifty-one teams from 14 schools took part in the inaugural Mind Games Challenge 2018 competition, organized by the Penang Math Platform recently.
The preliminary round was held at Penang Math Platform (PMP), Bukit Glugor on Aug 19 from which the top 20 teams were selected to compete in the final rounds held at the Queensbay Mall on Aug 26.
The challenges were in the form of problems and puzzles which tested the students in mental skills covering computation, observation, memory and logic.
In one challenge, the teams had to remember 20 sets of combined designs and recall three randomly selected sets within a given time limit.
In another challenge, the teams had to solve a set of mathematical series and complete one Nonogram at the same time.
There was also the element of teamwork as each team comprising two students were given two different challenges. Both students had to collaborate to complete the whole challenge.
Besides teachers and parents who were there to support, the enthusiastic response from the capacity holiday crowd at Queensbay helped to further boost the inspiration of the participants as they went on with their relentless task to face the mental challenges ahead of them.
Winning participants received trophies or medallions, winners’ certificates and cash prizes while the school of the champion team (Han Chiang Private) received the PMP Mind Games Challenge trophy for the annual event.
1st Runners-up were a SMJK Chung Ling/Han Chiang combined team while 2nd runner-up was Penang Chinese Girls’ Hich School. Two other finalists were SMJK Chung Ling and SMJK Chung Hwa Confucian.
Pegawai Pendidikan Daerah Timur Laut, Mohamed bin Abd Samat, gave away the trophies and certificates to the winners.
The event was supported by the Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Timur Laut, Malaysian Mensa and the Malaysian Memory Sports Organisation with Innotree Elite Resources as technical advisors. It was officially endorsed by the Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri Pulau Pinang.
The PMP Mind Games Challenge is part of a series of games/competitions and activities centred on mathematical sciences organized by Penang Math Platform. Others include chess, Rubik’s Cube and Sudoku.
The centre, located at the Karpal Singh Penang Learning Centre building in Bukit Glugor, also conduct regular mathematics classes for all age groups ranging from pre-schoolers to upper six.
Its flagship is a Japanese Math Class (JMC) for pre-schoolers (5 – 6 years) which is based on the Japanese Sugaku model, aimed at building entry level foundation for math appreciation & inter-personal communication. This is to ensure that children start right on the right footing and will embark on a life-long journey to enjoy mathematics.
PMP is part of the Penang STEM initiative by the Penang State Government to set up an overall synergistic ecosystem to complement the current educational system for STEM-learning.
For further details, kindly contact 04-3730796 or access the Penang Math Platform website at
www.penangmathplatform.com.