Battle of the Wits

Dato' Ong Tee Keat (standing 3rd from left) and the winners after the prize giving ceremony.

14th September 2006 The finals of the National Secondary School Quiz organised by SEGi College in partnership with Nanyang Siang Pau saw ten schools vying for the top-spot. The event is supported by the Ministry of Education Malaysia and United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaysia. YB Dato' Ong Tee Keat, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education was the Guest of Honour at the Finals. A total of RM250,000 worth of cash prizes and scholarships are up for grabs in the National Secondary School Quiz Competition and Newspaper Cutting Competition. “We believe it is our social obligation as responsible corporate citizens to contribute back to society through events such as this to promote learning and to award talented students with scholarships to advance themselves,” said Lee Kok Cheng, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of SEGi Group of Colleges.

“It is one thing to pursue knowledge, to be excited about the pursuit of knowledge is truly the point of education,” Lee mentioned.

The Nanyang Secondary School Quiz Competition is an all state national competition open to all secondary schools in Peninsular Malaysia.

“The competition promotes awareness of current social and worldwide issues. We believe that secondary school students should also be aware of these current social and worldwide issues, other than lessons of arts and science they learn at school,” said Lee.

Current social and worldwide issues are focused in the competition to generate a habit in reading newspapers or gaining information through websites.

Nanyang Secondary School Quiz Competition is also a great opportunity for students to develop their organisational skills and communication skills too.

“Taking part in competitions such as this allows us to contribute in the knowledge building in students. It will assist in their character development, instilling confidence and grow the intellectual capital of the students who are the future leaders of Malaysia,” YB Dato' Ong said in his speech.

The teams and schools in the Finals were Team C of Chong Hwa Independent High School (Kuala Lumpur), Team A of Sekolah Menengah Chong Hwa (Kluang, Johor).

Representatives of Chong Hwa Independent High School Kuala Lumpur, Hee Soon Sean, Lim Kah Hoe, Lim Siong Koon, and Lu Wei Hong took home the grand prize of RM 1,800 cash and RM60,000 scholarship for their school. Sekalah Menengah Chong Hwa Kluang was the runner-up.

First runners up received a total of RM1,200 cash prize for the team plus RM30,000 scholarship for their schools, whilst second runners up stood to collect RM800 cash prize whilst their schools received RM20,000 in the form of scholarships.

“We did a lot of preparations and reading for this competition. Now everything has paid off!” said Hee Soon Sean happily.

The Grand Final was also broadcasted live by the official radio station, aiFM.