MIRI: For three consecutive days from April 11 to 13, Bintang Megamall Miri has been transformed into a sports arena.
Organiser SMK Chung Hua Miri brought much fun to the mall with its Borneo International Robotic Football competition, the first ever for the city.
Supporting the school were the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Sarawak Education Department.
A total of 46 teams are converging at the mall, out of which 32 are from Malaysia.
The competition was divided into two categories – national and international.
Present at the launch yesterday afternoon was Tourism, Arts and Culture Assistant Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin.
“This event surely has put Sarawak, especially Miri, on the world map,” Lee said in his opening remark.
He credited SMK Chung Hua Miri for its effort, saying the event helps promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics among the participants.
“I was impressed when told that there are quite a number of young children from the age of nine to 18 taking part in this inaugural event … and they know how to do programming and decoding,” he opined.
Lee said the event made robotic learning more fun.
“I believed via this event, children will be able to showcase their problem-solving and creativity skills. This is one of the ways how we move forward with the changing times,” he said.
He said the state government, through his ministry, is supportive of any initiatives to promote digital development and robotic interest among school children.
The foreign teams included those from Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Taiwan’s champion team who has won the championship for two consecutive years – 2017 and 2018 – are also taking part.
Also present during the launch was the organising chairman, SMK Chung Hua Miri principal Albert Ong Ngee Hong.
