KUALA LUMPUR: Twelve winners walked away with a total of RM27, 000 cash prizes at the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) and MajalahSains.com essay competition prize-giving ceremony held at the National Planetarium today.
PGPF honorary advisor and patron of the competition Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali who presented the prizes to the winners said: “I am pleased with the active participation from the public and students. The level of interest and knowledge showcased by the participants in the subject of peace highlighted that it is an important matter to Malaysians.
“Upon reading a few essay submissions, I was astonished to see critical writings with advanced vocabularies by the young participants from the secondary school category,” she said.
Dr Siti Hasmah who also shared her journey to Iran in her speech added that every individual plays an important part in the long struggle of achieving global peace and putting an end to war.
Taking on the theme of ‘Criminalising War’ and ‘Science for Peace’, the competition which ran from Oct 15, 2018 until Jan 29, 2019 received submissions from the public, university students and secondary school students.
The competition was held to commemorate the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s World Science Day for Peace and Development on Nov 10, 2018.
First place winner for secondary school category (Bahasa Malaysia) Mohd Afiqizzudin Mohd Sulaiman said he was surprised to be named the winner for the competition.
“I believe the advancement in science and technology does not mean that it can be used to create chaos or initiate a war. Instead, we should use the technology for a good cause.
“It took me two weeks to write the essay. I really paid attention to the structure of my essay while to ensure that the idea is well-conveyed to the readers,” he said.
Also present at the ceremony were PGPF Chairman Tan Sri Norian Mai, MajalahSains.com chief editor Mohd Faizal Aziz and chief judge of the competition Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
Norian said: “The competition was designed to focus on the theme of peace which is in line with PGPF’s main advocacy of Criminalising War, an idea mooted by Prime Minister of Malaysia and PGPF President, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The essays were judged based on the level of knowledge and understanding of the theme, the clarity of argumentation, structure and writing style.
For university students and the public, first prize winners (English and Bahasa Malaysia) won RM5,000. Second and third place winners took home RM3,000 and RM1,000 respectively. The theme – ‘Criminalising War’ was to be articulated in not more than 2,500 words.
For secondary school students category (English and Bahasa Malaysia), first prize winners won RM2,000 while second and third place winners received RM1,500 and RM2,000 respectively. The theme for this category was ‘Science for Peace’, to be discussed in not more than 1,500 words.
Category 1 (Public and university students)
Criminalising War – Bahasa Malaysia
1st - Faridah Mohd Tap
2nd - Mohd Firdaus Md Hamsin
3rd - Nurfaizatul Aisyah Ab Aziz
Criminalising War – English
1st -Raja Ummi Nadrah Raja Sulaiman
2nd - Mohd Firdaus Mohd Raih
3rd - Dr Ismail Haron
Category 2 (Secondary school students)
Science for Peace – Bahasa Malaysia
1st - Mohd Afiqizuddin Mohd Sulaiman – SMK Tinggi Batu Pahat, Johor
2nd - Alia Sofia Zainal Abidin – SM Agama Persutuan Bentong, Pahang
3rd - Munirah Munawarrah Khairul Hashim – Pusat Permata Pintar, Selangor
Science for Peace – English
1st - Elise Oh En Xin – Chung Ling Private School, Penang
2nd - Nicholas Ting Tiing Hou – SMK Sacred Heart Sibu, Sarawak
3rd - Nur Zaharina Mohd Zaid – SMK Puteri Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur