NUSAJAYA: TO mark the recent 57th Merdeka Celebration and Malaysia Day, UEM Sunrise Bhd organised a treasure hunt with the theme Amazing Patriotic Race.
The race saw the participation of students under its Pintar Schools programme which were made up of primary and secondary schoolchildren. They were divided into two categories.
Pintar is a programme spearheaded by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the investment holding arm of the Federal Government. It was launched in December 2006.
There are 17 adopted schools in Nusajaya in Iskandar Malaysia under its Pintar programme.
The Amazing Patriotic Race was held at the state administration centre here at Bangunan Sultan Ismail, Kota Iskandar.
The fourth year UEM Sunrise Pintar Schools National Day cum Malaysia Day programme saw an increase in participation from 120 students to 160 students (eight primary schools and four secondary schools), making it the highest number in student involvement.
With the students divided into groups of four and this being the first English medium contest, the inaugural treasure hunt hoped to tap on the students’ English literacy in terms of grammar usage and vocabulary.
At the same time, it aims to inculcate the spirit of patriotism through English questions related to unity and Malaysia’s Independence Day.
The Amazing Patriotic Race requires the participants to complete 10 educational yet fun pit stop activities which comprised listening, spelling, crossword puzzle, mind and memory games, including testing their ability to use chopsticks to move objects.
For the primary school category, the champions walked away with RM400 cash, the champion’s medal and a certificate of participation each. The first and second runners-up received RM300 and RM200 for each team, medals and certificates of participation, respectively.
Ten consolation winners for this category received RM100 for each team and a certificate of participation each.
For the secondary school category, the champion took home RM500, the champion’s medal and certificate of participation.
The first and second runners-up bagged RM400 and RM300 respectively, medals as well as certificates of participation.
Cash prizes of RM100 per team will be given to the five consolation winners including medal and certificate of participation each.
UEM Sunrise senior general manager Mohd Nadzari Bachek said the programmes were part of UEM Sunrise’s strategic initiatives to support the government’s efforts to instil the spirit of patriotism, and promote multi-racial integration and unity among the younger generation, particularly students.
“We wanted to create a greater sense of pride of the historical event by highlighting its significance and importance to inspire the Pintar students to become historically profound future leaders through the variety of activities designed in this programme.”
Nusajaya assemblyman Zaini Abu Bakar, who officiated the programme, presented the winners with their prizes.
UEM Sunrise is the flagship company for township and property development businesses of UEM Group Bhd and Khazanah.
UEM Group is wholly-owned by Khazanah.
Since 2007, it has implemented five initiatives to accomplish the objectives of the programme using an intervention approach to influence better educational outcomes for schoolchildren in rural areas.