8th October 2015
This recycling competition which is aimed at encouraging primary school students to use their creativity to reinvent recyclable items was held at the Convent Primary School General Purpose Hall in Tanah Rata. This event was organized by REACH and coordinated by REACH committee members, Puan Mazlira and Datin Aseema.
A total of 13 teams from 8 different primary schools all over Cameron Highlands took part in this competition. The schools that took part include SK Convent (3 teams), SJKT Tanah Rata (2 teams), SJKC Bertam Valley (2 teams), SJKT Shum Yip Leong (2 teams), SJKC Tanah Rata (1 team), SJKT Blue Valley (1 team), SK Ringlet (1 team), and SK Tanah Rata (1 team). All the participants were each given a complimentary REACH cap at the beginning of the event.
At 10:30AM, the event kick-started with a warm introductory speech by the emcee of the day, Dr Koh Gim Lam. Then Puan Zainab, the acting headmistress of SK Convent gave a welcome speech. It was followed by a short speech by a representative from the Education Ministry, and finally by Mr Rama, the president of REACH.
Soon after, the judges, namely Dr Liau Tai Leong, Mdm Vejaya, Prof. Edmund Kellerman and Mdm Takahashisan went around and observed all the exhibits of the recyclable items. They questioned the teams on their creation and assessed them based on their originality, practicality aesthetic aspect and creativity.
After that, all the teams were given 3 minutes to present and further explain about their creation on stage. When the presentations were over, the judges took time to deliberate the top 3 winners.
Meanwhile, while the judges were deliberating the scores, Shen-Ly engaged the students and their teachers in a talk regarding the dangers and health hazards that result from tobacco smoke. This is an effort by REACH under the ‘Cameron Highlands Smoke Free Zone’ programme.
Below some of the creations;
The event reached its end after the top 3 winners were announced. The second runner-up and first runner-up were SJKC Tanah Rata and SK Tanah Rata respectively. SJKT Blue Valley emerged as the champion with their interesting and creative ‘self-watering mini garden’.
REACH hopes to create awareness and instil a sense of urgency and care for the environment by promoting the reduction of waste and the reuse of our earth’s finite resources in creative ways. We hope to continue these recycling activities in the future for the betterment of our mother Earth.
The winning team SJKT Blue Valley and their creation, ‘ self watering mini garden’
written by Lai Shen-Ly