|
Wiqa Halim MAKTAB SAINS PADUKA SERI BEGAWAN SULTAN The Maktab Sains’ Choir Group won the judges' hearts when they sang ‘Merdeka Brunei Darussalam’ in the Pertandingan Koir Lagu-Lagu Patriotik finals. Cikgu Nurulhazwa, or better known to her students as Miss Zaza, of the English Department, trained the Choir Group at least 2 hours a day before the competition. “I would have been happy if we came top three!” said Miss Zaza. “There was strong competition from Sultan Omar Ali Saiffuddien College and Pengiran Anak Puteri Masna, two schools that were set to win and Sekolah Menegah Sayyidina Abu Bakar were really good as well. “In the preliminary round rankings, we came top, so we knew how much work we had to do to stay at the top.” “(Main motivation) was Miss Zaza. She kept telling us ‘you got to win this guys! If you win this, you’re going to be the coolest team of the school and you can walk around the school compound with your heads held high’” said Hanny, one of the singers. The singers’ favourite song was the competition song, which they now name as ‘the winning song’, because with that, they said, it really showed their ‘originality’ and Hanny described it as “the best patriotic song” she’s ever heard. “It was really hard at first, I even had problems with dad as we ended our practice at 7:00 pm. But after dad listens to us singing, he lightened up, surprisingly, and supports me in this,” explained Hanny. “We sang our hearts out because we have passion in this. And I love the harmony and beautiful melody,” she added. Miss Zaza is also running a club called The Glee Squad. It consists of 15 singers and they have their own band to perform with. Amazingly, with that going on, Miss Zaza also has time to assist the netball team coached by Cikgu Masnoorfaiza, of the PE Department. “In Maktab Sains, the team is of good standard and to be in the team is really challenging and tough,” said Cikgu Masnoorfaiza. The yearly tournament hosted by Sekolah Menengah Sayyidina Abu Bakar was held at the Multi Purpose Hall from 8th April 2010 to the 13th April 2010. “Group D were the older more experienced players so I was more confident with them and they breezed through to the finals, won all their matches. Group C had stronger players but their competition was strong as well. It was a fight to the end for them to win the finals.” “Group B girls were newer so they still need a bit more experience in playing which will come with time,” she added. Unfortunately, Group B lost to Sekolah Menengah Rimba in the semi-finals with the score of 15-10. However, Group C managed to win by one point, which was 25-24, and Group D won by a massive gap of 37-7 against Pusat Tingkatan Enam Katok. Dk. Azimah, captain of Group D, was crowned Most Valuable Player. A tournament hosted by Jerudong International School is still ongoing. “So far, so good,” said Cikgu Masnoorfaiza regarding with the school netball team’s matches. Sadly, the school's Group B girls had to drop out of this tournament because they were sitting for their mid year examination. MS Minute Nina Saiful and Aziara Esham MAKTAB SAINS PADUKA SERI BEGAWAN SULTAN Katok Sixth Form Centre won The 14th Brunei Darussalam Inter School Senior Level English Debate Competition after beating Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan on 4th May, 2010. The winning team supported the motion “Ecotourism benefits the local population.” Guest of honour was permanent Secretary (Core Education) Datin Paduka Hajah Apsah Haji Abdul Majid. The competitors representing Katok Sixth Form Centre were ecstatic when they were announced the winner, especially Jarrod Sim Cheng Jie who was crowned the 'Best Speaker' of the final. “I'm really happy with how the team worked and they put in a lot of effort,” the bubbly Malaysian said, adding, “I think our team prepared pretty well, we rely on our notes but to a certain extent.” Raihan Nabilah Hj Ahmad Ghazali, the Maktab Sains senior debate team captain expressed in an interview before the debate finals: “we're relieved that we won (against MD in the semi-finals), we've never been against PTE Katok and this year's is an entirely new team but we're looking forward to competing against them and we'll try our best. I know some of them. They're really good, tough competition but hopefully we can do it.” Raihan also mentioned how hard her team prepared for the competition. “We practice every afternoon, very intense training.” The acting principal of Maktab Sains, Ck. Sarimah mentioned the knowledge the debaters gain from this experience. “They learn to develop public speaking skills such as [to gain] confidence and to explore issues.” Maktab Sains' loss did not dampen her support and optimism. “It's okay, this competition is not about winning,” she told the media, “it is about learning in the process and getting involved in the debate.” Maktab Sains is known to be an active participant in numerous inter school competitions that involve public speaking. Students gain confidence as they learn to voice their opinions and views about serious matters, including global issues. MS Minute Syafiqah A.Azamay MAKTAB SAINS PADUKA SERI BEGAWAN SULTAN Most people often have the wrong impression that Maktab Sains students focus only on academic achievements. However, the Science College does not consist of just boffins, there are also artistic students. For one, there are students taking art as their subject. While few in number, these art students have an impact on the creative life of the college. Art teacher Siti Nur’ Azimah Haji Abu Hanafiah stated that last year the college entered the 43rd Interschool Art Competition and they won the first place. She went on to say that “the school is adequately resourced with materials needed for traditional art.” The adequate resource is vital for students to express and enjoy themselves through art as this also encourages the artistic expression in the Science College. One such student, Ak Muhd Khairul Anwar Pg Ahmad who enjoys the art of watercolour stated that “[He is] trying to experiment different drawing styles and medium just by using watercolour.” From visual arts to performing arts, MSPSBS also has its own choir club which entered the interschool choir competition for years now and this year they won the first place with their song title of Merdeka Brunei Darussalam. “Singing is [the choir members] passion and its best to put that passion into good use and one way of doing it is by contributing to the school,” commented Ak Muhd Yazakka Bin Pg Hj Muhd Yamin, a member of the choir club when interviewed. The school also has a traditional dance club, driven by the its very own Ck Malai Rabiah and Madame Rokiah, which recently joined the National Malay Traditional Dance Competition and performed during an intermission of the Senior Debating competition at the Ministry of Finance. With the song of Kayum O Ya Kayum, the traditional dance club made it through the preliminary round of the National Malay Traditional Dance competition. This year, a newly established club which combines acting and dancing been formed under the name of Musical Theatre. The club performed a play on 4th May 2010 at the Ministry of Finance at intermission during the Senior Debating competition. The play, entitled ‘Bad Romance’ was written by the script group of the club consisting of Year 9 and Form 4 studetns. Other than the script writers, there are also groups for dancers, actors, backups, backstage handlers and public relations. This club enables students to express their creativity in handling performances and interacting with different people. These types of clubs exist in order to nourish the artistic sides of the students who are expected to be successful in the future. MS Minute Aziara Esham MAKTAB SAINS PADUKA SERI BEGAWAN SULTAN In June 2009, environmental enthusiasts Cikgu Rodziah Abdul Wahab and Cikgu Ratni Ghani joined forces to take over Maktab Sains' environmentalist club driven by Cikgu Sri Yani, the MS Youth Initiative Club, in an attempt to “spread lasting environmental awareness throughout the college and the public.” The club is known for its active schedule and is no stranger to pulling off major campus-wide projects such as the most recent “Bring-Your-Own Fundraising and Awareness Week,” an initiative to promote the use of reusable plates, containers, mugs and cutlery and reduce the use of plastic. The four-day campaign, said to be the first of its kind to be organized by a school or college institution in Brunei, was officially launched on 8th April by acting principal Dk. Sarimah Pg. Haji Ahmad and was aimed to raise funds to purchase more recycling bins for the college. Another major project organized by the club is the four-day 'Heart of Borneo' Fundraising Project launched on 17th August last year. The main objective of the project was to raise money to plant trees in Badas to help make the 'Heart of Borneo 50, 000 Trees Competition' held by International School Brunei (ISB) and the Ministry of Development a success. As per usual, the project was nothing short of successful. “Students, teachers, and other members of Science College as well as some outsiders gave their endless support and showed enthusiasm towards the Fundraising for Badas, Heart of Borneo,” the club stated. In addition, the club took advantage of the event to also raise awareness among the college community to use less plastic bags. The club introduced their motto 'Be Fantastic and Use Less Plastic' in an effort to reach out to the rest of the community and get the message across. Fundraising events are undoubtedly a favourite in the club, but are definitely not the club's limits. “We are currently having an inter house landscape competition,” said Cikgu Rodziah, adding that there will also be a time later in the year when the club promotes green fashion to express their love for the earth. From planting trees to reducing plastic, it is without a doubt that the MS Environmental Club has made a significant difference to the college and its staff and students. “We want everyone to be more aware of the impending need to conserve the environment,” Cikgu Ratni said. “This club is our initiative to start small [within the campus], and hopefully we can spread the message to the public eventually.” The MS Environmental Club ultimately wants to see a change in the community's mindset and see them taking action so they, too, share a passion for conserving our precious and fragile environment. MS Minute |