Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Iskandar Shah in Jasin, Melaka was announced the winner of the 5th DIY Made Simple 2021 competition at the closing ceremony held at Universiti Malaya (UM) on Dec 8, 2021.
The 10-member student team took home the Gold Prize of RM4,500 cash for their ‘Mobile Recycle Bin’ project.
The winning school beat 105 other schools from 13 states in this year’s competition, themed, “Green School – Reimagining Plastic Waste For the 21st Century Classroom”.
Kolej Profesional Dungun, Terengganu and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ade Putra, Melaka had a tie in second place to win the Silver Prize of RM3,000 each.
Speaking at the prize-giving ceremony, MR. DIY Group chairman Dato’ Azlam Shah Alias said they are delighted with the positive outcome through collaboration with UM over the past five years.
“We are proud to be part of the competition and its achievements to inculcate the awareness of going green as well as the “do-it-yourself” culture among young generations, in line with MR. DIY’s sustainability goals, under the environment pillar.
“Our thanks to UM for organising this competition and the Ministry of Education Malaysia for coming on board to support the competition, educating our young generation and creating a better environment for a better Malaysia, and we hope to do more of that in years to come,” he said.
Dato’ Azlam said the competition not only challenged students’ creativity and critical thinking skills to innovate out-of-the-box sustainable inventions but also encouraged soft skills development such as communication, teamwork and leadership.
“Throughout the competition, I’m happy to see students gaining personal growth as they improve on their soft skills. In line with our DIY culture, we also hope the students can contribute to the betterment of society. This starts from helping to improve their schools’ facilities and always preserving the environment in which we live. As they grow, we hope to see them becoming individuals with a strong sense of community who are ready to help those who are in need,” he added.
UM Research & Innovation acting deputy vice-chancellor Prof. Dr. Sabri Musasaid the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in many hindrances to student development activities due to movement restrictions taking place on a nationwide scale.
“Since last year, we have modified the ‘DIY Made Simple’ Competition and despite the pandemic, we continue to receive responses from schools throughout Malaysia. We are impressed by the students who had demonstrated courage and determination to excel in any situation. Kudos to the organising committee for making these adjustments swiftly while continuing our mission to encourage creativity and innovation among the students,” he said.
The event also saw the launch of the book, titled “DIY Projects: Design Ideas For Community”, which features the winning projects of the DIY Made Simple competition from 2017 to 2020.
The DIY Made Simple competition is jointly organised by MR. DIY Group and UM’s Community & Sustainability Centre (UMCares).
The annual competition, supported by Ministry of Education Malaysia, calls for secondary school students to find ways to improve their schools’ facilities through do-it-yourself projects using recycled materials. A panel of judges comprising representatives from UM, MR. DIY and MOE evaluated the video entries submitted by school teams.
