The Word Mania Challenge: An outstanding finale

Malaysia’s largest nationwide online spelling competition, the Word Mania Challenge recently concluded with an amazing showdown at the Grand Finals event held at The Majestic, KL just last Thursday!

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all as we received great feedback from many who attended.

"Having utmost fun at this grand event... looking forward to Word Mania next year!" - Shyuan Lim (guest)

"Thank you FrogAsia! Yet another memorable day…" - Pn Sasi Kala (teacher)

"What a jolly and joyful day!" - Elwin Raj (Winner, Lower Secondary category)

"Brilliant young minds are on the move!" - Pn Normazlina Yaacub (teacher)

"FrogAsia, you've nailed it! You can see the event was successful because everyone walked out of the event with smiles on their faces." - Mr Lim (parent)

This two-month challenge had involved 70,000 student participants, who were supported by over 2,500 teachers, from 2,000 participating schools all across Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsula Malaysia. A total of 1,618,550 games were played nationwide and 35,000,000 words spelled! Only 20 individual primary and secondary-level finalists made it to the Grand Finals where we saw each of them bring out their best game to claim the winning title of the Word Mania Challenge.

Only 2:09 minutes left on the clock for Lower Primary Students

During the Grand Finals, students from each of the four age categories had to take part in three challenge rounds. The first round was a verbal question and answer round involving spelling-related questions. The second consisted of three mini games within the LiteracyPlanet app where students were given five minutes to play as many games as possible in order to collect the highest number of points. The third and final round involved two sets of the actual Word Mania game where we had the opportunity to witness remarkable speed-spelling skills live in action!

Lim Yue Kin from SK Taman Megah in deep concentration

Students with outstanding personalities like 10-year old Lim Yue Kin from SK Taman Megah entertained the audience with his witty comments throughout the Upper Primary Category Challenge. “It’s easy as ABC!” he said, when the emcee asked how he was taking the challenge so far.

Other students like Lower Secondary student Elwin Raj from SMK Seri Bintang Utara, amazed the audience by his ability to spell a series of 20-letter words such “INTERNATIONALISATION” which gained him more than 10,000 points in only three minutes of the game!

Brave teachers and parents from the audience were also given the chance to participate in a friendly competition with each other while judges tallied up the final scores.

Deputy Education Minister II, YB P. Kamalanathan talks about equal opportunities for urban and rural schools

Our Deputy Education Minister II, YB P. Kamalanathan officiated the awards ceremony at the end of the event where the final winners were announced. Five Regional School Champions and six Top Primary and Secondary schools were also awarded for their remarkable performance in the Word Mania Challenge.

Top Primary Schools:

SK Pekan Jaya, Pahang

SK Taman Megah, Selangor

SJK (T) Ladang Bute, Kuala Lumpur

Top Secondary Schools:

SMK Dato Sri Amar di Raja (INTEG), Johor

SMK Chio Min, Kedah

SMK Datuk Panglima Abdullah, Sabah

Regional School Champions:

Central Region - SK Taman Sri Mawar, Negeri Sembilan

Northern Region - SMK Chio Min, Kedah

Eastern Region - SK Pusat Bukit Besar, Terengganu

Southern Region - SK Pulau Sebang, Melaka

East Malaysia - SMK Labuan, Labuan

Get to know the Grand Finalists:

Lower Primary Students: Loo Wei Hao from SJK(C) Kg Baru Sungai Nipah (winner), Chong Jie Xin from SJK(C) Choong Wen (1st Runner Up), Muhammad Afiq Danish bin Hasniruddin from SK Pulau Meranti (2nd Runner Up), Mui Yan Yee from SJK(C) Yuk Choi (finalist) and Jewinsaarren a/l Gumaraisan from SK Taman Bukit Indah (finalist)

Upper Primary Student Champions: Lim Yue Kin from SK Taman Megah (Winner), Nurhanis Afifah binti Za’ba from SK Pekan Jaya (1st Runner Up), Tan Jie Yeong from SJK(C) Ting Hwa (2nd Runner Up ),Muhammad Alif Haziq bin Mohd Razmi from SK Batu Sembilan (finalist) and Cheryll Cheah Su Juen from SK Perempuan Methodist

Lower Secondary Student Champions: Elwin Raj a/l Paul Raj from SMK Seri Bintang Utara (Winner), Muhammad Adi Aiman bin Mohd Yusseri from SMK Taman Desa 2 (1st Runner Up), Aida Safura binti Hamidon from SMK Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (2nd Runner Up), Aida Farihah bt Amir Haszuwanni from SMK (FELDA) Bandar Baru Serting (finalist) and Muhammad Qasri Hakim bin hj Khairul Anwar from SMK Taman Desa 2 (finalist)

Upper Secondary Student Champions: Olivia Yeo from SMK Dato’ Sri Amar Di Raja (Winner), Ler Lien Jia from SMK Dato’ Sri Amar Di Raja (1st Runner Up), Tan Wei Khang from SMK Puchong (2nd Runner Up), Teo Yeong Shin from SMK Dato’ Sri Amar Di Raja (finalist) and Tan Jun Jie from SMK Chio Min (finalist)

What the people behind Word Mania had to say:

 FrogAsia’s Executive Director Lou Yeoh welcomes the crowd

FrogAsia’s Executive Director Lou Yeoh expressed how the outcome of the challenge had been overwhelmingly inspiring. She mentioned that stories shared by various teachers showed just how a learning game like Word Mania has created many opportunities for teachers to help students improve their English in a fun way.

"What delighted us was that more than 6,000 students continued to register for the competition after the closing date. This demonstrates the power of using the Internet as a way to capture digital natives and develop in them a keen interest to learn," she said.

Founder and Director of LiteracyPlanet, Shane Davis

Founder and Director of LiteracyPlanet, Shane Davis spoke about how there is much potential for game-based learning apps like LiteracyPlanet to benefit our young technology-savvy learners in Malaysia today.

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We’ve had a fantastic Word Mania experience just being able to journey with some of the most amazing students and teachers that we’ve met throughout the last three months. Our team fully enjoyed putting together the Word Mania Grand Finals and just seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces makes every bit of effort worth it!

A huge shout out to LiteracyPlanet, Yes, YTL Foundation, our winning champion students and schools, and of course, our supportive teachers and parents! You are A-W-E-S-O-M-E!