Thursday, July 17, 2008
RI Students Grab 5 Gold Medals in HK International Math Contest
Source: The Jakarta Post

Eight elementary school students representing Indonesia in the 12th Po Leng Kuk Elementary International Contest for Math, held in Hong Kong from July 12-15, grabbed five gold medals.

"It is an outstanding achievement because almost all elementary school students representing Indonesia in the international contest were able to do their best," said the Education Ministry director for kindergarten and elementary school management, Mudjito Ak, on Thursday.

Mudjit said the Indonesian team at a similar contest in 2007 only won one gold medal, but took away a good lesson from that failure. The participating students this year trained and prepared intensively and were able to perform much better in the event in Hong Kong.

Indonesia was this year allowed to send two teams. The country’s participation in such a contest is relatively new. Other countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, and the United States sent more than two teams.

"The Philippines sent six teams and Indonesia only two teams, but they succeeded in grabbing five gold medals and a silver medal," Mudjito said.

The five Indonesian students who won the gold medals were Richard Akira Heru of Bernadus elementary school in Semarang, Peter Young of Santa Maria elementary school in Surabaya, Stefano Chiesa of Theresia elementary school in Jakarta, Chrrista L Susanto of Tirta Marta Penabur elementary school in Jakarta and Fransisca Susan of Santa Ursula elementary school in Jakarta. The silver medal was won by Reynaldi of Kemang Pratama Al Azhar elementary school in Bekasi, West Java.