Jointly reported by:
New Zhi Xuan Jr3Z(4)
Soon Yu Xuan Sr3ScB
Photography by: Kuen Cheng Photography Club
On the 20th of May 2023, Kuen Cheng High School Academic Department organised a Batu Seremban Competition. The competition was divided into Junior and Senior Groups. The Junior group was attended by Junior Middle 2 students while the Senior group was attended by Senior Middle 3 students.
As for the Junior group, the competition was held from 8am to 10am. As the participants started arriving at the competition venue, which is C902, the teachers assigned them to sit in circles. At 8.15 am, the first round of competition started, the participants took turns to attempt 7 levels of difficulty. If the participant failed to complete any level of difficulty, they should pass their turn to the next person. After 20 minutes of intense competition, the teachers announced that the first round of competition has come to an end.
At 8.40 am, the teachers reassigned each participant into a new group. The second round of competition started at 8.50 am. 20 minutes later, the second round had ended, the committee members collected the results from each group. Then the teachers announced the participants who have entered the finals. The participants were then divided into 3 groups, they had 15 minutes to attempt to complete all 7 levels of difficulty. During the final round, several participants also surrounded the competitors to watch the exciting competition.
At 9.45 am, the competition finally ended, the committee members gathered together to summarise the results. After 5 minutes, the teachers announced the 3 winners of the competition. Despite not winning the competition, the other participants gave a big round of applause to the winners to congratulate them.
Junior Section
In the Senior section of the Batu Seremban competition, the participants arrived at C902 before 10.30 am to take their attendance. After Cikgu Siti demonstrated each level of difficulty for Batu Seremban, the participants were asked to sit in circles of 4 as well, and each group was assigned an AJK, or the Academic Department’s committee member to maintain the fairness of the game.
The participants needed to scatter the 5 stones on the floor before each level began, and their hands could not touch the other stones while playing the game. The most complicated level of difficulty for Batu Seremban was the 6th level, where the participants needed to “exchange” the stones by throwing 2 stones at one time, and placing one on the floor while picking up another one, then catching 2 stones.
After a 20-minute round of competition, the teachers announced the students who made it to the second round of competition. The participants who made it to the second round were reassigned their circles, and another round of competition began to determine the champions of Batu Seremban.
The competition ended after 20 minutes, and the three winners were declared. Ng Sue Kee and Chan Yong Tong from Sr3ScA got the 1st and 2nd place respectively, while Pua Wai Kit from Sr3ScC got the 3rd place. Although some of the participants lost the competition, all of them clapped to cheer on the winner’s victory, as friendship comes first.
Ng Sue Kee, who got first place, recalled that she started playing Batu Seremban when she was in Primary 5, and stopped playing for a while after entering high school. Sue Kee decided to participate in the Bulan Bahasa activities because it was her last year in high school, and she chose Batu Seremban because she was the most familiar with it.
Chan Yong Tong, who got second place, stated that she used to play a different version of Batu Seremban in her childhood. She was very surprised when she won second place because she just wanted to try out playing Batu Seremban, and said that she enjoyed the process of playing Batu Seremban with the group she was assigned to.
Senior Section