Event to boost mental literacy of Malaysians

Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement chairman Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik (first from left) and LBS Bina Group managing director Tan Sri Lim Hock San (third from left) visits booths at the Malaysia Festival of the Mind (Kuala Lumpur) launch on July 8 at TAR UC.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Festival of the Mind (MFotM) is back for the 13th year running to boost the mental literacy of Malaysians.

Themed “Great Mind”, the MFofM was launched at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) and will be held here till today.

Organised by the Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement (MMLM), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and TAR UC, the event aims to develop thinking, memory and creativity skills through the empowerment of the mind.

MMLM chairman Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik said: “The MFotM demonstrates brain skills and importantly, memory.”

Dr Ling, who is also UTAR chancellor and founder, encouraged the public to master the art of picturing what they wish to remember.

“(This way) you will remember it for a long time,” he said.

LBS Bina Group Bhd managing director Tan Sri Lim Hock San, who launched the event, said the festival was an annual educational platform which raised mental literacy levels.

“Our brain has the ability to store unlimited information, and the more we learn, the smarter we become. The more we exercise our brain, the fitter it becomes,” he said.

Lim said maintaining mental fitness was as crucial as keeping a routine workout for physical fitness.

There was also a prize-giving ceremony for the winners of the Mind Competitions 2017, held on April 15 at the UTAR Sungai Long campus.

Random Letters of Alphabet (children’s category) special prize winner Muhammad Naqib Muazad, nine, said he did not expect to win because the competition was challenging.

“We were given a piece of paper with patterns on them, which we had to memorise and then draw them out. I enjoyed it because I wanted to improve my mental skills,” he said.

Ng Yi Jing had previously participated twice in the competition, winning consolation prizes.

This year, the 11-year-old walked home as the first prize winner under the mental calculation category.

She was accompanied by her father Ng Hon Leong, who said Yi Jing had become more confident by taking part in the competition.

Subsequent MFotM events will be held on July 15 and 16 at UTAR, Kampar; and Nov 3 to 5, at the Mines International Exhibition and Con­ven­tion Centre.

It will feature, among others, products, programmes and activities related to mental literacy, the Third Inter-Varsity Sudoku Tournament and mind games.

Trainers and speakers – including Asia’s top International Master of Memory Huang Sheng Hua from China – will be present to introduce various techniques and skills in the improvement of mental literacy.

For more information, log onto https://www.utar.edu.my/mmlm.