First Asean cyberkids camp opens new possibilities

The inaugural Asean Cyberkids Camp (ACC) 2008 launched last Monday at the Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers brought together 120 school children accompanied by their teachers from nine countries across the Asean region.

Jointly organised by the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry (KTAK), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM), with Maxis Communications Bhd, the ACC is aimed at bridging the digital divide.

Maxis CEO Sandip Das said the ACC was an extension of the Maxis Cyberkids Camp that is a flagship project of the company’s corporate social responsibility programme, launched five years ago.

Opening gambit:Chinese drumsperformance bysome of thechildren.

“The camp is a 100% Malaysian programme that has spread across Asean countries. It’s an ideal activity to promote regional integration and cooperation,” said Sandip.

To date, the Maxis Cyberkids Camp has trained more than 7,000 students between nine and 14 on basic communication technology (ICT) and Internet skills, and also teachers from over 1,300 schools across Malaysia.

The participating countries were Brunei Darulsalam, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Sandip said the camp was more than just ICT training as it also taught children about teamwork and leadership skills.

“It’s our hope that we can help move some of the remote community forward and ultimately bridging the digital gap,” he added.

The camp was launched by Energy, Water, and Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Halim Man. Also present was SKMM chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie.

Halim said that since the implementation of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project in the mid 90s, one of the flagship applications was the smart school project that focused on ICT in learning.

He expressed hope for the ACC to be an ideal platform to exchange ideas and bringing the best out of the children.

“We see a lot of rural children joining this programme and it’s interesting to have children from various countries coming under one roof.

Halim Man said it was the organiser’s hope to open the children’s eyes to new possibilities.

Each participating country was represented by a team of four students and a teacher. A total of 10 teams represented Malaysia at the regional camp.