RI grabs 2 golds at math contest

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 05/31/2006 1:50 PM

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua

The host team finished second in the individual category at this year's Elementary Mathematics International Contest in Bali, which ended Tuesday.

In the individual category, with 135 representatives of 11 countries, the Indonesian team finished in second place, with two gold medals, four silvers and nine bronzes. It also received 11 honorable mentions in the contest held in Nusa Dua from May 26 to 29.

Chinese Taipei came in first, with three gold medals, four silvers and seven bronzes; while Hong Kong finished third with two golds, one silver and one bronze.

The home team consisted of 35 students from nine provinces, including Bali, Jakarta and Yogyakarta. Indonesia's Toby Moektijono and Jeven Syatriadi won the gold medals.

In the team category, Chinese Taipei also won first place with four trophies, followed by Bulgaria with two trophies and Hong Kong with one trophy.

Other countries represented at the contest were the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Cyprus, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Thailand, Nigeria and Bulgaria.

The first elementary mathematics contest was held in Thailand in 2003. Last year, it was held in the Philippines.

""We are very happy with the results, because all participants are their country's best students,"" Elvira, the chairman of the Indonesian team, said.

Four members of the Indonesian team are from Yogyakarta, where more than 5,000 people died in an earthquake Saturday.

Claudia, one of the team members from Yogyakarta, was shocked by the news, but relieved to hear that all members of her family were safe.

Wen-Hsien Sun from Taiwan, the founder of the math contest, told The Jakarta Post that its main objective was to encourage children to study and love mathematics.

""Asian schools have a reputation of burdening their students with heavy schedules, too much homework and extracurricular activities, which puts the children under stress,"" he said.

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