Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Education contingent emerged as main champion in the national 49th Service Sports and Culture Council (MSKPPM) 2024 at the Sabah Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN) auditorium, here, recently.
It defeated nine other education teams from the peninsula in the competition which featured 11 games such badminton, futsal, soccer, and netball, among others.
Sabah also won four other awards, namely Best Vocalist Award, Best Drummer Award, Best Music Composition Award and Best Dance Group Award.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif who is also State Education Exco officiated the event and presented awards and prizes to the winners.
He was accompanied by State Education Department Director Datuk Raisin Saidin and Labuan Education Department Director Abidin Marjan.
“Congratulations to the Sabah State Education Department for hosting a large gathering from all over Malaysia involving more than 2,000 people from the Education Ministry and State Education Department from other states.
“What’s important is this competition can establish camaraderie among education service officers, principals, headmasters and teachers across the country who are present in Sabah,” he said.
“Sabah always wins and this is the specialty of our State where this year’s winning was a very good one showcasing great performance and may be highlighted at the international level,” Dr Mohd Arifin said.
The runner-up went to the Selangor Education Department Contingent which also won the Best Bass Award, Best Percussion and Best Female Dancer Award followed by Labuan Federal Territory Education Contingent and the Sarawak Education Contingent in third and fourth places respectively. Despite only being in fourth place, the Bumi Kenyalang Contingent was still proud of their success after winning the Best Guitarist Award and the Best Male Dancer.
Meanwhile, the Best Keyboard Award and the Best Fashion Award were won by the Kedah Contingent. The 49th MSKPPM showcased the best performances from 10 contingents from Pahang, Perak, Kedah, Kelantan, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Labuan, Selangor, Sabah, Sarawak and the Malaysian Ministry of Education Sports and Culture Association (MESCA).
