BANDAR PUNCAK ALAM, 2nd SEPT: The sharp skills and brilliance of two brothers, Megat Imran and Megat Zaid Megat Mohd Khushairi, in playing chess have led them to be selected to represent Malaysia in the 9th Asian Schools Chess Championship.
The Exco for Education, Higher Educational and Human Capital Development Dr. Hasmah Ali handed over a donation worth RM7,000 to seven-year old Megat Imran, who will be competing under the Below-7 Category, and his five-year old brother, Megat Zaid, who will be competing under the Below-5 Category.
The Championship will commence from August 30th till September 6th.
“On behalf of the Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and the State Executive Council, I would like to congratulate our children, and pray for their success in the chess tournament,” said Halimah to TV Selangor after handing the cheque over to the Megat brothers at the Edu-Kids Al-Amin Islamic Kindergarten Care Centre.
Impressively, Megat Zaid is the sole representative of the nation in his category, while his brother along with two other players are in the latter.
Halimah hoped their success will be an inspiration to other young people in the nation to work hard at achieving great success in their respective fields of interest. As such, chess is a challenging game of wit and critical-thinking.
“I hope they can spark a new enthusiasm among the young people in their state. Chess is a fantastic way of sharpening one’s mind. Perhaps they will even carve history in Selangor and encourage more young bright sparks to dabble with their endeavours,” she said.
The Edu- Kids Al -Amin Islamic Kindergarten Care Centre is registered under Selangor’s Kindergarten Collaborative Council, and is included in the Tunas aid scheme.
Also present were Megat Imran and Megat Zaid’s proud parents, Megat Mohd Khusairi Megat Aris and Norashikin Arif, and the kindergarten principal, Norbaiti Pijar.
Megat Mohd Khushairi, 32, said the State Government’s contribution was significant for the family and had helped his sons out a lot with their preparations.
Kushairi said both his sons became serious with their chess games since last year, and are very active at participating in various local tournaments since early this year.
“Since January this year they’ve been playing strong with excellent improvements.”
The brothers achieved success in a number of tournaments and earned the titles Best Player (Megat Imran) and Best Young Player (Megat Zaid) respectively.
“I hope they will be at their top form in the tournament at Sri Lanka, and bring home a medal at least,” the boys’ father said.