PETALING JAYA: Six young Malaysians have done the country proud at the prestigious 16th International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) 2019 in Doha, Qatar, clinching one silver and five bronze medals.

Organised by Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in collaboration with Qatar University, the IJSO saw the participation of 409 secondary school students from 70 countries.

Chin Jia Yao and Amelia Jade Mae-Xian Lim were among the team of six who represented Malaysia in the competition open to students under the age of 16.

They were the best students chosen from two preliminary rounds – the Kancil Science Competition (KSC) and the Malaysian Junior Science Olympiad (MyJSO).

During the IJSO from Dec 3 to 12, the participants went through 12 hours of assessment, in which they were required to answer 30 multiple-choice questions, a theoretical test and a practical (experiment) test.

Jia Yao, who is Malaysia’s silver medallist, described it as an amazing experience to be able to witness people from many countries coming together to participate in the IJSO.

“It was quite stressful at first since this was the first Olympiad I took part in. Still, I enjoyed the learning process.

“I felt honoured to be able to represent Malaysia at the international stage, ” added the 15-year-old from Chung Hwa Independent High School, Kuala Lumpur.

Amelia is a second-year participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme, run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) team.

“When I first competed in the KSC, I never thought I would make it this far. Through IJSO, I realise my passion for the sciences on top of my love for journalism, ” said bronze medallist Amelia, 15, from Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International).

“I was really proud of the Malaysian team because everyone won a medal, ” she said.

The other bronze medallists – all aged 15 – are Tay Yi Cong from Chung Hwa Independent High School, Lai Bo Wei from SMJK Chung Ling, and Imran Adham Azmin and Haris Dani Erwin Dani from Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara.

Last year, only one out of six Malaysian representatives won the IJSO – the first time Malaysia took part in the competition.

The IJSO is among 12 commonly recognised International Science Olympiads.

It is the only Science Olympiad that covers all three sciences – Biology, Chemistry and Physics – in one examination.

It aims to promote and reward the pursuit of excellence in scientific endeavour and stimulate gifted students to further develop their talents in Natural Sciences.