MR D.I.Y. Group (M) Bhd (“MR D.I.Y.”), Malaysia’s favourite home improvement retailer and Universiti Malaya’s Community & Sustainability Centre (UMCares) announced Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Iskandar Shah in Jasin, Melaka as the winner of the 5th `DIY Made Simple 2021’ competition. Students of SMK Iskandar Shah emerged as winner for their creative creation of ‘Mobile Recycle Bin’ project.

DIY Made Simple

DIY Made Simple is an annual competition supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia. The competition calls for secondary school students to find ways to improve their schools’ facilities through do-it-yourself projects using recycled materials. 

Competition in phases

The ‘DIY Made Simple’ competition was launched in January 2021 in four phases. The first phase saw 105 teams register and submit their video entries. Then, a panel of judges comprising representatives from Universiti Malaya (UM), MR D.I.Y. and the MOE evaluated these submissions and shortlisted 28 teams for a proposal presentation in the second phase.

To transform the students’ ideas into reality, eight finalists were then selected and worked with lecturers from the UM’s Faculty of Built Environment in Phase Three.  Finally, the Grand Finale in Phase Four was held on Wednesday (8 December 2021) to announce the winners at a closing ceremony in UM.

SMK Iskandar Shah, the winner

This year, SMK Iskandar Shah beat 105 other schools from 13 states in the “Green School – Reimagining Plastic Waste For the 21st Century Classroom” themed competition. 

The 10-member team from the winning school bagged the Gold Prize of RM4,500 cash for their ‘Mobile Recycle Bin’ project. 

On the other hand, Kolej Profesional Dungun, Terengganu and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ade Putra, Melaka had a tie in second place to win the Silver Prize of RM3,000 each.

Additionally, the 5 finalists who entered Phase 3 also received RM500 in MR.D.I.Y. vouchers while the Top 3 teams received RM1,500 MR.D.I.Y. vouchers each.

A total of 9 schools were awarded during the ceremony.

Not just a competition

MR D.I.Y. Group Chairman, Dato’ Azlam Shah Alias said that this competition not only challenges students’ creativity and critical thinking skills to innovate out-of-the-box sustainable inventions but also encourages soft skills development such as communication, teamwork, and leadership. He emphasised that the students and schools would benefit from it the most.

Throughout the competition, I’m happy to see students gaining personal growth, as they improve on their soft skills. In line with our DIY culture, we also hope the students can contribute to the betterment of society. This starts from helping to improve their schools’ facilities, and always preserving the environment in which we live. As they grow, we hope to see them becoming individuals with a strong sense of community, who are ready to help those who are in need.

MR D.I.Y. Group Chairman, Dato’ Azlam Shah Alias

The chairman also said that the group is delighted with the results of the successful collaboration with UM over the past 5 years to inculcate the awareness of going green as well as the do-it-yourself (DIY) culture among young generations, which is in line with MR D.I.Y. ‘s sustainability goals, under the environment pillar.

All in, it’s all about educating our young generation and creating a better environment for a better Malaysia, and we hope to do more of that in years to come.

Dato’ Azlam Shah Alias

Determination to excel despite the pandemic

Universiti Malaya Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research & Innovation, Prof. Dr Sabri Musa said that they are impressed by the students, who had demonstrated courage and determination to excel in any situation as the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many hindrances to student development activities

According to Prof. Dr Sabri Musa, they still receive responses from schools throughout Malaysia despite the pandemic, especially with the movement restrictions nationwide.

Kudos to the organising committee, for making these adjustments swiftly while continuing our mission to encourage creativity and innovation among the students.

Universiti Malaya Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research & Innovation, Prof. Dr Sabri Musa

MR D.I.Y. Historic book launch 

The event is made even more historic with the launch of the book, titled “DIY Projects: Design Ideas For Community”. The publication of this book is a commemoration of the close-knitted collaboration between MR D.I.Y. and Universiti Malaya from 2017 until today. It features the winning projects of the DIY Made Simple competition from 2017 to 2020.

We hope MR D.I.Y. will continue to collaborate with us as their academic partners, to develop programmes for the benefits of the community. Community projects like ‘DIY Made Simple’ would not be successful without the support of various parties. As we continue our efforts in developing the nation, we look forward to working with multiple parties under the “quadruple helix collaboration”, which involves universities, communities, industries, and ministries in the implementation of such programmes in the future.

Prof. Dr Sabri Musa

At the closing ceremony, the organisers also announced that the 6^th “DIY Made Simple 2022” will be happening next year.

MR D.I.Y. is a home-grown enterprise with 878 stores nationwide across three brands (MR. D.I.Y., MR. DOLLAR & MR. TOY) and in Brunei. The home improvement retailer has been dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of its valued customers by offering convenience at all of its stores nationwide.  

For more information on MR D.I.Y., visit its website, Facebook, or Instagram.