More Than a Win — MPI Team Spreads Courage to Speak Up Against Bullying

Representing MPI, her team walked away with a trophy and an RM200 cash prize. But the material prize was nothing compared to the sense of achievement they felt.

“We did not expect to win. We just wanted to have a sense of achievement and have fun. To be placed third — that was really a blessing,” she said.

The MPI team comprised Tie Wi Zhi from the Diploma in Business Information System, Mika Hii Zyi from the Diploma in Social Work, Sammi Lim Siew Siew from the Diploma in Computer Science, and Audrey herself from the Diploma in Business Management.

Audrey said that when MPI staff put up a notice about the competition, she was immediately interested in being part of it. But she needed to form a team of four people.

“So, I started asking my friends and managed to find three who were willing to join me, and that was how we formed a team,” she said.

Most of them only had basic drawing and painting skills, but there was no shortage of creative minds. In fact, Audrey already had some ideas she wanted to work on.

However, as it was a team effort, she presented her idea while also listening to the ideas and feedback from her team members and lecturers.

The theme for the contest was anti-bullying. After spending time researching, they came up with a strong message — “Do Not Be a By-Stander.”

According to Mika, their poster called for everyone, especially the victims, to speak up and fight against bullying.

“We should be courageous enough to speak up. In the poster, we explained the types of bullying, and if they have experienced it, don’t be afraid to speak up as there are people who can help and support them,” she said.

From their research, they identified five types of bullying — social bullying, cyberbullying, money bullying, physical bullying, and verbal bullying.

Audrey said she started putting all five types of bullying onto paper. They also asked for their lecturers’ advice and received helpful feedback.

“From there, we made some changes from the original idea. The poster that we presented for the competition was an improved version,” she said.

They started the drawing process on September 31, and it took three days to complete.

The painting sessions were held on October 7, 10, 13, and 16. It took a lot of time and effort — several hours each day — to complete the painting.

Audrey, who started the team, was there the whole time, guiding and motivating the team to keep going until the project was finished.

“It can be tiring and quite stressful. We needed to arrange our time — whenever we were free, we would paint, though sometimes we couldn’t paint together.

“I always tried to make an effort to be with my team members and paint together because I didn’t want them to feel that they were doing it alone. We needed to keep this motivation alive,” she pointed out.

On October 19, the viewing of the posters began at 8.30am. There were nine participating teams — six secondary schools and three colleges and universities from Sibu.

The scoring system for the competition was a combination of judges’ scores (70%), public voting (30%), and presentation (20%).

At the event, participating teams were required to give a 3–5 minute presentation on their posters.

The MPI team was the last to present. All of them went up to the stage and delivered the presentation they had prepared and practised the day before.

Each of them had their own section to speak on.

“We were nervous. Some of us were so scared to present, but I told them that this is a group effort — we must go up to show that this is our team’s work. I was so nervous that I forgot how to conclude, and Mika did the conclusion for me,” she recalled.

They explained the story behind the poster, the patterns, the use of colour, and so forth.

Before 10am, all participating teams received medals and certificates of participation, but everyone was waiting for the top three winners to be announced.

When third place was announced, MPI was called out.

“We did not expect it at all, but we were so happy to get third place. To achieve this, we really relied on our teamwork and the support from our lecturers,” she said.

Audrey said that she learned many things from this experience — from leadership and communication to improving her painting skills.

For Wi Zhi, she learned to enhance her creativity — from mixing colours to coming up with new ideas and expressing them effectively.

Sammi also said she improved her drawing and painting skills. She believed the competition also improved her communication skills and taught her to accept ideas that were better for the success of the project.

Mika, on the other hand, said she improved her watercolour painting skills. She shared that her father was her greatest supporter.

“I always asked for his opinions — what were the things I could improve — and he always gave me good advice,” she said.

Despite their different experiences, they all spoke with one voice — that no one should be a bystander when it comes to the issue of bullying.