Lionel holding up his championship awards for photographers after the competition at SMK St Thomas.

KUCHING: An unshakable confidence was the driving force behind Lionel Jesson Bolrahman’s crowning as champion of the state-level Petrosains Science Show Competition here yesterday.

The 17-year-old student from SMK Lake, Bau, told reporters at the competition venue at SMK St Thomas that this was his second chance at proving that he was capable enough to join the competition at national level.

“I initially had mixed feelings about joining before because I was busy preparing for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination which is coming soon, and my friends who joined me last year did not want to join again this year.

“However, my teacher Cikgu Chung Sze Meang was a huge supporter and told me never to give up and always try until I succeed,” Lionel said when asked on his recipe for success.

While obviously excited with his win, he believed he could help to defend Sarawak’s place as champion of the competition again. SMK Tun Abdul Razak was crowned as national champion last year.

Lionel presented a science video demonstration about friction, pressure, refraction and reflection.

The Petrosains Science Show Competition was organised to promote effective and informal learning methods among secondary school students and was open to all secondary students in the entire nation.

Participants were required to present a science concept that they had learnt in school as creatively as possible for 15 minutes.

This year marked the most participation recorded, reaching a total of 900 participants from the entire nation compared to 2014’s participation of 600 students.

Also present at the event was State Education Department head of co-curiculum unit Abit Hong, Bank Rakyat (East Malaysia Islamic Banking) territory manager Abdul Malek Abdullah and West Malaysia Petrosains Playmart head Rahimah Umar Rauf.