Crestar’s Abacus competition back after 2-year break

Crestar Learning Centre every year gives its Abacus & Mental Arithmetic students an opportunity to test their skills in a competition designed to nurture their speed and accuracy in calculations.

The competition, which was suspended in the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, resumed on 9 July 2022 and attracted participants aged five to 17. It was divided into five categories for Kindergarten, Primary 1, Primary 2, Primary 3 & 4, and Primary 5 and above.

Each participant was given a set of questions which they had to solve within five minutes. They could choose to use either the abacus or mental calculation to provide the answers. The difficulty level vary according to the age categories.

Winners were announced and a prize presentation ceremony was conducted after the event. Top scorers foe each category received a trophy each while the rest of the participants, each walked away with a medal as an encouragement.

“Speed is the main factor in this competition, as our aim is to help the students develop their concentration and agility to calculate correctly and quickly.

“We want them to learn from the competition that the journey is a process, not an endpoint. Every success is just another stepping stone to the next point along the way to higher achievements,” said Ms Ng, abacus teacher from Crestar Learning Centre.

Feedback from the students was very positive and encouraging. Primary 1 student Wang Shirui said she was very excited as it was the first time she had taken part in such a competition.

Qi Shan, a primary 3 student, said “I like mental calculation very much. I look forward to trying my best again in next year’s competition.”