RI wins golds in Physics Olympiad

RI wins golds in Physics Olympiad

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian team won four of the 14 gold medals on offer in
the sixth Asian Physics Olympiad (APHO) in Pekanbaru, Riau. The
other gold medals went to Thailand with two medals, Taiwan with
one and China with seven gold medals.

APHO President Yohanes Surya praised the team's performances,
and added that physics was generally considered one of the
toughest subjects in school and one that many students will do
their utmost to avoid if they can.

"The performances by the Indonesian team were good because we
won four gold medals out of our early target of two," Yohanes was
quoted on Sunday by Antara news agency.

The four gold medals were won by Ali Sucipto, a student of SMA
Xaverius high school in Palembang, Andika Putra Siwa, a student
of SMA Soetomo 1 Medan, Purnawirman, a student of SMAN 1
Pekanbaru and Michael Adrian, a student of SMA Regina Pacis,
Bogor.

Indonesian also won one silver courtesy of Yongki Utama, a
student of SMA Dian Harapan in Tangerang.

Three Indonesian participants -- Ario Prabowo, a student of
SMA Taruna Nusantara in Central Java town of Magelang; Thomas
Alva Edison, a student of SMAN 3 Bandung; and Bambang Dwi Putra,
a student from SMAN 1 Pekanbaru in Riau -- won bronze and the
other bronze medals were won by students from Vietnam, Kazakhtan,
Singapore and Taiwan.

The overall title in the competition was won by Chinese
student Fang Li, while the best in the theory category was won by
Lin Yi Hsun from Taiwan and best in experimentation went to Lin
Han Hsuan from Taiwan.

The test subjects were prepared by a team comprised of
scientists from local universities, the University of Indonesia,
Gadjah Mada University and the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo said he hoped
the Olympiad's winners would play a significant role in
developing technology and science, especially in Asia.

The Olympiad, which was opened by Vice President Jusuf Kalla
on April 26, had 118 participants from 18 countries.