SMS Muzaffar Syah

Sekolah Menengah Sains Muzaffar Syah (English: Muzaffar Syah Science Secondary School) or MOZAC is the only science school and one of the two fully residential schools (Sekolah Berasrama Penuh) in the state of Malacca, Malaysia. Established in 1973 under the Second Malaysia Plan, it is the first boarding school in Malacca. The school is widely known as MOZAC and the students bears the name Muzaffarians. In 2010, the school was awarded with the Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi or High Performance School,^[1] a title awarded to the 20 schools in Malaysia that have met stringent criteria including academic achievement, strength of alumni, international recognition, network and linkages. The school is specialised in green technology, agriculture, robotics and electronics.^[2] Its performance in the 2013 Penilaian Menengah Rendah examination was the best in Melaka with GPS 1.04 (104 from 135 students gaining straight A's).^[3] while for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia is still the best in Melaka with GPS of 1.85.^[4][5] Most of the students became engineers and doctors.

History

The school was established in 1973 under the Second Malaysia Plan. It was built on the top of a hilly area in Ayer Keroh, Malacca, at 121.9 meters above sea level and in an area encompassing 12.9 hectare. The buildings were completed in 1976. It was officially opened by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Melaka in 1983 as Sekolah Menengah Sains Melaka.^[6]

The first batch consisted of 120 Form 1 students and 160 Form 4 students who started on 5 January 1973 at a temporary location, Sekolah Menengah Munsyi Abdullah. The students were then transferred to Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor, Kluang, Johor because the buildings in Ayer Keroh were not completed. At first, the school had 22 classes, office, library, staff room, language lab, media room, counselling room, koperasi, living skills workshop for Ekonomi Rumah Tangga (ERT) and Kemahiran Manipulatif Tambahan (KMT), dentist room, sick bay, hostel office and others. In 2001, Al-Abrar surau was built and officially opened by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Melaka as well as the construction of spotlights in the school, hostel and field. The school was provided with free Wi-Fi service by the Melaka government to encourage the spread of information and communications technology (ICT) among students.

In 1976, the school was entrusted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to conduct its matriculation course. The matriculation courses were carried out for SPM school leavers who wanted to pursue their studies in the university's Faculty of Medicine. The first batch of matriculation consisted of 102 students from all over the country.

The name Sekolah Menengah Sains Melaka was changed to Sekolah Menengah Sains Muzaffar Syah in October 1983, a denomination given after the fourth Sultan of Melaka Sultanate, Muzaffar Shah of Malacca. Muzaffar also means 'winning' in Arabic. In 1998, the school was grouped as one of the 88 Smart Schools in Malaysia.

In 2007, MOZAC field was utilised as the training ground for the winning Manchester United during 2007 Champions Youth Cup and was upgraded. A landslide, however, occurred later that year. Most of the upper side of the field was severely affected, causing the field to lose it firmness.^[7] In 2008, the school was granted the title Cluster School followed by the prestigious High Performance School in 2010.

MOZAC acronym

Sekolah Menengah Sains Muzaffar Syah is renowned for its catchy acronym, MOZAC. The history goes back to 1999 when the school was acknowledged as the best in the country based on the 1998 SPM results.^[8] The current Prime Minister of Malaysia, then Education Minister, Dato' Seri Haji Mohamad Najib Razak, flew by a chopper and landed on the school field to announce the news.^[9] Due to the performance that year, the school was promoted to change its given name to Muzzafar College, which serves as the basis for the acronym MOZAC. Due to the fact that it is the only science school in Melaka, the State Education Department objected to the name change.^[10] Even though the name was not changed, the acronym remains widely used.

Student life

There are seven student bodies in MOZAC. There are Prefects' Board, Missionary and Spiritual Board (BADRI), House's System Board, Librarian Board, KOSMOZ Board and Peer Counselors (PRS). The leaders of BADRI and House's system are included under Prefects Board as they are influential bodies in the school, below the prefects.

There are four houses in MOZAC: Bendahara (Yellow), Syahbandar (Green), Temenggung (Red) and Laksamana (Blue). Previously, before the school being renamed, the school house were named as Beta, Omega, Sigma and Alpha.

The sports that are famous in MOZAC is rugby (MOZAC DRAGON), basketball (MOZAC KNIGHTS), softball, volleyball (MOZAC SPIKERS), netball (MOZAC TITANIUM), and football. Others sports played by the students include hockey [ (MOHOC)], sepak takraw and badminton. The uniform bodies is all-boys Persatuan Kadet Bersatu Malaysia (PKBM), all-girls Persatuan Puteri Islam (PPI), Kadet Remaja Sekolah Malaysia (KRS), Air Scouts, Kadet Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (KAPA), Malaysian Red Crescent Society (PBSM) and Wind Orchestra (WO).

The niche area of MOZAC is Research and Development (R&D). Earlier, when it received Cluster School status, there were three niche areas: k-teroka (R & D), e-Mozac (ICT) and e-Tinta (Writing). The three were combined to a single R&D in 2012. In recent years, MOZAC has been known for pioneering other schools in this area. In 2009, the school produced its own thumb drive called i-Mozac (not to be confused with Apple's products). The lamp in the school is fully use LED assembled by the students. Then, it is known for its robotics and F1 in Schools program. Recently, the school started to do research involving the-potential of green technology.

The school WO team made it to the Wind Orchestra Finale in 2002 and 2003. The best conductor award was given to the school in 2002 and fourth out of eight team in 2003.

Former notable students

• Datuk Wira Ir. Idris Haron, Chief Minister of Melaka^[11]
• Dato' Dr. Ma'amor Bin Osman, General Secretary of Muslim consumer Association of Malaysia^[12]
• Professor Dr A Rahman A Jamal, project leader of the Malaysian Cohort, one of the three experiments brought by Angkasawan Malaysia, Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor to space^[13]
• Dr. Jaafar Jantan - Anugerah Akademik Negara (Malaysia National Academic Award) 2010 recipient^[14]
• Dato’ Dr Abd Latif Mohmod - Director-General of Forest Research Institute Malaysia^[15]
• Prof. Datuk Dr. Ismail Sagap - Receipent of Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons^[16]

References

External links

• Official website