Sarawak: Coding competitions such as the recently-concluded BugCrusher Junior Coding Hackathon 2025 serve as platforms to nurture critical thinking and creativity among students, Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) chief executive officer Datuk Sudarnoto Osman said. He also expressed his hope that the programme would inspire students to become inventors, innovators, and problem-solvers in the future.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the BugCrusher Junior Coding Hackathon is a homegrown SDEC initiative in partnership with Realfun Learning Centre, and supported by the Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development Ministry (MEITD) and the TEGAS Community Innovation Learning (TCIL) programme. ‘Here, we witness the spark of innovation as young minds embrace logic and tackle complexity. And what makes BugCrusher even more special is the bond between students and teachers, working side-by-side through every sprint and submission,’ Osman said during his closing remarks at the end of the competition at Makeramai Makerspace.

This year’s competition, the sixth edition, spanned four months from March to July and featured a multi-stage format that included physical hackathons, online challenges, and teacher-led workshops. The event saw 1,272 participants, comprising 954 students and 318 teachers. Among them, 528 students and 176 teachers were from Sarawak, while 426 students and 142 teachers represented other Malaysian states.

Participants competed in two categories – the Junior Category (ages 10 to 12) using Scratch, and the Senior Category (ages 13 to 15) using HTML/CSS or Advanced Scratch.