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 ESU Malaysia - Press Release
From The Star Online > Education: Sunday
June 4, 2006
A NEAR MISS
Although they did not grab the top prizes, two
Malaysian teens did the country proud at a public speaking competition
in London, reports CHOI TUCK WO.
IT WAS a classic case of “so near, yet so far” for
K. Saranya, one of Malaysia’s top public speakers.
The Form Five student of SMK Sultan Badlishah in
Kulim had come within a whisker of snatching the coveted Winner’s Cup
in the International Public Speaking Competition 2006 Finals in London.
Yet, she let it slip out of her hands despite
being one of the eight finalists out of 55 speakers from 33 countries
vying for top place in the competition’s 25th edition recently.
But the 16-year-old schoolgirl – one of the
youngest contestants – can take comfort that she had beaten much older
rivals in the nail-biting heats to reach the finals. A visibly-dejected
Saranya admitted she was disappointed at not winning one of the four
awards.
“But I’m happy all the same as it had been a great
experience to compete against some of the world’s best speakers.
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| Participants of the public
speaking competition pose in front of Dartmouth House, including
Malaysian representatives Saranya (standing, front row, third from
left) with Sabella beside her. |
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“I felt that I had given it my best shot but
probably it was still not good enough,” she said.
But Saranya had no regrets coming to London which
she described as a beautiful city with friendly and helpful people.
“I’ve learnt the different cultures and tradition
from the other contestants from countries such as India, Pakistan and
the Netherlands.
“They don’t treat us as competitors but rather as
friends,” she added.
Sterling performance
Saranya and Sabella Mohd Sukarno had won an
all-expenses paid trip to London after emerging runner-up and champion
respectively in the English Speaking Union of Malaysia (Esum)-The
Star-HSBC Public Speaking Competition 2006 in Kuala Lumpur in March.
For Sabella, she came away a much better person
despite being edged out in the heats.
“There’s going to be only one winner but at least
I get to return home richer with experience,” said the 19-year-old HELP
University College student from Kuala Lumpur who was the champion in
the national finals in Kuala Lumpur.
Sabella described her trip as fun and interesting
as she got to meet peers from countries as diverse as Bulgaria,
Armenia, Czech Republic and Argentina.
“It’s great that people from multi-national
countries can hang out together despite their cultural differences,”
she said.
During their four-day stay in London, they were
taken to witness a live debate at the Houses of Parliament, watched a
play The Woman in Black and attended workshops and a mock
parliamentary debate.
In the heats, Saranya and Sabella were placed in
the same group, where they had to compete against each other as well as
12 opponents from India, the Netherlands, Georgia, Hong Kong,
Mauritius, Morocco and Moldova. Both Malaysians put up a sterling
performance, showing no sign of stage jitters despite facing a world
audience.
Their inspiring speeches relating to the theme Mapping
the Global Future were laced with anecdotes and witty remarks,
drawing laughter from the floor. However, as only two speakers from
each of the four heats were selected for the finals, only Saranya made
it, along with India’s Laxman Phansalkar.
Iron ladies
Saranya convinced the judges and audience to give
the youth a chance to rule the world with her simple yet powerful
speech on The Future In The Hands of Teenagers.
A strong advocate for the young, she pleaded for
teenagers to be given the opportunity to shape the global future.
“Teenagers are misunderstood by almost everyone. I
just want the people to see them in a different light,” she declared.
Saranya spoke passionately about what she called
her vision of a cool education system which puts facts and fun together
that teenagers could relate to.
“So, good riddance to thick and heavy textbooks
and howdy raptory, hip maths and rock science,” she said, referring to
a mixture of words of rap and history, hip-hop and maths as well as
rock & roll and science.
And her dream of “making history out of history,
becoming scientific out of science and having more chemistry in
chemistry class” brought applause all round.
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| Sabella delivering her speech
during the heats. |
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Sabella also put up a strong fight with her
gripping speech on the global poor, women and the disadvantaged
entitled Including the Excluded. Exuding charm and
confidence, the A-Level economics student spoke of the Malaysian
experience where thousands flocked to churches and temples during the
recent Good Friday and New Year of the Buddhists and Hindus.
“We prayed together for prosperity, including the
excluded. Diverse yet undivided,” she said. She also endeared herself
to the audience when highlighting Malaysia’s very own iron ladies,
including “my late grandmother who was president of the national
women’s football association.”
Earlier, the heats were held at the English
Speaking Union’s (ESU) international headquarters in Dartmouth House in
London’s Mayfair and the finals at Grosvenor Building in Grosvenor
Street.
Russia-St Petersburg’s Konstantin Lazutin won the
Winner’s Cup with his brilliant rendition of Starvation, while the
runner-up and Audience’s Choice went to first-timer Arty Papageorgiou
of New Zealand who spoke on Parrot the Parrot.
The Best Non-Native English Speaker was Sergiu
Stefan of Romania-Bucharest with Self-Extinction.
Chief judge was Lady Baroness Virginia Bottomley
who presented prizes to the winners, while ESU director-general Valerie
Mitchell gave the closing remarks.
Organised by ESU to promote global understanding
and friendship through English, the local competition in Malaysia was
jointly organised and sponsored by The Star, HSBC Bank
Malaysia and Esum.
DEBATING
DIARY
May 17: After an English
breakfast at the President Hotel, we departed for Dartmouth House (DH)
and reached there at about 9.30 am. We were divided into three groups
for the Parliamentary Debate;The Liberals, The Nationalists and The
Socialists. I was in the Socialist group. The title of our debate was
“Writing the Alocosian Constitution”. As the socialists, our task was
to debate that English and Alocosian will have equal status on
signposts and in government literature. At 7.45pm, we watched the play The
Woman in Black. It was very enjoyable!
May 18: We arrived at the Houses
of Parliament at 10am to watch a real parliamentary debate. However, we
were not allowed to take any pictures! At 12noon, we returned to the DH
and our debate at 2pm and the Socialists won! Later in the evening, I
went out with my cousin Shanti whom I’ve never seen! She took me
shopping (Borders, Top Shop and Harrods) and then we had dinner at a
Japanese restaurant, Wagamama. The food was great!
May 19: This was it! The day I
was waiting for had finally come. We arrived at DH at 9am. We were
briefed that there would be four concurrent heats. I was in the 1st
heat with 13 other participants. At 12.45pm, the finalists were
announced. I nearly screamed when they called out my name as a
finalist! At 1.45pm, the eight finalists departed DH for the
Headquarters of Grosvenor for the Grand Final. After another two hours
of speaking, the winners were announced. Although I did not win, I was
congratulated by the Chief Judge for a very enjoyable speech despite my
young age. The fun did not end after the competition. We partied until
3am!
May 20: Our final day was a very
sad one. Many group pictures were taken and e-mail addresses exchanged.
We plan to have a reunion next year. – BY K SARANYA
SPRING IN LONDON
ALTHOUGH I was disappointed at not making the grand final I was happy
for Saranya. What mattered most was that all of us gave our best. And
what an exciting final it turned out to be at Grosvenor House. Speeches
that ranged from commercialism to parrots shed new light on otherwise
mundane subjects.
The competition aside, so-called 'spring' in London was a bad mood
swing of the weather (wet, sunny, windy- in no particular order). But
minus Mother Nature’s minor glitch, London was wicked! After our
workshops, a group of us headed to the Buckingham Palace where a guard
passed out, then to Soho and Leicester Square where we rested at
Starbucks, then to meet my sister who brought me for tea at Harrods -
before finally dashing to the theatre. That night, I was truly spooked
(by the show) and exhausted.
We visited the House of Commons the following day. The MPs discussed
the single farm payment - a tad bit boring. Good thing it was nearby
Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and a street of anti-war
protestors. Saranya and I then visited the whole stretch of stores from
Oxford Circus to Bond Street.
The morning of departure, I met up with some friends from home who
brought me to the Malaysian Food Festival at Covent Garden. It was such
an honour to see our flag waving proudly at each stall - one of which
sold cappuccino Tongkat Ali!
At the end of the trip, I felt like I had known these people all my
life. Until today, I still remember their distinct accents, energetic
spirits and excellent sportsmanship.
Funny how we come from as far as the other side of the world, but we
share so much in common – the English language really does break down
barriers that set nations apart. Above all, my gratitude goes out to
the sponsors for the experience of meeting the world in London.
– BY SABELLA SUKARNO
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