Eight students 'stand up and speak out' at oratory contest

EIGHT upper secondary students were able to inform, entertain and persuade an audience yesterday through public speaking during the finals of an oratory competition held at Radio Television Brunei (RTB) headquarters.

Initially, 31 participants from 31 government and non-government schools took part in the oratory competition, however only eight of them went through to the finals.

The oratory competition was organised by the Information Department and the Brunei English Language Teachers' Association (Belta) for the third time in conjunction with the country's National Day Silver Jubilee celebrations, as part of an annual event.

Themed "Stand up and Speak out", the upper secondary students were able to expose an audience of younger students to the conventions of public speaking.

In his opening remarks, Director of Information Dr Muhd Hadi Muhd Melayong said: "I am pleased to mention that the competition continues to grow in strength each year." He added that there has definitely been visible improvements in the students' performances, as seen during the earlier rounds.

The overall winner who outshined her seven contestants was Louisa Lo from Chung Hwa Middle School, who spoke on the topic "National honour is national property of the greatest value".

"I am so surprised that I won because this was definitely unexpected. I only had less than a week to prepare for the finals," she said to The Brunei Times.

Speaking on the importance of participating in an oratory competition, the winner said that it is really important as it helps students portray their public speaking skills which will help in boosting their confidence.

The first runner-up was Nur Syazana Hj Md Fauzi from St James' School who spoke on the topic "The importance of wisdom and maturity in the lives of youths today".

"Oratory competitions are really important today to showcase and build up public speaking skills. However, youths in the country are very much shy natured and therefore, by speaking at these competitions, we can inspire them to overcome their shyness," said Nur Syazana.

She added: "We should encourage them by saying it's alright to speak in front of people and hopefully someday, they will be able to follow our footsteps."

Both winners received $150 and $100 respectively, as well as a certificate of participation and books for their schools. Louisa Lo took home the prestigious Pehin Abd Rahman Taib Trophy for winning the competition.

After the competition, inspiring presentations were given by two Malaysian guest speakers, who are part of a five-member delegation currently visiting the country under the Memorandum of Understanding between Brunei and Malaysia.

On hand to present the prizes to the winners was Deputy Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Dato Paduka Hj Hamdillah Hj Abd Wahab.

He said: "The urgency shown by the Department of Information and Belta in turning such a simple but challenging idea into reality with the basic ambition to provide yet another platform for our young generations has reflected the burning desires and seriousness of all parties concerned."

He added: "I encourage students to build up trust, confidence and comfort to stand up, speak out and speak out with passion."

The Brunei Times