JUDGING A PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION, AGAIN

When I thought my duty as judge as public speaking competition was over, a letter arrived requiring me to be at The Zone Johor Bahru. Fortunately, my sparring partner, Puan Jamiah Zainal was also assigned with the same task so it was not that bad.

The event was organized by the Department of Information in their effort to promote ASEAN to the public. There were two competitions; the other one was Story-telling for primary schools and another set of judges were appointed for that group.

the venue of the competition - at the shopping mall

the master of ceremony

the cute participants of story-telling competition

the distinguished panel of judges

There was another judge, who is not a teacher, from a department of one of the ministries, Mr. Azri. But we worked well together. There was no impromptu section so everything was done, including the story-telling, within 2 hours. And it was not difficult to find outstanding public speakers to be chosen as the winners.

During the short break, we had singing performance by Pentarama group which was quite entertaining. Some people could really sing. People passing by that area must have thought we were the judges of a singing competition instead.

And before the names of the winners were announced, a pair of guests artists, Tasha Manshahar and Syed Shamim made their appearance. I do not know of their existence in the local music industry (because I seldom listen to Malay songs) but they are, I must say, very talented and have great vocals. And the audience which comprised mainly of teens and school students sang along and went crazy.

the prize-giving ceremony

the exhibition booth

the door gift for the judges

So the afternoon was not bad after all even though I had to work extra hours. I am now searching for Tasya and Syed Shamim on Youtube.