JUDGING 40th NATIONAL INTER CHINESE INDEPENDENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS TRILINGUAL SPEECH CONTEST - DAY 1

18th AUGUST 2018 ~ I was at Southern University College, Johor Bahru, to carry out my duty as a judge (for English) for the 40th National Inter Chinese Independent Secondary Schools Trilingual Speech Contest. That should be a mouthful of a competition's name.

briefing for judges

There were just a few familiar faces who were there so I got to meet many new people on that day.

Pn. Mazzelina and Mr. Ramesh

I had to do the judging for the junior category, so there was the senior category too. There were three groups in three venues and each venue there were 9 judges, 3 judges each for Mandarin, Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language) and English. This was only the preliminary round. From each group, three winners would be selected to go to the final round the next day.

ready to judge

Basically this was how the competitions were done: First, a contestant would be given a title and they had to prepare the speech on the spot and present it within a 3-minute session. There would be JUST a 10-second break, then he/she would present his speech in Bahasa Melayu for 3 minutes. There would be another 10-second break, and the contestant would then have to present his/her prepared speech in English.

I was truly impressed by these students oratory skills. The Mandarin speech was done impromptu style. Even though I don't understand Mandarin, but I just listened to all their speeches and I knew they were good. They all come from Chinese schools which medium of instructions should be Mandarin but their Bahasa Melayu delivery was unbelievably good, and as for their English presentations, how I wish they are my own students.

Choosing the best among them was not an easy job but judging still had to be done. It was like judging Miss Universe beauty pageant where all the contestants are all beautiful - it is so difficult to distinguish the one who should be crowned as the most beautiful one.

All the marks from all the 9 judges would determine five speakers who would be contesting in the finals. May the best speaker win.

And I would have to go back again for the finals the following day.

T O   B E   C O N T I N U E D . . .