JUDGING A PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION AT M SUITES HOTEL, JOHOR BAHRU

A public speaking competition was held at M Suites Hotel in conjunction with the celebration of the Independence Month. I was called to judge for two categories: primary and secondary schools. Fortunately, first, only 10 schools were selected to take part, and second, participants had to present only their prepared speeches. So there were no impromptu session.

This event was sponsored by the M Suites Hotel and organized by the Johor Bahru District Education Office.

Meanwhile, at the same time, poster drawing competition was held outside at the hotel lobby.

I was there at 12.00 p.m. (I was in school as usual in the morning) and then lunch was served at 1.00 p.m. The competition started at about 2.00 and ended by 3.45 p.m. but we had to wait for the closing ceremony at 4.30 - which only started at 4.50 p.m. I was only home by 6.30 p.m. *sigh*

It was one long day for everybody. I just hope if this event is to be organized again next time, do consider having it earlier so that we, especially the young students, do not have to be home too late. It was good to be there but I guess I am already too old to be working extra hours.

JOHOR BAHRU DISTRICT LEVEL PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION 2019

9th MARCH 2019 ~ The Johor Bahru district level Public Speaking Competition was held at SMK Tasek Utara 2. I was there with the same speaker who also represented SMK Dato' Jaafar last year, Mr. Aidan Leo.

the emcee for the first round

There were 18 contestants in Group B, and Aidan managed to go through to the final round.

Jaafarian in action

the backbencher - an ex-colleague from SMK Mutiara Rini,
Miss Afiqah

an ex-student who is now an English teacher,
Puan Bariah

Pn. Ida Amiza, an English teacher,
who was one of the judges

Six speakers (top three from each group) had to go through another round of impromptu speech before the judges decided who should emerge the winner.

Unfortunately, Mr. Aidan did not win this year. I know many people in school were disappointed as he was the winner of last year's competition. I personally feel he was very good but the judges had other criteria which determined their decision.

a dance show before the final round started

I will still congratulate Aidan for his achievement and hard work. It was not easy to get to this stage and we know we had put a lot of effort before the competition. As I had told him, it is the process that is important and not the result. He will always be the winner in my heart, and many others in school.

JUDGING 40th NATIONAL INTER CHINESE INDEPENDENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS TRILINGUAL SPEECH CONTEST - DAY 2

19th AUGUST 2018 ~ On the second day of the competition, I had to judge the final round of the senior category. It was very similar to what happened the day before for the junior category [READ HERE], except this time they had to deliver Mandarin, Bahasa Melayu [Malay Language] and English speeches in 4 minutes for each language and a 10-second break in between.

The competition was tougher to judge. Everybody displayed high standard of presentation. I even wonder how could this even be possible. These people should consider becoming polyglots in the future.

closing speeches from judges and the organizing committee

panel of judges and the committee members

lunch time

bumped into an ex-student of SMKTUN
Mr, Amar Faiz (SPM batch 2002)

I wish I could just judge based on good looks which should be easier.

That should be a very good experience for me and other judges as well. The results would only be announced during the dinner event later that evening and I was not attending. May the best speakers win.

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 . . .

JOHOR STATE LEVEL ENGLISH PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION 2018

23rd JULY 2018 ~ After being postponed for more than one week, we were finally here at SK Seri Pantai, Mersing, to take part in Johor State Level English Public Speaking Competition 2018, representing Johor Bahru district. We were already here at 8:00 a.m. for registration but the competition was only started at 10:00 a.m. There were 10 participants from different districts participating in the English Language Carnival. (There were other competitions too at other venues.)

After winning at district level, Mr. Aidan Leo, a form 3 student of SMK Dato' Jaafar, was there without any high hopes. We did not want to be pressured to win even though some people in school were having high expectations of him.

The first part of the competition was the Prepared Speech. Aidan did very well for this section as we had trained real hard so as to make sure people would be mesmerized by the speech delivered. We even took the effort to change the text used at district level (entitled "Homework") to something more catchy with the title "Superhero", and I guess it worked well.

The other section was the Impromptu Speech where participants were given four minutes to prepare for a 3-minute presentation. Everyone was given the same one-word topic: GREEN. After Aidan had presented his speech, I thought that his chance to secure the top three spots would be really thin. I was even thinking of going back earlier before the prize-giving ceremony.

SMKTUN alumni batch 2003 (maybe),
Mr. Arshad, now an English teacher

However, we still went to the venue where the prize-giving ceremony would be held: SMK Anjung Batu. I remembered coming to this school once for state level chess competition.

Then, the announcement for public speaking competition for secondary school category was made, and SURPRISE! SURPRISE!, Johor Bahru district was called on stage as the first runner up. I was having the shock of my life and the judges sure did not agree with my own evaluation.

SMKTUN alumni SPM batch 2007 (maybe).
Mr. Selva Kumar, now teaching in Mersing

All the hard work put in for the competition had paid off. That was really an achievement for Aidan Leo and the whole school must be proud of him. Other than gaining new experience competing at state level, we also had a great time being away from school for 1 day and a half. And I got to meet some English teacher friends as well as a few ex-students.

Congratulations Aidan Leo. I had a pleasant time working together with you.

I just hope Aidan will agree to take part in the same competition again next year.