UMP Orator Club organises International Online Pidato Malaysia Sejahtera 2020

KUANTAN, 19 December 2020 - The Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) Orator Club has successfully organised the International Online Pidato Malaysia Sejahtera 2020, attended by 116 participants from within and outside the country.

The competition was held involving the entire online community from 19 to 25 October 2020 in collaboration with the Association of Malaysian Poets (PENYAIR). 

The results were announced on 4 December by selecting the 30 best orators. 

Among the participating universities were Guangxin University for Nationalities, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, lecturers, teachers, students, youth, secondary and primary school students, as well as the public. 

All participants received e-certificates of participation, and e-certificates of appreciation were provided to the best orators. 

According to the Competition Advisor, who is also a Language Teacher, Centre for Modern Languages (PBM), Juwairiah Osman, the inaugural competition organised by the UMP Orator Club received encouraging responses. 

“I would like to express my gratitude to all the participants for their support. 

“The thanks also go to all involved, especially students from the Orator Club, PBM, Student Affairs and Alumni Department (JHEPA), the Office of the Vice-Chancellor (PNC), and PENYAIR.

“Hopefully, this competition will benefit all participants and encourage the community to convey speeches through oratory,” she said. 

Meanwhile, according to the Program Director, Nurayuni Norli, who is an engineering student at UMP, she and her team organised this competition with the best efforts to promote public speaking among the community and hone leadership and programme management talents. 

The President of the Orator Club Session 2020/2021, Syahmi Aiman Adnan, also thanked synergy partner JHEPA UMP, PENYAIR, and all participants for working hard to realise such a great programme. 

Besides promoting public speaking to the community, such programmes are beneficial as it becomes a platform in honing the talent of writing speech texts, boosting self-confidence, and getting to know the participants, as well as filling spare time during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Themed ‘Progress, Success and Harmony of Malaysia’, the participants gave their best performances and tried their best to work on ideas and messages in their speeches. 

Uniquely, the orators delivered speeches not only in Malay and English but also in foreign languages, namely Mandarin, Tamil, Arabic, Japanese, German, Spanish, and Korean. 

However, the entries received were from the Malay, English, Tamil, Mandarin, Arabic, and Korean orators.

Pidato Malaysia Sejahtera also received special participation from the former Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Malaya (UM), Dato’ Professor Emeritus Dr. Hashim Yaacob, who delivered his speech titled ‘Malaysia the Beloved Homeland’ and in Korean titled ‘Sarang Haneun, Na-e-Chokuk Malaysia’. This speech was co-written by Associate Professor Dr. Kim Keun Hyun. 

Also participated was the lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Associate Professor Dr. Kim Keum Hyun, who is a South Korean.

By: Juwairiah Osman, Centre for Modern Languages (PBM)

Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology