Ahmad Haidir big talent in reciting poetry

PEKAN, 9 December 2020 - Keen interest in poetry recitation prompted Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) student, Ahmad Haidir Muhamad, 23, to participate and represent the university in the IPT 2020 Poetry Recitation Competition organised by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP).
Luck was on his side when he was selected among the top ten participants out of 89 participants announced recently. 
This competition also provides an opportunity and platform for students to express their love for the country through writing poems.
Sharing his valuable experience, the student from the Faculty of Industrial Management (FPI) said, his interest and involvement in the poetry recitation began when he was still in school, intensively trained by his teacher, Mohd Shariff Mohd Badar.
“I started to get interested and joined this activity when I was in Form 5. 
“At that time, I participated in the district level competition and managed to win first place. 
“Since then, I have often been invited by NGOs to perform on 31 August to recite poems in public,” he said.
He added that UMP once invited him when he was 17 years old to recite poems and perform sketches.
“I was tasked to deliver two performances and received RM50 for each performance,” he said. 
Sharing his experience in the competition, Ahmad Haidir said in terms of preparation it was quite challenging. 
“First, I have to memorise the poem to portray.
“Besides that, vocal training needs to be done to successfully get the right tone and always find the free time to practice. 
“Meanwhile, it took me quite a long time to record the video. I had to record the video repeatedly to get the best results,” said the 7th child of 12 siblings.
According to Haidir, in 2019 he participated in the Pahang State Open Poetry Competition which took place at the Pahang State Library. 
Apart from that, he was also invited by external parties to perform, including Felda Chini 4 and Gambang Resort.
This Pahang-born explained that the focus on education remains a priority, and he always practises systematic time management. 
The knowledge of language, creative work and public speaking gives him the opportunity to increase his value before stepping into the career world.
This competition saw the participant from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Nurul Jannah Md Nasir won the first prize, while Mohd Ariff Fadilah Sahrulpadillah from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) was announced as the runner-up. 
Mohammad Hakimi Mohamad Rejab from Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI) was in the third place.

By: Juwairiah Osman, Centre For Modern Languages and Siti Nur Azwin Zulkapri, Corporate Communications Unit, The Office of The Vice-Chancellor 
Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of  Chemical and Process Engineering Technology