The 4th Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Eight Chinese Independent Secondary Schools Combined English Forum 2016

 

Reported by ELC

        The  4th Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Eight Chinese Independent Secondary Schools Combined English Forum 2016 was held successfully at Pin Hwa High School on 13th August 2016 from 9.00am to 2.30pm. This competition was organized by the United Chinese School Committees Association of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and co-organised by Pin Hwa High School, Klang. Hin Hua High School team formed by Lim Jia Yun, Ruth, Ng Bren Den, Cheryl Chan Yan Ni, Teh Kai Hung and Ada Lee Yuan Ying, all from S1 Adelaide, won the Second Runner-up, whilst Lim Jia Yun, Ruth, won the Best Chairperson Award. They beamed with great delight as they came up on-stage to receive their prizes. 

        The objectives of this forum competition are to improve the level of proficiency in English, particularly in their speaking skills amongst students in the Independent Chinese Secondary Schools, to provide an opportunity for students to showcase their public speaking talents, to provide a platform for interactions between students and to raise their awareness on current and social issues.

        The topic presented by our school team was on 'Refugees in Malaysia.' The panelists played their roles as a refugee teacher, an UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner) representative and an ordinary Malaysian citizen who lives close to a few refugee families in Malaysia. Some of the issues they touched on were the problems faced by refugees, the effort taken by the UNHCR in providing a comfortable life for them, and the concerns of the Malaysian citizens on the increasing number of refugees in Malaysia.

        During the closing ceremony, Dr. Yap Sin Tian, the chairman of the United Chinese School Committees Association of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, was called upon to deliver a speech. Dr Yap stressed that Chinese Independent Secondary Schools do not only emphasise the importance of learning Chinese but also actively promote the learning of Bahasa Malaysia as well as English. Students who are willing to make a concerted effort and adopt the right learning approaches will be able to overcome barriers and have an excellent grasp of these three languages.

        The esteemed panel of adjudicators were also invited to give feedback on the teams’ performances. They unanimously agreed that they had been impressed and amazed by the students’ presentations, and congratulated all the participants on their competence and a flair for English language. They also reminded the participants that they had to be careful with the selection of the topics. They were advised to choose their topics which were catchy and relevant, so that they would not confine themselves and were able to express their ideas from different perspectives. In addition, they had to read widely in order to tackle the current issues thrown at them during the Q & A session.The adjudicators even suggested that the first session of presentations could be cut short as students are well-trained by their teachers and they can rehearse their speeches. Therefore, more weightage should be given to the Q & A session, where they could be truly judged according to their content knowledge, quick thinking, spontaneous response and language proficiency.

        Again, we congratulate our school representatives on their great achievement and look forward to their constant effort in self-improvement.

Lim Jia Yun, Ruth (S1 Adelaide)

        A race , a thrill, a challenge is how I would view this Forum Competition. Being the youngest team, winning the Second Runner-up is indeed a great honour. Besides, our script was also written by our teammates through collaboration. No doubt, we had higher expectations and we certainly threw all the energy we had got into the preparation. Going for the competition not only helped us grow in the thrill and love for public speaking, most of all we bonded together as a team. My teammates are my pride, minds agile tongues tactful, you can never underestimate their ability. I would not say the Best Chairperson Award only belonged to me. Instead, it belonged to my teammates who wrote my script, made our front look impressive, provided all the background support and definitely, rocked the stage.

Teh Kai Hung (S1 Adelaide)

        Well, to be honest, there were no words that could express my feelings on this year’s forum performance. We were a great team, and I couldn’t have wished for another crew as good as this one. I felt happy, but strangely in a way, also disappointed and sad. Because we did all we could and that it should’ve been enough but surprisingly it was not. We had seen through all the past year’s forum team presentations. We had studied them and learned from them. We were expecting an easy ‘win’, since we had been through all their strong and weak points. But in the end, on that day at the forum, it seemed that all the teams from all eight independent schools thought otherwise. I had underestimated them, and I could say that led to my biggest downfall. We thought we were going to see the same faces, but new representatives were chosen, and they were strong, in both manner and use of language. Till the last we showed our best, and that got us the Second Runner-up, which basically means 3rd place. Well, all in all, if there is any advice to be given to the future representatives of Hin Hua High School, this is it: never underestimate your opponent, if you do, then you’ve already lost. Also, put in more effort in preparation for Q & A session. We hope, I hope, that one day Hin Hua High School can proudly display the Champion trophy at ELC, and all that we’ve done, will not be in vain.

Cheryl Chan Yan Ni (S1 Adelaide)

        This is my first time participating in an interschool competition and I've learned a lot since the start of it. The most challenging thing for me is the impromptu speaking during Q&A session.This first trophy means a lot to me and I'm really honoured to represent Hin Hua High School and achieve a new milestone in my life.

Ng Bren Den (S1 Adelaide)

        First and foremost, it is a very great honour for me to represent Hin Hua High School in an external competition. I'm ecstatic because this is my first ever trophy in my four years of secondary school. Granted. I'm gutted of being unable to get first place but rest be assured, I will spare no effort to win first place next year.