KUCHING – Prithveer Singh s/o Sharendeer Singh, a second-semester Foundation (Business) student, emerged as champion of the Swinburne Public Speaking Challenge 2021 on 9 October with his speech entitled ‘Another World.’
Based on this year’s theme, ‘Another World’, Prithveer spoke eloquently on what life on Earth could be like and how humans can fight back against climate change, natural disasters and plagues.Another second-semester Foundation (Business) student, Ryan James Isaac Lee Bala, took second place with his speech exhorting the audience to improve Earth’s environment instead of seeking to colonise other planets. Ryan’s earnest speech appealed to the audience to join together to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.Third place winner Flinz Wong Jing Ewe, also a second-semester Foundation (Business) student, invited the audience to create their own worlds to escape from the difficulties of reality. His style and demeanour were uniquely his own and he engaged the audience, encouraging them to use their creativity and imagination, but finally, saying that it was alright to create their own world on Earth. The Public Speaking Challenge is the Swinburne Debaters’ Club’s annual event that gives students a platform to express their thoughts on current issues through public speaking.
This event aims to encourage students to not only speak in English but also to practise their critical thinking and reasoning skills. It is a half-day event consisting of two rounds: the prepared speech based on the given theme and the impromptu round consisting of two prompts which the students have to link to the theme in their three-minute speech. This year, a People’s Choice Award was presented to the finalist chosen by the audience and not the judges. The inaugural winner of the People’s Choice Award was Wahaj Qaiser, a postgraduate student.
