Speak Up 2022
12th April, 2022, the deadline to present a compelling display of relevant content, confidence and competence in the form of a video presentation drew fervent excitement throughout the participants involved. Six teams, carefully chosen by Miss Sujitra Sockanathan, our ADTP’s Public Speaking lecturer, needed both the substance and style to penetrate the status quo, and the teams involved naturally performed well enough to get past the elimination round. Otherwise, we would not be writing this.
15th of April, 25 groups from South East Asia gathered with anticipation in the virtual meeting room hosted by the Dong Nai Technology University and their Faculty of Foreign Languages; competitors arose from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and of course, Malaysia. The participating teams waited with bated breath for their turns to captivate the judges and audience with a smooth and confident delivery of the topics chosen. With such an open-ended and broad spectrum of topics to talk about, the options were virtually limitless. The two-dozen odd groups holistically covered a wide swathe of information relating to digital transformation, ranging from how digital transformation has impacted economic development and the advent of online dating, all the way to autopilots and identity theft. At 9 a.m. and the groups smartly gave their online talks relating to the broad spectrum of digital transformation. This lasted for around 5 hours until 2 p.m. when the results were announced. Most of the participants were solid presenters but among the 25 presenters, only six would be chosen to enter the grand finale - a debate which would span the countries. Much to the Sunway teams’ excitement and joy, an astounding total of three teams from the American Degree Transfer Program in Sunway University entered into the grand finale. The respective team names of those who progressed to this final stage were FED, Wandering Minds, and The Boys, and their winning topics presented were online dating, e-Wallets, and autopilot, in that respective order. Each of these teams faced off against teams from the different countries mentioned above, almost as though it was Malaysia against the rest of the region.
22nd of April, the finale was held. The week that preceded this final showdown was filled with immense preparation and counter arguments for counter arguments. The teams presented their cases about whether digital transformation provides the assurance of equity in education, whether it brings us closer or further apart, and lastly, whether it is ONLY the young people’s story. Each debate session lasted half an hour, and it was ferocious; the atmosphere between the contestants was electrifying with an almost palpable tension, even through the computer screens. After fierce cases from the six teams, four were chosen to proceed to the second part of the finale, which was a showcase of how emphatic and well the teams could prepare and present. Among these four teams, three of them were from the American Degree Transfer Program in Sunway University. The Boys managed to secure the overall champion, while FED and Wandering Minds still spectacularly got 2nd runner ups.
The contest ended with sublime tears of joy and wonderful memories from the new experience for all the teams. Though we may have contended fiercely to prove our case in the debate, in a brilliant show of sportsmanship, the other teams congratulated us and were happy for our victories. The teams were on genial terms in the end, and new friends were made not just within Malaysia, but beyond our borders and across the ASEAN nations. Overall, this was an excellent opportunity to gain more experience, meet new people and a great showcase of how digital transformation has helped to connect us across the vast seas.
