| Lyna Mohamad |
NURLIZA binti Abdul Zabar yesterday bagged an all-expenses-paid trip to the Land of the Rising Sun after winning the hearts of judges in the Advanced Level category of the 31st Japanese Speech Contest, with her topic titled ‘Kindness.’
The event – jointly organised by the Continuing Education and Training Division of the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE-CET) under the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Language Centre of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), and the Embassy of Japan in Brunei Darussalam – took place at the School of Aviation, Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) Sultan Saiful Rijal Campus.
Deputy Permanent Secretary at the MoE Dr Haji Azman bin Ahmad and Japanese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Motohiko Kato attended as the guests of honour.
The event began with a recitation of Doa followed by speeches by the Divisional Director of IBTE-CET, Sumardi bin Haji Abdul Hamid, and the Japanese Ambassador.
In his speech, Ambassador Kato noted his belief that while learning Japanese requires a lot of effort and dedication, it represents a valuable use of one’s time – not only do learners acquire a useful skill, but they are also better equipped to understand the Japanese culture.
Extending his appreciation for the work done by the Brunei Association of Japan Alumni in contributing towards Japanese language education in Brunei and strengthening ties between the two countries, Kato went on to add that he believes future bilateral relations will be based on the mutual understanding and friendship between the young people of both countries.
“The Government of Japan has long supported youth exchanges between Brunei and Japan through a variety of programmes such as the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS), the Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Programme and the Japanese Government Scholarship Programme to further enhance cooperation between Brunei and Japan in the areas of youth exchange and education,” the ambassador said.
He added that the Japan Embassy will continue to support young Bruneians who are dedicated to learning more about the language and culture and hoped this deeper level of mutual understanding will allow the people of both countries to build stronger relations with one another.
Meanwhile, Sumardi said that the Japanese Language Speech Contest has, over the past 30 years, been inspiring Japanese language learners of all levels and ages to challenge themselves and improve their Japanese language ability by providing them an opportunity to demonstrate their oral language proficiency skills.
The contest, he added, recognises the achievement of Brunei residents in learning Japanese as a foreign language and also strives to bring together the Japanese and Bruneian communities to advocate for and to celebrate Japanese language learning.
“When we learn a language, we not only learn vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation but also the culture of the people who speak that language,” Sumardi said.
“This encourages Bruneians to further their understanding of Japan, its people, and its culture, and this strengthens the bond of friendship between the people of Brunei Darussalam and Japan, which has existed for more than 30 years.”
Sumardi expressed hope that the contest will become an historical event which will not be forgotten and acts as a catalyst for the participants to continuously improve lifelong Japanese language proficiency skills.
The Japanese Speech Contest, initiated in 1987, aims to encourage and provide a platform for participants to showcase their language proficiency and passion in the Japanese language through public speaking.
It additionally serves as an opportunity to foster closer ties between Brunei Darussalam and Japan, and at the same time inspires greater friendship between the people of both countries.
For this year’s contest, the committee for the Japanese Speech Contest decided to include an additional category – ‘Group Presentation’ on top of the ‘Individual Speech’ category.
The Group Presentation category was open to students from secondary schools, sixth form centres and IBTE, where they were allowed to choose any topic related to Japan and deliver their oral presentation in English using slides.
Twelve Bruneians took part in the ‘Individual Speech’ category – five under the beginner level and seven under the advanced level; while eight education institutions in the ‘Group’ category.
For the ‘Group’ category, IBTE Agro-Technology Campus won first place, IBTE Sultan Bolkiah Campus took second spot, and Sayyidina Husain Secondary School finished third.
The ‘Individual Beginner’ category was won by Norhidayati Amal Nazihah binti Haji Yunos, with Chong Wei Shan coming in second and Aistath Shahudha Abdulla taking third place.
Farid Najmi Murad and Siti Nur Haazimah binti Norfadillah finished in second and third spot respectively in the ‘Advanced’ category.
Prizes and operating expenses for the contest were sponsored by the Brunei-Japan Friendship Association (BJFA) and the Japan Foundation, while the Japan trip main prize was co-sponsored by BJFA, Nippon Airways (ANA) and the Japan Overseas Enterprises Association (JOEA).