THE four finalists of Brunei Essex (BruEssex) society’s flagship event ‘Pidato Face-off’ with the theme ‘nation growth through an empowered generation’ were bursting with talent.
The competition focussed on Brunei’s future development by 2035 and the youth’s roles in achieving Brunei Vision 2035.
It was organised under the counsel of the chairman, Sharifah Nur Baqiyah binti Malai Shahran, who is also the President of BruEssex society.
The programme highlighted the importance to developing the potential of youths that will help shape Brunei’s overall development. It also prepares the youth for employment in this fast-paced changing global landscape.
Wayne Newton, Key Account Manager of Royal Brunei Airlines was one of the guests invited to the face-off, alongside Irmawati binti Haji Ahmad, Director of Studies from the Brunei Students’ Unit. Newton and Irmawati with other two Brunei Students’ Union (BSU) officers were the judges for the competition.
Presenting an impromptu speech may be an overwhelming experience: gathering quality and reliable sources in less than 30 minutes can be challenging. Those were what the initial seven speakers had to go through to get to the final stage.
Judges for this year’s preliminary round included Hasif bin Nordin, the President of the BSU; Yasmin Abdullah, Vice President International for University of Essex; Raudhah, President of University of Essex Enactus; and Sharifah Nur Baqiyah.
This year’s finalist and winner Hafizah binti Ahmad from King’s College London used an evocative sizable voice to unite with her figurative speech on mental health.
Addressing the topic, she emphasised on how mental health is often not recognised as a real issue. “An individual’s mental state is swept under the rug, we are told to toughen up, or we’re told we’re overdramatic.” And how we should not ignore or treat someone’s mental state as inconsequential.
First runner up Md Umair Akmal bin Haji Noor Ahsffian delivered a speech about the importance of youth, “People always say we are important, the youth is important. And if you could not find the reason why, here’s the reason why; We are the backbone of our country.”
Second runner up, Ismah binti Idris highlighted that the key to substantial economic development is an efficient public transportation system, starting with the bus system in Brunei and how an efficient public transport can increase the accessibility of resources, from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’, creating more jobs in the field.
The third runner up Aseeya Hussin from SOAS University of London, discussed a topic on youth empowerment. – BruEssex Society