Good Morning to Honourable Adjudicators

My first time taking part in a PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION!!!!

And it was a DISASTER!!!!!

I have spoken in public before, but it was always informal with no time constraints. The impromptu part of the speech was nerve-wracking....

My prepared speech, according to the judge, was "fabulous, really good...one of the best I've had so far."

Wow. It was really great to hear that, especially for a first-timer. So there was PRESSURE for the second part of the preliminary round - the impromptu.

3 minutes to prepare. 3 minutes to present. And boy, did I screw it up. When the 3 minutes were up, I was still jotting down points for my introduction. Great huh? My topic was "Money makes the world go round". A fairly easy topic. So I just bantai-lah. I started off great, went from my 1st point to my 2nd point and then ...wha...the bell havn't rung?...oh shit.... 1 minute more and I had nothing to say....oh bantai. Plain bantai. I was so panicky and nervous and desperate I screwed up.

I accidentally said that Malaysia was indebted to IMF last time. Which was entirely BULLSHIT.

Then when it was all over, PHEWWWWW.... just went back to the auditorium and bitched about how I sucked so bad to Pn Goh. And I sat with Praveen and ex-public speaking state champion, Natalie and just sipped on my Milo while we waited for them to announce the semi-finalists.

There were around 80 contestants altogether. And they selected 13.

And I was one of them.

I WAS LIKE, F***!!!!!!!!! I could not believe it!!!!! ME???!!! SEMIFINALS?

So I had to do another impromptu speech. 3 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to present. This time it was even more terrifying. I was going against state champions, seasoned debaters and people who have joined at least 5 public speaking competitions. In the quarantine room as I waited for my turn, everyone was chatting enthusiastically to hide their nerves. Everyone seemed to know each other except me.

So this explains why they made it to the semis. They've met each other countless times in competitions. And me here, scared shit waiting to be butchered by the Oxford Cambridge Society of Malaysia.

My topic was "The Human Quality We Need More Of". Oh cool. Compassion was the first word to pop up in my mind. Again, the 3 minutes to prepare was sooooooooo brief. I didn't have any solid points to work on.

And I still didn't really know how an impromptu speech was supposed to be.

Went in front there, and tried to kick ass. My starting was dramatic - painting a vivid picture of the day Japan was bombed. I was panicking underneath. My mind was a convoluted mess, and I made my first blunder,

I implied that Tokyo got bombed.

FUCKING HELL? SINCE WHEN TOKYO GOT BOMBED? AND I WAS SO UNAWARE THAT I ACTUALLY MENTIONED TOKYO AND NOT HIROSHIMA.

In front of those mat salleh judges, in front of so many teachers, in front of so many other public speakers who might have been wondering what on earth this stupid rookie was doing in front there embarassing herself shamelessly without even knowing it.

Then blunder no. 2. I could not think straight, I actually mentioned Iraq and Palestine instead of Israel and Palestine.

Whoops Yen Peng. You left your brain at home is it?

Oh GODDAMMIT. Soooooooooooo EMBARASSING SIAL. And all the while I did not even realise what huge mistakes I've done until Pn Goh reprimanded me.

The teachers commented on my excellent command of English. Chief judge, Stephen Hall said I did very well for a first-timer. Said I was very competitive (huh?) ..... Praveen said I was nervous. OF COURSE LAH.

So now I know, I have to keep my head clear in order to spew TRUE facts. And I should think twice before dropping countries' names. And I have to work on my self-confidence. And yes, remember a slew of quotes so I can dish them out at every whim.

I better go revise my geography.