Hook, Line and Sinker

With impressive oratory skills and strength in performance, INDERPREET KAUR blew away all competition and walked home with the Vice-Chancellor’s Trophy on Friday night. With her powerful and straightforward manner of speech, this Ipoh native dazzled the audience and judges in the first round with her interpretation of the theme. Then, she nailed it in the Impromptu round by convincing an audience alien to her (almost all her batch-mates were at home on break) to vote her for President of the Student Council. Confidence, fluency in speech, flair in performance and what not the X-factor made this girl from the January Foundation in Science intake to win this year’s competition.

The runner-ups were Hemalatha (first from left) in second place and Wilander (first from right) in third. Hemalatha was good in the sense of bridging simple topics together in her speech while Wilander was comic crowd puller. Nevertheless, he made his mark on the competition very unforgettable with swishing movements of his cloak (sorry blazer, was it?), eccentric questioning and sometimes passionate euphemisms. The other participants did display some skill in speaking and passion. However some disappointed the crowd in general by being nervous, soft and the All-Time Competition Crusher: The Going Blank Moment and subsequent … well, let us not go there. Our sympathies go to them as speaking in front of a full-floor can be quite a challenge.

Syed

On the whole, the Finals was a great success with everything going clockwork except for a few hitches in the Impromptu Round (no thanks to some very confused people). The VC was pleased with how things were done and the night was graced with intellectual exchange on humanity in the first round and quirky details of the university in the Impromptu Round. Performances were peppered here and there thanks to our friends from the School of Dentistry and also to Syed (check the name) from the School of Pharmacy who sang his solo numbers to perfection!

The emcees: Vinod and Jycinta were as usual witty and doubted and debated each other’s status as humans. Well, aren’t we going to miss them since everything is over? Oh, shucks… now we are going all emotional and nostalgic about ending this season’s competition. Well, there will always be next year but just different people doing it. Hence, it is time ripe to express our thanks to all the people in the machinery behind this competition especially MBBS Batch 13 MATES! The organizing team will no doubt miss those irritating sessions of getting things done every week and going for meetings where we unearth more and more problems while maintaining a cool composure on surface. All in all, in truth it was fun, engaging and memorable. With immense feeling of satisfaction of a job well done, we pass on the torch and wish great success to this competition in the years to come.

~ ravi

It’s Time for the FINAL Showdown

After a month of competition and not to mention those 10 minutes of nerve-wrecking “Judges Deliberation”, the grand finalists have been announced! They are:
1) IDERPREET KAUR A/P REVINDAR SINGH (FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE)

2) SARAVANA KUMAR SANDERAN (FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE)

3) JOANNA SELVI RENEERAJ (BACHELOR OF PHARMACY (HONS))

4) TAN CHZE CHZE (BACHELOR OF DENTAL SURGERY)

5) HEMALATHA (FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE)

6) ANN LISA ARULAPPEN (BACHELOR OF PHARMACY (HONS))

7) C.CHRISTINE SAVARIAWAL A/P CHANDRAN (BSC BIOTECHNOLOGY)

8) LEONG CHI MUN (MBBS)

9) WILANDER LAW CHENG GUAN (BACHELOR OF DENTAL SURGERY)

10) YAMININE NAIR D/O MAHDAVAN (FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE)

I must say the good ones got in and those who either didn’t prepare well or talked irrelevantly by dealing with issues that are not meant to be dealt were unfortunately axed. However, this is just the beginning as the theme for the finals was also announced.

THEME: Who are we and where are we going?

That is what the contestants are going to answer come this Thursday and not mention the elusive Impromptu Round waiting for them that evening. So, prepare, wait and you will get a showdown you will not forget.

~ravi~

The Third Preliminary!

At last...the finals are just around the corner. Well, as for the 3rd preliminary round, the atmosphere at 2 pm today in Lecture Theatre 1 was filled with excitement and chatty voices but was silenced when the team of judges was announced. The panel was headed by Miss Shoba Devarajan and the other judges were Mr. Choo and Ms. Viveca.

Vinod then introduced the first speaker of the day who was Navashini Madhavan with her topic entitled, "Space and Universe in conjunction with Hindu civilization."She managed to lay down the history of astronomy in relation to the Hindu ancient texts.

Leong Chee Mun was next in line with his empowering speech of “The Power of Goals”. His systematic 3 points speech and fine intonation coupled with perfect timing left the crowd ecstatic.

Peals of laughter and murmuring could be heard when Terence Micheal Dass with his topic , “It Is Easier to Get Along With Man Than Woman” had addressed his controversial issue about guys preferring other guys as friends rather than girls. It was obvious that he was a favourite with the crowd as he garnered quite a bit of support.

Yaminie Nair enlightened the crowd with “Friends Should Never Hide Anything from Each Other. Do you Agree” by expressing her wise opinions on friendship with a bit of philosophy from Aristotle. I had to nod in agreement with most of her points about why friends should never hide anything from each other.

Penocia Pawel was the fifth speaker and spoke on juvenile delinquency. The final contestant of the day was Natasha Sathasuram delivering a speech on obesity.

Following that, the judges deliberated on the 10 finalist and in the meantime an appeal was made to raise funds for the Nargis Cyclone victims. The 10 finalists of the AIMST Public Speaking talent Quest was then announced .Kudos to all those who have triumphed and made it to the finals. See you at the finals!!

~Devina~

Announcement!

Hello there! First of all, I would like to greet you all a very good evening. And secondly, a big thanks to you for following us until this day, to the last preliminary round of AIMST Public Speaking Talent Quest 2008 for The Vice Chancellor's Trophy which happens to fall tomorrow itself: 15 May 2008. So now, I would like to invite all of you, 'Aimsters' and particularly all the contestants for this season to join us in the last of preliminary round tomorrow. This is simply because the most exciting moment has finally arrived, and we are going to reveal the 10 finalists for this season to enter the Grand Finale on the 22 May 2008 for the battle for the VC's Trophy. Hence, please stick with us at this very moment and do come and support your friends! So, see you all tomorrow, 15 May 2008, 2 -5 pm at Lecture Theater 1 of the Medical and Biological Science Complex.

The second preliminary!

Well...well...well...after a fantastic kick off, here we are in the second preliminary round! Everything went on as smooth as silk.The hitches encounted in the first round were mere memories and nothing more than that. Jycinta and Vinod the emcee’s for the day kept the introduction short and sweet.

The show was on and we proceeded to the first speaker, Wilander Law Cheng Guan, a dentistry student. His topic was ‘Communication’. He was communicating well indeed, as the audience seemed mesmerized and actively responded to his questions. His sense of humour was good, too.

Next came Iderpreet Kaur who is a Foundation in Science student. Her topic ‘Embracing the ‘F’ word-shooting the elephant’, was indeed an eye raiser. I would have to admit that she was a great speaker as she was very motivating.

‘Hope’ was the topic for Saravana Kumar Sanderan, a Foundation in Science student. He appeared quite nervous in the beginning but overall he was inspiring.

The fourth speaker was Ooi Cheng Lee a Foundation in Science student with his topic ‘Proton-National pride or national disgrace?’ He put the facts on the table and asked the audience to decide one way or the other. Im sure you are wondering what the audience decided? Well what’s your decision?

Next came a Pharmacy student, Ann Lisa Arulappen who wanted to show her prowess in oratory with her topic, ‘Ragging’. She seemed to have hit the right vein as the audience were extremely excited with her topic and her views. Afterall, most students love to hate ragging.


Another Pharmacy student was the next speaker to take the floor. Joanna Selvi Reneera spoke on ‘Pharmacy-the whole truth’. She was confident even though she had stirred the ‘hornets nest’ as her topic is indeed a very divisive current raging debate between pharmacists and doctors. She seemed pro pharmacists in her speech. However, she contradicted herself on a number of occasions.
The last speaker of the day was Tan Chze Chze a dentistry student, with her topic ‘ Should or should not doctors prescibe contraceptives to girls under 16? Although she failed to shock the audience with her topic, she succeded in doing so with her informal attire. We felt relieved after learning that she had medical reasons for doing so. She seemed nervous at first but managed to end her speech well.

Finally, what can I say about the emcee’s for the day? Simply superb as usual. So...what’s next? Wait for the third preliminary round, this coming Thursday! I assure you, you will be pleasantly suprised...Till then..

-Vatsela-

Finally, it is officially LAUNCHED!!!

The audience were seated impatiently waiting for the launching to start. The participants were ready, too. However, the mic remained silent. The projector too, portrayed its unity by refusing to function. But batch 13 students, were not to be put off by such minor hiccups. We were made of stronger mettle. So, off we went to another venue. However, although the projector complied now, the mic refused to budge. But the emcee’s, Vinod and Jycinta, overcame the hitch by screaming their hearts out. Mr. Ranjit, the Student Liaison Division Officer was impressed enough to appeal for more students to participate in the 2nd and 3rd preliminary rounds.

The arrival of the Vice Chancellor accompanied by Mr. Ranjit

The Vice Chancellor gave a short and simple speech before launching the programme. He mentioned that some consider such activities as a waste of time expecially during class hours. He is convienced that such activities are an intergral part of university life. They would assist in producing well-rounded students. He gave an example of people in Sweden who decided to study English seriously in the 1950’s. This effort has projected Sweden into the international limelight. He feels, Malaysians need that head start, too. He also felt that more student should participate in such a gainful activity. The VC then launched the event. Kudos to the impressive graphics experts in Batch 13, who came up with a fantastic launching presentation.

The Vice Chancellor

Mr. Ranjit

Well, by then the IT department representatives, managed to get another mic (one that finally functioned). The 1st preliminary round kicked off to a great start with participants competing to impress the judges with high levels of oratory skills.

The first speaker, Christine Savariamal, a Biotech student, set the competition on fire. She spoke about the ‘Law of attraction’ and she definitely attracted the audience and judges. Although she trespassed the time limit a little, I have to admit that she was a great speaker.


On came the next speaker, Faisal Norizan a January intake Foundation in Science student, who spoke on ‘Sharks’. He did not really start off well as he appeared to be very nervous but he managed to pull together and ended well. Although, it was not a very interesting topic, he seemed to know his topic well.

Hemalatha from Foundation in Science July intake , came next with the topic ‘Be yourself’. She was very straight forward and convincing. She was a passionate speaker indeed. She was herself alright.

We were then entertained by the fourth speaker, Lim Wei Keat a July batch Foundation in Science student, who decided to take the ‘bull by its horns’ (I mean the mic). He started of saying, “Good morning...” (just for the info, it was exactly 2.45pm). Well it was a slip of the tongue i guess. His title was ‘A journey to purpose’. He sincerely requested everyone present to find their true purpose in life on that very day. A very motivating speech indeed.

Next came Adrina Stella Anne from Biotech Batch 12 with her topic ‘What do you know about adrenaline?’. Overall she was good except for her accent which we had difficulty in understanding. But I must say she was good and she was very confident with herself.

Shaarala Jenarthanan, a Information Systems student, was the last speaker for the day. Her very interesting topic was ‘Superstition’. She was down to earth and daring as she dwelled on sensitive issues such as religion. It was a good speech with just a few minor grammatical errors.

Our emcee’s for the day, were a threat to the competitiors. They did an excellent job as they were very spontaneous and entertained the audience which cheeky jokes during the whole event. They deserve bouquets.

So that was the end of the 1st preliminary round, which surpassed our expectations. We, batch 13 students, hope that more students would register for the next preliminary rounds to make this event more exciting. Looking forward to the next preliminary round!

-Vatsela-