TUFS Students Win 1st-3rd Place in Malay Speech and Poetry Recitation Contest

January 13, 2021

On Sunday, December 27, 2020, the Malay Speech and Poetry Recitation Contest 2020 (organized by the Japan-Malaysia Association, in cooperation with the Embassy of Malaysia in Japan and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) was held at the ASEAN-Japan Centre. OGURA Reimi (School of International and Area Studies, Southeast Asian Region/Malaysian Language, 3rd year) won the 1st prize, UCHIDA Mina (School of Language and Culture Studies, Southeast Asian Region/Malaysian Language, 3rd year) won the 2nd prize, and TAKAHASHI Hana (School of International and Area Studies, Southeast Asian Region/Malaysian Language, 3rd year) won the 3rd prize.

The Students’ Comments

• Ogura Reimi
  I gave a speech on how Japanese people must learn a lot from foreign countries. I overcame the disappointment of having to withdraw from the study abroad program due to the pandemic, and put more effort into practicing my speech than ever before. As a result, I am very happy that I was able to win. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Faridah, who devoted much of her time to practicing with me every week, my major language teachers, my major language friends, who were ambitious and pushed me to achieve my goal, and the Japan-Malaysia Association that hosted the event. Thank you very much.

• Uchida Mina
  I gave a speech about the internationalization of education. I explained the importance of fostering tolerance for different cultures and values by promoting history education with a broader perspective, foreign language learning, and exchange programs. My teacher, Ms. Faridah, consulted with me on every detail of my speech, including the choice of vocabulary and the order of sentences, and supported me during my daily practices. I hope that winning this prize will be my way of returning the favor to Ms. Faridah. I would like to express my gratitude to Ms. Faridah, my teachers, my major language classmates, and the organizers who took measures against infection and held the speech contest despite the difficult circumstances.

• Takahashi Hana
  I gave a speech on the benefits of learning a foreign language for men and women of all ages based on my experience of learning my major language and other languages at university. I struggled with the expressions, inflections, and gestures specific to Malaysian speech, but I practiced in my own way and was able to go into the actual performance with confidence. I am very happy to have won a prize in my second time participating in this competition. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Faridah for her great guidance from the time I wrote my script until just before my presentation, my major language classmates who came to support me, and my friends who accompanied me in my practice.