KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian student Pavit Coran emerged as the champion in the English Speaking Union (ESU) international public speaking competition held online and virtually on Friday.
Pavit, a 19-year-old student at Multimedia University in Melaka representing the English Speaking Union of Malaysia (Esum) beat 35 other participants from 33 countries in the grand finals, said Esum in a statement.
In his five-minute presentation, he spoke about the increasing rate of depression worldwide and urged the audience and all governments to sympathise with the issue.
Pavit, who called for action in resolving the problem, said he was “truly ecstatic, grateful, and blessed” as he could not believe that he had managed to beat so many of the participants.
“Although I was not able to go to London to compete, it was altogether a new experience doing such a competition online and facing problems such as internet connectivity,” he said.
Pavit said the whole process was interesting, as he was able to meet many participants from different countries in the comfort of his own home and hear their various interpretations of the same theme.
This is the second time that Malaysia has won the Best Speaker title at the annual ESU International Public Speaking Competition, after Marina Tan in 2011.
Esum chairman Tunku Tan Sri Naquiah expressed her profound happiness at Pavit’s success, adding that “he truly deserves to win and he did it for Malaysia”. – Bernama, May 16, 2021
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