Bandar Seri Begawan - Malai Yunus Malai Yusuf of Universiti Brunei Darussalam entered the final of regional category of "The Malay-Language International Oratory Competition 2008" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In a telephone conversation, Malai Yunus said he would try his best to come out top again at the final as a gift to his country during the 24` National Day, which will he celebrated today.
The final was held late last night at the Dewan Merdeka, Putera World Trade Centre in KL.
Malai Yunus obtained 77.43% top the regional category at the semi-final Friday night, beating six other semi-finalists to enter the final.
Malaysian Farhan Nor Diayana, 21, came second and Sujarhadi of Indonesia was third.
The other participant from Brunei was Raihan Nokman, a BSc Education student at Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
Some II university students from six countries in the region including Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand participated in the contest.
In the international category, a participant from China, Han Xiao, topped the group with 81% while Alena Bykova from Russia was second and Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan of USA, third.
Fen students entered the semi-finals of the international category. The top five semi-finalists fought it out last night to determine the top three places.
Some 28 students from countries like Japan, India, Afghanistan, USA, Argentina, Romania, Cambodia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Bangladesh participated in the international category.
Contest participants have been taken to visit places of interest including historical sites such as Lenugong, Perak and Malacca. They also attended oratory workshop to polish their speech-delivering skills as well as being hosted to dinner at the residence of the Malaysian Minister of Higher Learning.
Source: www.brudirect.com (25 Februari 2008)
