Bandar Seri Begawan - Jonathan Lim Kok Haw, a third year medical student at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), yesterday made the country proud by defeating nine contestants from Asean member countries to snatch the championship of the Asean Youth Extemporaneous Speaking Competition, held at Dewan Raya, RTB in the capital.
The first runner-up was Jordan Kate Herrera Bakani, a youth member of the Philippine Council of NGOs Against Drug and Substance Abuse (PHILCADSA), while the second runner-up was Su Win Htike, a youth member of the Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association (MANA).
Other contestants comprised youth leaders of Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao .People`s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. On hand to present the prizes to the winners was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Haji Mohammad bin Haji Daud.
Also in attendance were members of the project steering committee including project leader Nur Judy Abdul] ah, deputy project leader Linda Aini Abdullah and project finance head Hjh Ramlah Haji Abdul Ghani.
The competition was a project of the National Anti-Drug Association of Brunei Darussalam (Basmida) and National Youth Council of Singapore, which was funded by the Singapore-A lean Youth Fund.
The main objectives were to provide the contestants with an opportunity to share their knowledge and ideas while competing in the skills of advocacy on anti-drug abuse issues through effective persuasive public speaking.
The theme of this year`s event was "Do Drugs Control Your Life? Your Community, No Place For Drugs", which was also the official theme of the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (IDADAIT) last year.
Basmida President and event chairperson Datin Hajah Masni binti Haji Mohd Ali said the theme was chosen to "strengthen our shared responsibility in creating a drugfree community".
"As members of regional body Asean, we all have a responsibility to reduce demand for illicit drugs and to protect young people from abusing drugs," she said.
"We need programmes to strengthen families as an institution, especially those that are socially isolated.
"This means more involvement with religious, education and community institutions as well as the media to transmit universal good values and more targeted prevention measures to reach young people who, for social, mental or behavioural reason, are vulnerable to drug abuse."
Source: www.brudirect.com (1 Maret 2008)
