The winners of the event, co-organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and Standard Chartered, beat more than 1,750 applicants
This year winner's impressed the judges with their three-minute speeches.Students from Raimondi College and St Paul’s Convent School triumphed in the finals of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Standard Chartered Hong Kong English Public Speaking Contest 2018 which ended last Saturday.
Harpreet Singh, a Year 12 student from Raimondi College, and Suyasha Mohan Narasipuram, a Year Eight student from St Paul’s Convent School, grabbed the top prize in the Senior and Junior divisions, respectively. They have both taken part before.
The competition, now in its 15th year, attracted more than 1,750 applications from 154 local secondary schools; more than 51 per cent competed at the senior level.
The topic of this year’s finals was innovation in social media; competitors in the junior division were asked to give a three-minute speech on improvements to YouTube from the perspective of a YouTuber. Senior-level competitors spoke on the life and times of Silicon Valley tycoon, Elon Musk.
The judges in the finals included the British Council’s head of English Paul Culligan, and Dr Verner Bickley, chairman emeritus for the English Speaking Union of Hong Kong.
The champion of the Senior division may have the opportunity to represent Hong Kong in the International Public Speaking Competition to be held in London in May.
Meanwhile, the Junior division champion may have the chance to compete in the 21st Century Cup National High School and Primary School English Competition, to be held in Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, next month.