(Kimberly Kho receives her champion trophy from Mr Carter Ballang, the principal of SMK Tebakang)

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tebakang, Serian had successfully organised the 26th Samarahan inter-school public speaking competition. Nine schools from Samarahan division participated in the competition which was opened to the lower and upper secondary students. The principal of SMK Tebakang in his closing note stated that “In the UK and US, some schools set up a speakers’ corner to encourage their students to speak freely and a few of them are now speakers of the parliaments. Our students today struggle to learn English whereas during his time, they struggled to learn Bahasa Malaysia”. One of the participants, Chung Ming Hong from SMK Sadong Hilir, thinks that the impromptu speech was the most challenging task because it challenged his ability to think quickly and speak spontaneously. He hoped to participate in such an event again by next year. For the lower form, Anatasia Lynne Bong from SMK Balai Ringin merged as the champion meanwhile for the upper form, it was Kimberley Kho from SMK Sungai Tapang who merged as the champion.