The 9th Speech Gala - Words from Adjudicator

1/26/2019

Mr Simon Tham giving feedback

Adjudicator Mr Simon Tham gave these words after the Grand Finals of Speech Gala 2019 held yesterday (25 Jan):

I was very happy to be invited for the third time to adjudicate the Ying Wa Primary School boys' Speech Gala.

It was also a memorable occasion as this will be the last Speech Gala Mrs Maria Lam will participate as Headmistress prior to her retirement in August 2019. Mrs Lam has given her full support throughout, without which the Speech Gala would not have gone through nine years of continued success.

As a co-founder of the Speech Gala with Dr Peter Lee, l have seen great and better changes in the number of entries, categories and quality of the students’ work.

They have shown very active involvement and many have truly mastered the skills of elocution and public speaking. So much so, that l had to award a double first (never done before) to the P.6 Solo Verse Speaking. The two boys, Andy and Hanson, were absolutely brilliant and as they spoke, l was completely immersed in their passion and intensity. I have not heard such a beautiful, passionate and emotional rendition of “A Stingray is Dying at Waratah Bay” before. Both were different, but both brought special meaning to this very topical and humane poem. Both definitely deserved a First Prize!

I wish the Speech Gala continued success and hope this wonderful culture of speech, drama and public speaking will continue for a very long time.

Stay tuned for more snapshots of the event!

16 Comments

Dr H C Lee

1/26/2019 02:46:12 pm

Thanks so much Mr Tham for coming and judging. Your artistic input to the event was most valued! Thanks for respecting and enjoying each performance and performer and giving them very detailed and valuable written feedback. The Gala has developed over the years and I am so glad to have witnessed its growth and that of our speech and drama atmosphere. Your inspiration in all this is tremendous! This year's Gala was indeed very very memorable in many different ways!

Ryan 6B 30

1/26/2019 06:13:55 pm

Thank you Dr Lee for giving me the chance to perform in the speech gala. It was really memorable. Of course it was great to get a prize, but it was even better to participate and have fun in the gala.

1/27/2019 11:19:22 am

Proud of you Ryan! Amazing job!!!

Lance C. Lau link

1/26/2019 09:18:50 pm

Thanks so much for creating the speech gala.Though I thoroughly practised, I never thought I would win! I enjoyed some of the other performances. Thanks to Miss Ming for her comments during my practise, thanks to Simon for giving me a good score and thanks so much for creating the speech gala!

Lance 4A 20

1/26/2019 09:21:14 pm

also, check out my youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEd0tgtTOudyjpu0sLbbhRw

1/27/2019 11:20:53 am

Very intriguing videos there and you are a professional presenter! Keep it up Lance!!!

Hanson Fung

1/27/2019 05:49:15 pm

It was my last time participating in the speech gala and it was wonderful. I got 1st place in the verse speaking category. I want to thanks Mr. Tham, who mentioned about me and Andy in his words. I also want to thank Ms. Leung, my class teacher, for giving me advice before the competition, which really helped me out a lot in my speech. Last but not least, I want to thank Dr. Lee and other teachers, for organising the event. This event is very memorable and surely taught me a lot of things.

Andy Law 6D 11 link

1/28/2019 03:32:10 pm

Although it was my very last experience of the Speech Gala, it was surely the most memorable. I recall myself, sitting below the stage, and making a unexpected choice: to change my tone from anger to sorrow. When I practised with Ms Li and my parents, to both of whom I am deeply obliged, I used an angry voice, to express how I feel about the death of the stingray. And at last, it impressed the adjudicators deeply ( at least, I hope), and I ended up getting the first place! This was surely memorable to me, and this experience will never leave my mind for ever. I also hope that P1-P5 competitors next year will have a good result, and that Mrs Lam will have a joyful retirement!

(Please check out my website too. Thanks a lot!)

Andy Law 6D 11

1/28/2019 03:33:53 pm

It's www.ramblegum.wordpress.com

Derrick Chung

1/28/2019 06:40:35 pm

Although this was my first time performing on stage in the speech gala I still enjoyed it very much and that I think this is a very memorable experience especially because this is my first and final time performing on stage in the speech gala

Lincoln Leung 6B

1/28/2019 08:03:52 pm

I am so glad to participate in this Speech Gala because it is my last one in Ying Wa Primary School. I had an opportunity to join this event when I was in primary 3 and I did prose reading. After three years, thanks to Dr Lee for selecting me to do both public speaking and duologue. I have never tried public speaking before. When I was practicing the public speaking script, I improved my presentation skills and pronunciation. It was also the first time that I competed in the duologue section. My partner and I paid a lot of effort and we had so much fun when we practiced together. Dr Lee also gave us many comments about how we could act better. Amazingly, we won the first prize! It was an extremely memorable and unforgettable experience to me.

Calvin Tong 5C(28)

1/31/2019 10:53:50 pm

I’m really pleased to participate in the 9th Speech Gala. I’ve entered the finals five times in a row, but this is my first time to enter the public speaking category. I was quite nervous at first but I overcame my fear at last. Even though I didn’t get first place, I’m quite satisfied with my result. As Mrs. Lam said,” Winning isn’t everything!”

Thanks again to all of my classmates, friends, especially Mrs. Paul, Ms. Cheng and my parents who supported me all way long. It was a memorable experience for me. Thanks a lot! 

#thanks a million

Trevor Lam

2/1/2019 08:44:20 pm

Although I had participated in the Speech Gala almost every year, this was the first time I got the first place. This was also my first try in the duologue class which was very memorable and exciting because I worked it out with one of my best friends, Cyrus Ngan. We practised a lot so we got good marks. I think this class was really rewarding as it’s all about teamwork. I’m very looking forward to the next Speech Gala. I’ll try my best to keep polishing my oral presentation skill, hoping to have another even better experience.

Cyrus Ngan 5C

2/1/2019 10:21:41 pm

This was my first time to participate in the Speech Gala. I was only the audience when I was P.1 to P.4. But this year, I could go on stage! I joined the duologue category with Trevor Lam. We practised really hard during all times before we could be selected to join the Grand Finals. I was psyched by that time.

On the day of the Speech Gala, we performed very well and made the audience impressed. The adjudicator, Mr Simon Tham also gave us good comments and appreciated our push and pull techniques.

In the end, we got the first place! From this competition, I learnt that in order to have success, effort is truly needed. I hope I could keep joining the Speech Gala next year!

Sherman Tsoi 5C(29)

2/4/2019 02:07:57 pm

This is the first time I represented my class to participate the Speech Gala competition. I joined the verse speaking competition. Although I didn’t win, it was a great experience for me and I will always remember that Mrs. Lam said, ‘‘Winning is not everything.” My speaking skill has also improved. I was really looking forward to the next Speech Gala!

Aden Su

2/26/2019 08:25:07 pm

it was very satisfactory and I look forward to the next 1

The 9th Speech Gala - Words from Adjudicator

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