Sachindri of Vishaka Vidyalaya wins third place at Public Speaking Competition in Malaysia
Grace Sachindri Wickremasinghe, an A level student of Literature and Political Science from Vishaka Vidyalaya, Colombo 05 won third place in the Public Speaking category at the Asian Schools’ Debating Championship which was held in Malaysia last week.
More than 200 debaters from all over Asia such as Malaysia, Korea, Qatar, Bangladesh, Thailand and Philippines were present to compete in the tournament. Sachindri was among the three Sri Lankan contestants Shenali Urugoda ( Ladies College) and Dinushi Deumini ( Holy Family Convent) who qualified for the 12 finalists of the public speaking category. The topics for the qualifying rounds and the finals were chosen by the panel of judges. At the finals all contestants competed with a prepared speech on the same topic “Ouch”.
Sachindri ‘s prepared speech was on stereotypes in society. “It was mostly about size stereotypes and the common stereotypes people have about big people, I used my own personal experiences and had the audience interacting with me at every ‘ ouch’ in order to break the stereotypes. That is what I wanted to advocate ,” said Sachindri. “It wasn’t about winning for me, it was about getting the message across. I guess people understood and could easily relate. Like I said in my speech, everyone feels like a fat girl at some point deep down inside including the boys.” Sachindri is the first Sri Lankan to win a place in the Public Speaking category in the Asian School Debating Championship. The finalists included Asia’s best debater and the last year’s defending champion. Both of whom went on to become the top two finishers in the public speaking category.
It was the first time Vishaka Vidyalaya participated in the Asian School Debating Championship. Sachindri along with her two team mates Hasini Jayawardene and Hiruni Abeywardene competed for a place in the novice division. While S. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia went up to Novice Semis, Royal College broke to novice Quarters while, HFC were novice reserves. Ladies College, Ananda College and St. Joseph College also participated in the Championship league.
“I am grateful to my Principal Mrs. Sandamali Aviruppola, my teachers- incharge Mrs. Asiri Payagala and Mrs. Champika Delpagoda and my trainer Ms. Jayani De Silva, and special thank you also goes out to Mr.Damitha Karunarathne and all the Sri Lankan teams and teachers, my family and my close friends for all the support and encouragement,” said Sachindri. The public speaking competition was open to all contestants participating in Asian School Debating Championship and Sachindri qualified after being selected in the impromptu rounds.
Asian School Debating Championship is the largest school debating tournament in Asia. The first ASDC was held in 2009. The 6th ASDC was held on the campus of Sri KDU in the city of Kota Damansara, Selangor, Malaysia.