By Izzud deen Redzuan
KUALA LUMPUR, 8 November 2014: The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) has been crowned today as the first runner-up in Pidato Alam Lestari Antara IPT 2014 Piala Menteri KPKT (Sustainable Environment Speech Contest Among Higher Institutions of Learning 2014 for Minister’s Trophy)
This competition is aimed at increasing public awareness on hygiene and preserving the environment through the concept of 3R – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
The speech contest, held from 6 until 8 November 2014 and hosted by Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), was jointly organised by Majlis Debat Malaysia (MADUM), Solid Waste & Public Cleansing Management Corporation (PPSPPA) and the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government (KPKT).
Akmal Aizat, a third year student of Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology (KICT), IIUM emerged as the first runner-up after defeating three other finalists on the topic Manusia, Bumi dan Mimpi (Human Beings, Earth and Dream).
However, he was defeated by the speaker from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Haziq Jamaluddin, a law student.
A total of 29 higher learning institutions consisting of IPTA (Public Institute of Higher Learning), IPTS (Private Institutions of Higher Learning), IPG (Teachers Training Institute) and Polytechnic took part in this championship where the topic must be related to the main theme, Transformasi Minda ke Arah Pemeliharaan Alam Sekitar Lestari (Mind Transformation Towards Sustainable Environment).
Akmal Aizat from IIUM took home RM1,000, an individual final trophy and a certificate of participation which were handed over by the Ministry’s Deputy Secretary General (Management), Dato Azizan Mohamad Sidin.
The competition in the preliminary round was conducted two days before, and a total of five of the best speakers from IIUM, UiTM, UPSI, UPM and UPNM were selected to compete in the Grand Final.
In the final’s stage, the flow is divided into two parts where the first part, the speaker will speak for seven minutes on a topic that has been prepared in advance, and the second part is a spontaneous speech delivered within two minutes as a response to the jury’s selected question.
Dato Azizan Mohamad Sidins opening and closing speeches emphasised the debate as a useful platform to enlighten the people on the importance of maintaining a sustainable environment.
This is the first edition of Pidato Alam Lestari Antara IPT Piala Menteri KPKT and Dato Azizan hoped that the championship, starting from this year and onward, would be an annual event.***
Photos of Muiz & Khairul Akhtar