The 2008 Inter-School Public Zone Choral Speaking Competition was not as nerdy as it may sound. With 10 schools competing, it was every bit like any other inter-school event, just without perspiration, grime and the fear of being knocked over. To our great delight, this year’s competition was held at Cempaka Cheras.

This writer gives you, the reader, a first hand account of what went on that day, so gear up. Choral speaking is a tiring activity. The first thing that caught our eyes when the other schools arrived was their uniform. The hall was filled with multi-coloured attire and much chattering. It was agreed that the best uniform we had seen (apart from our own of course) was the Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar one – red and white stripes. Once everyone had settled down and been given a tour of the stage, the Masters of Ceremony took full charge and started, but not before a slight briefing by Mr Alfonsus.

The first school up was Sekolah Menengah Tsun Jin with a poem entitled ‘A Student’s Life’. They certainly get an A on synchronization and personification.

The second school was Stella Maris and their topic ‘Showbiz’ quickly brought us all to attention. We enjoyed it quite a lot. It was a very good effort on their part, with a very amusing script. However, there were parts which sounded uncannily similar to that of our own script and our conductor started to get worried. We weren’t the only innovative ones it seemed.

Third to perform was Sekolah Sri Garden with ‘21st century teens’. They were definitely clear winners, what with highly amusing lines, synchronized speech, clear enunciation and outrageous hand movements. Every other school was blown away at this point.

The fourth school was Sekolah Sri Dasmesh. They did a nice little ditty about ‘My Primary School Days’ which seemed to transgress into secondary school days too. We had a few laughs as they pinpointed what were once important factors in our childhood. Clear sighs of nostalgia were to be heard all around the hall once Sri Dasmesh had finished.

The one school that had gotten most of us quite excited was the Global Indian International School. There were many audible intakes of breath to be heard when this team came on stage next. Much to our surprise, the GIIS team was made up of mostly girls with a few boys scattered in between. They were all quite young, the youngest participants I dare say but their topic was far from immature – Cosmopolitan Malaysia. They definitely deserve applause for having taken on such a serious topic.

From the youngest to the oldest, the next school was Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar. Yes, the school with the uniforms that so excited us. They went for a highly amusing version of Cinderella, much like a modern retelling of it. We all laughed ourselves silly listening to a rather ‘blonde’ Cinderella attempt to attend the ball and dance with a prince who wasn’t all the ‘Prince Charming’ she had hoped him to be.

The next school was Sekolah Bersepadu Kemayan with the topic ‘Pre-Exam Questions’. I would like to say they were remarkable but unfortunately I was already backstage with my fellow choral speaking teammates, ears pressed against the wall in a vain attempt to listen. I managed to pick out rather muffled words like ‘and’ so I’m quite sure they were loud and clear. Upon questioning the other schools later, they all agreed that SBK had done a good job and that their topic had actually helped them somewhat.

Aha, the moment we have all been waiting for – Cempaka’s turn on the stage. Would it be bias, dear readers, to say that we did quite good? We were loud, we were clear, we were amusing – but we were a little fast, I’ll admit that. I cannot say much on our performance but that our topic – How To Do A Good Choral Speaking Performance – was definitely an ingenius idea, thank you to Mr Tan Sien Yi, the brainchild of our script.

Last but not least was Sekolah Sri Utama with a poem quite familiar to many – Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. We were astounded by the significantly few students from SSU. And yet, even if they had the smallest number of participants, they did quite a good job. They finished fast and everyone eagerly adjourned to the canteen to refresh themselves before the results.

Eyes tired yet, dear reader? Fear not, I shall cut down to the chase. After an inspiring speech by our very own Datin Freida, the results were announced starting from third place.

Before we continue, just ask yourself – ‘was all that practicing really worth it in the end?’. Was it worth missing all those classes to represent our school in such a dignified competition? Probably, seeing as we managed third place. The suspense over, we listened carefully for the rival who had beaten us to second and it was Sri Dasmesh. And of course, first place was inevitably going to Sri Garden. We had all foreseen it. Applause abound, everyone quickly snapped photos, interviewed others and rushed on home.

What a day it had been, but I must go slightly further to thank the prefects and probates on duty that day who tirelessly showed the guests around and gave us much encouragement. They were all stars too, and they didn’t even go on stage.