JOHOR BARU: When Nur Afiqah Zainal took to the stage as a schoolgirl for choral speaking competitions, she never imagined that years later, she would coach pupils from her alma mater to state and national victories.
Now an English teacher at SK Yong Peng, the 34-year-old has led the primary school to its third consecutive Johor-level choral speaking title.
“Our school won the primary category on Sept 15, and we will represent Johor at the national finals in Putrajaya on Oct 13,” Nur Afiqah said.
“I am proud of their dedication. Having won the national title last year, the pressure is on as we prepare to defend our crown.”
The team of 17 pupils from Years Four to Six had six minutes to perform a script based on the themes “United Voices, Resounding Peace” and “With Words We Break, With Words We Mend”.
The team’s performance was inspired by the animated movie Inside Out, where they explored five emotions namely joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust.
For Nur Afiqah, the journey is particularly meaningful as she is an alumna of SK Yong Peng and was posted to the same school after graduating from a teaching institute 11 years ago.
Having coached choral speaking for nine years, she said one of the biggest challenges was helping pupils overcome their apprehension about competing against schools from larger cities.
“I remind them never to underestimate themselves simply because they are from a rural school,” she said.
“The key is to maximise the platform given to us so our message resonates.”
Nur Afiqah stressed that enunciation and articulation are critical scoring factors, adding that she ensures pupils understand every word so they deliver lines with genuine emotion.
“I also subscribe to The Star’s physical newspaper for research because I find the articles and opinion pieces more genuine and authentic,” she said, adding that she shares meaningful articles with her pupils to help with their preparation.
Nur Afiqah said she also worked to create an environment where pupils feel comfortable speaking English so that the language would not feel foreign to them outside the classroom.
The state-level competition, organised with the support of the state education department and Yayasan Johor Corporation, saw 440 pupils from 22 schools across Johor competing in the primary and secondary school categories.
SK(P) Sultan Ibrahim in Johor Baru placed second in the primary category. It was followed by SK Abdul Rahman Yassin in Kluang, SK Agama Bersepadu Pontian and SK Batu Anam in Segamat.
The secondary category was won by SMK Yong Peng, followed by SMK Ungku Hussin, SMK Tinggi Kluang, SMK Kota Masai and SMK Seri Pulai Perdana.
SM Sains Muar won the Best Conductor award.
Performances were judged based on language proficiency, vocal delivery, interpretation, creativity, teamwork and overall presentation.
