In between start and end: competition

The second speech contest I've tried out this year.

Compared to the Indonesian Speech Contest (read here) I had, I wasn't feeling good about this one. I was feeling less excited about it as the contest day approaches, but I tried telling myself "whatever happens, happens". I won't go into detail bcos I wasn't satisfied with my performance AT ALL. Nevertheless, it was a great learning experience.

I always ask myself, why am I learning Korean? I didn't even want to work in Korea or be an interpreter. Is it really worth it all?

Now that I have an answer Imma just say it. Because learning opens up a new opportunity. Whatever that may be. I actually did enjoy practicing for the speech. It didn't take me that long to go through everything because I knew what I wanted to say and it felt good. I learnt more about word structure as I was writing the script (and got corrected by it). I guess the prize wasn't meant to be mine in the first place, but I'm glad I participated.

I thank Ida for telling me about this and made it possible for me to join huhu. 너무 너무 감사! And Mun for believing in me 끝까지. I'm sorry I couldn't do my best after all your guidance and hardwork. I promise I shall learn more diligently and not depend on you alone when we go Korea hehe.

Speaking of which, I FINALLY BOUGHT THE PLANE TICKETS TO SEOUL!!!

I'm flying next year October during autumn. One of the outcome for this contest is whether or not I got the scholarship to study in Korea and will I be able to make it for our trip... Looks like we can now since I flopped the contest in the end hahah.

However if I won the speech contest, it would give me another headache on how could I've afford living abroad with the financial state I am in. And I couldn't start my degree in February as I wanted to (not that it is confirmed already but still). So, the concern for it would multiple and I know I won't like it myself. As for the Korea trip, I already had a budget allocation (though it would be great if I could have more for shopping) but I'd worry less and only look forward to the fun part - planning!

I won't complain. I have no intention on quitting anyway. I need to understand what my oppadeul is saying without having to wait for the subs lol.

P.S. Thanks Shaza, Nadhirah and Ilham for coming to support. I was never available to support you guys and I feel so bad, but I would try my best in the future. Sorry yall couldn't understand a single thing on what's happening. Most of it... I didn't too lmao.

Dropping by,
Melynn.

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((Notice a pun in the title))

In case you didn't get it, the ambassador for this year's event is none other than uri WINNER oppas omo!!

So first of all, how did I enter this contest?

I've heard about this contest on Instagram. You know the ads we all hate that creeps in our igstory and on our feeds... That's exactly how!

When I first heard of it being a video contest, I was thrilled. Because it means that I can have fun making videos again. It didn't have to be good... I just wanted to produce something for that matter. I always tell myself "there's no harm trying" and though I kept procrastinating, I ended up submitting a video. A cringe-worthy one. Tengok la if you wish to.

The idea behind that video is simple. I knew I wanted to do a dance cover, but I didn't want to do just that, since I knew most people would go for dance covers as well (that's what Korea is famous for after all).

This year's Talk! Talk! Korea consists of 5 categories - "K-Food", "K-Music & Drama", "K-Beauty & Style", "ETC" and a special topic for this year; "Peace on the Korean peninsula". So you are allowed to submit your videos based on these categories (can apply for more than one, but they will decide which category if yours are chosen). I submitted mine for "ETC" (bcos my video had elements of Hangeul and Taekwondo) and also for "K-Music & Drama" (which I know damn well I won't a have chance in but #siscuba).

A brief explanation on how this contest works. Skip it if you already know, or if you aren't that bothered.

Long story short, I made it to the final 75... fighting for the grand prize, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place. Since there are 75 finalists and 5 categories, there are 15 finalists for each category. Out of the 15 people, the rankings will be determined through online voting that happens weekly and as much as 4 times. Yes, brace yourselves if you are chosen as the finalists. Simplest way to phrase it is for each category, 5 people who lost the first voting are the 5th place winners, 4 people who lost the second voting are the 4th place winner, 3 people who lost the third voting are the 3rd place winners and the last voting determines the 2nd and grand prize winners. Hope that made sense.

How voting works? Anyone with a Facebook or Google account can vote by logging in. Vote can be cast daily (by daily I mean after 24 hours since the previous voting). So, y'all can use all your different accounts to vote for one person or even everyone. Vote counts are renewed after every voting stage. So, you must work hard to survive again and again. However, voting only results to 40% of the scores, while the other 60% is based on internal judging.

End of technical talk.

I won 3rd place meaning I competed for 3 out of 4 online votings. Honestly speaking, on the second round, my votes aren't even that high compared to others and I was really surprised for the fact that I managed to surpass that stage. It was really unexpected to go that far considering how mediocre my video was. It's either the judges liked my work more. or that the other finalists who got more votes, were illegally buying them... God knows.

My personal thoughts on this? I hate when I have to bother people and beg them to vote for me or do me any sort of favour, and this contest requires me to do just that. To my surprise, my friends (especially my uni friends) were all so supportive and I'm glad I don't have to be so secretive about that part of me during these desperate times. But on the other hand, I can't help but feel like I'm being judged and that kinda made me feel a little insecure and slightly embarrassed.

Now, is the prize worth it? This part of the story is the one you don't see upfront. Yeah the prize they are giving are cool gadgets and a trip to Korea and whatnot. But of course, the struggle to receive that prize is real as well.

In my case, I won a PC tablet. The receiving process actually took a long time. The contest ended officially on the end of August after the final voting. I received the email saying the prize will be shipped on September and received early October. But that didn't happen because Koreans have long holidays (Chuseok a.k.a Korean Thanksgiving) in September and it's hard to ship them(?) A month later, they emailed again saying they had to postpone the shipment due to few holidays during the first and second week of October and will deliver by the end of October instead. No doubt that it's a pretty long wait but though they did not update frequently, I still appreciate them for updating us through those emails.

Once my item reaches custom on the 25th of October, I was contacted by the courier company saying I needed a permit. So one thing I wasn't aware was that electronic goods in Malaysia requires SIRIM permit and there's a lot of procedures in applying for them. Also, these extra costs aren't supported by the sender which is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Korea and had been clarified (though was too late since I settled myself) via email as I've prompted.

It took me a week to settle the SIRIM permit and custom clearance for it to ship to my house. The main problem is the fact that I wasn't informed on the product brand and model beforehand. In order to apply for the permit, SIRIM insisted on knowing the exact product brand and model which I didn't know. As I've mentioned the sender replied to my email quite late and as the custom clearance would charge extra for longer storage time, I knew I needed to settle it soonest. In the end, I requested the courier to open the package and get the product details for me, as how my annoyed dad suggested.

For SIRIM permit, once I told them the required details, they sent me an email of the application procedure stating they will process the application within 24 hours for walk-in but 2-3 days through email. I don't get how the system supposed to be any different but haihh. I asked my dad to do walk-in since I was still in Melaka and SIRIM is based in Shah Alam, Selangor, just so that I could get the courier to ship the product to me soonest. The courier literally called me everyday for an update on the permit. The permit was settled within the same day (walk-in at noon and received permit via email in the evening). The courier shipped the next day or so.

Additional cost on receiving the prize? RM100 for the permit and RM116 for the custom clearance (including the handling fee by the courier company). Now was it all really worth it? The tablet costed USD250 and it's LG, so wasn't the most hyped brand for a tablet. I would probably appreciate it more if it was an iPad, but sadly it wasn't. I personally don't find a tablet to be that useful since I spend most time either on my phone or laptop to do work. I don't know if I would be able to sell it off for a good price as well.

I guess the experience was all that mattered. I love the fact I represented my country since no other Malaysian ended up being a finalist and also, my video received so many views lol. For me to be part of a global contest, made it so honorable since it doesn't happen everyday. So I'm still grateful nevertheless, but not gonna lie this contest did gave me good amount of stress ever since the constant voting until the shipment process... I'm glad it ended well, is all I can say.

Here is a video compilation of the winners for the "ETC" category;

Thank you so much for your interest if you ended up reading all that. Sorry if I wasn't being that helpful. If you are thinking of joining next year, GOOD LUCK!! I know the struggle and am truly wishing you the best! Just believe in yourself, hwaiting!

Dropping by,
Melynn.

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I guess you can say I got lucky again.

I made it into another competition. This time, forget about making videos. I got enough of that. I still feel like a noob in all this video production thingy. Especially after seeing my friends producing better videos for class projects after I've won. Insecurity at its best.

I shifted. It's now a speech competition WITH A TWIST. The competition name is "Lomba Pidato dan Bercerita dalam Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing". Yes, that means I gotta speak Indonesian lol.

Briefly there's 2 categories for this - pidato and bercerita. Pidato has "Unity in Diversity" as its topic while bercerita has "Indonesian Folklore" as its theme. I chose bercerita (storytelling).

There's 2 stages to get through. First one is semi-final. Among everyone who participated (which this year I think is around 30 in total), only 10 will proceed to become the finalists. Semi-final took place in Sekolah Indonesia Kuala Lumpur on the 28th of April 2018. For those who cannot make it physically, we are given an option to send in a video. I did the latter.

Long story short, here's a google drive link to the video if you are interested in watching me for semi-final; https://drive.google.com/file/d/13OGFC-8eUfKCTeku7uk8hk_zE8A500K0/view?usp=sharing

P.s. If you wonder why the audio is rubbish, it's because I recorded with the fan on and kinda ruined the whole thing. So I ~~tried~~ edited out the fan sound and increase my voice pitch, only to hear the sinking voice of mine. Sorry.

Final

For my experience in final, it's a very valuable opportunity. Why? Because firstly, it's held in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Kedah. That's like the getaway I was hoping for. I wanted it to be as far as it could possibly be and this is like a wish come true. Secondly, my family are sending me there instead of me taking the bus along with the rest of the finalists. I personally am glad my parents decided to make this sacrifice as I don't think I'm able to handle going off for a competition like this on my own.

The final is on 6th of May which is a Sunday, a.k.a a week after the semi-final. We are required to change the story to a different one. To me personally, it's a torture. If you've read the previous post - Memorising. It's partly about this competition. And to my surprise, I'm not suffering it alone. The time given was way to short for any of us finalists to not worry about the script. Up until the performance time, it's considered great if you are not bringing a script up to the stage. Because most finalists did. Thankfully by that time, I didn't feel the need to bring it along.

I practiced day and night for days before this competition. My worry for it was reaching the roof. Somehow it's very difficult to memorise the script and come up with dramatic gestures at the same time.

My dad uploaded the video on YouTube, so you can see it for yourself. BUT don't put your hopes too high lol; https://youtu.be/2yx6SgHFZz8

I couldn't bear watching it cos I think I did so badly. My gestures were lacking. My speech was too fast. Overall, I was just really nervous. Plus, my dad's camera zooming is really a bother.

But from my point of view during the performance, I actually felt great. It was really the best walk-through I've ever done. Even during practice I could never really get through without a forgotten part. But during final, I did. The hall was really quiet but everyone was seen to be paying attention to me. Which is what I like because it made me feel more encouraged to move on with the story. One of the VIP was smiling at me and there's a lady at the side who actually chuckled at my words. Truly, that's all that matters.

They may be looking at me because my clothes were really something. Cough horrible cough. But who cares, at least it made my mum happy bcos she decided it for me.

Before my performance, one of the storytelling finalist - Shakif, did his performance of Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih. He was SOOO GOOD. Forget about him going wayy past the time limit, he was very talented in acting and funny. I'm glad he won the trip to Indonesia. At that point during the announcement, I'm just glad I won something. It's better to lose over someone who's obviously better than to win when you know people won't think you deserve it as much.

I did wanted to win a trip to Indonesia or any country for that matter initially. It's just a feeling of really wanting to be in a different country at the moment. Hoped for Korea but earliest for that to happen would probably be next year (insyaAllah). But along the competition period, the feeling of winning kinda faded(?) as if winning the trip doesn't matter much to me anymore. Just figured I should just enjoy and have fun while I'm at it. Partly because I didn't want the trip to clash with my internship (which I have yet to be accepted for, unfortunately). Though not gonna lie, winning 2nd place is a thing to be highly grateful for nevertheless.

Me on the middle row to the right. Storytelling winner Shakif is the one right behind me.

All the finalists were good and really friendly. Thanks for the good time, guys!

My other prize "cheque"!!

If I'm being honest, I hated what I wore smh tapi #mamapilih.

As always being in a competition will always teach me something. Truth is, what I really wanted isn't just money... I prefer getting the acknowledgement... for being good at something... from dem few people.

Also, this news wasn't updated on my insta bcos I uninstalled the app on my phone. I'd re-install it whenever I feel like it later. Probably after Raya.

Dropping by,
Melynn.

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Here's some back story I just feel like sharing.

On 11 Nov 2017, I submitted my entry for the myTreevolution video contest that I found out thru my university's e-Learning portal - ULearn.

That leads to the announcement that came out on 15 Jan 2018, which stated that I won 3rd place!!! Ok, so I had won just like that. Ha ha ha no.

Even if my video seems tacky and what poor judgement they must've had or that they "must've not receive any better entries", I still won't say it didn't worth me winning this. What makes people judge so recklessly when they themselves never tried to create anything better? I pretty sure at least the whole uni knew about this, since they've had the poster up for so long during the contest period. Plus they even had a 2-week extension...

The judges weren't nobodies, they are people who deal with content videos as part of their living. Whether it being in the business or the creative industry, I think their judging dah cukup adil dah.

It's obvious that I am not a pro. I don't put much thought when it comes to shooting videos. I don't really open my editing software unless I needed to make something... something like this je. But WHAT made me try so hard?

I still remember there's a class in my first semester of uni where I wanted to use the fancy university's DSLR camera to shoot our video project. I asked our lecturer but he said they're being used for a workshop. I kept insisting to know when can I get it and he said, "Just use whatever you have. Your phone camera nowadays can shoot 1080p some more, that is more than enough".

Never have I thought those few words can mean so much to me today. Because I never realised that. I had an old compact camera that took me so long to revive, only to find that the highest resolution it can shoot is in 720p. To my surprise, even an ancient budget phone like my ASUS Zenfone 5 (2014) can already record in 1080p. This actually did instil a spark of hope.

It means that the chances have always been here, I was just too oblivious to realise. Well I at least needed to borrow an iPhone or a DSLR or a mirrorless camera to produce nice videos kann? Apparently, no.

And that's when I realise, I don't need anyone or anything more.

I went on this experience alone. With the mindset of not letting anyone control it, cos I don't wanna give away the credit. From learning all about the theme, to making a spoken word poem that usually takes 3 days, to visualizing the script, to watching short films, to randomly shooting things in the streets, to editing... It sounds like a long journey for a noob like me. So frankly speaking it breaks my heart to hear (and forcefully had to agree to keep the conversation going) when people look down on the end product that I had proudly created. I was sooo proud of it that I wrote on my journal the day I submitted,

"So far the best video I've ever done."

Tbh, I am still proud of it looking back. Now I kinda resent myself for not appreciating myself enough. Screw that girl who said the judge was too dumb to judge! Screw that guy who told me my voice was the only reason I won! Your spoken word was great and your video was good enough. Amelynn, you deserve every bit of attention you gained! Everything wasn't wrong in the first place. Remember if He wanted it happen, He already made it happen. People should be mindful of their hatred. Seriously.