KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Malaysian student Pavit Coran has emerged as champion in the English Speaking Union (ESU) International Public Speaking Competition held online and virtually on Friday.

Pavit, a 19-year-old student at Multimedia University in Melaka representing the English Speaking Union of Malaysia (ESUM) beat 35 other participants from 33 countries in the Grand Finals, said ESUM in a statement.

In his five-minute presentation, he spoke about the increasing rate of mental depression worldwide and urged the audience and all governments to sympathise with the issue.

Pavit, who called for action in resolving the problem, said he was "truly ecstatic, grateful and blessed” as he could not believe that he had managed to beat so many of the participants in becoming champion.

"Although I was not able to go to London to compete, it was altogether a new experience doing such a competition online and facing problems such as internet connectivity,” he said.

Pavit deemed the whole process as interesting as he was able to meet many of the participants from different countries in the comfort of his own home and to hear the various interpretation of the same theme from all other participants.

This was the second time that Malaysia has won the Best Speaker title at the annual ESU International Public Speaking Competition after Marina Tan in 2011.

ESUM chairman Tunku Dara Tunku Tan Sri Naquiah expressed her profound happiness at Pavit’s success, adding that "he truly deserves to win and he did it for Malaysia”. — Bernama