Killing time by earning gold: How a shy schoolgirl became 'best performer'

Even as time neared for her family's train to depart, Nur Aamily Safiyya Zabari refused to leave the hall at The International World Innovative Student Exhibition (iWise) at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom.

The 11-year-old had just been awarded a gold medal in English public speaking. Her parents were getting anxious about the 30-minute walk back to central London to make the train, but Nur Aamily insisted on waiting for the best performer award to be announced.

"She said she didn't want to (head back yet)... She wanted to wait for the ranking to be announced, and seemed to be confident that she would get the prize," said her mother Nurul Husna Azon.

It was worth the wait. Nur Aamily won third place - but a night of celebration soon turned into a mad scramble for the train.

Just a few years ago, it would have been unimaginable to Nurul Husna that the diminutive Nur Aamily had such steely confidence in her own performance.

The girl was a shy pupil in school who would rather let her classmates answer questions, but her journey to London started with a single word: "Bored".

From shy to steely

During last year's December school holidays, Nur Aamily, who attends Sekolah Kebangsaan Permatang Tok Mahat, asked her mother to sign her up for any English-language competition to pass the time.

A few months later, the schoolgirl travelled more than 10,000km from Nibong Tebal, Penang, to the United Kingdom because she was "bored", and returned with a gold medal.

The 40-year-old Nurul Husna said the iWise London Global Final 2026 public speaking competition featured about 500 participants from 29 countries, with Nur Aamily competing against 50 others within her category.

Nurul Husna, a senior engineer, said her daughter winning third place in the "best performer" category was more exciting than her gold medal in public speaking, as Nur Aamily had to overcome her nerves just to step on the stage.

"She is shy and quiet in the classroom. She rarely talks (in class)... she knows the answers, but if a teacher asks a question, she wouldn't volunteer to answer.

"She'd let her friends respond. Only when the teacher asks her directly would she answer," said the mother.

However, Nur Aamily did not go from a shy student to a gold-medal public speaker overnight.

Realising her quiet nature, Nurul Husna and her husband, Zabari Izyan Zainal Abidin, also 40, started looking for ways to give their child more exposure.

"We signed her up for school activities to let her get used to a stage environment; anything with costumes and a stage, I'd push her to do it," she said.

By Year 2, Nur Aamily began showing progress.

That year, her Science teacher had her participate in an innovation programme that required her to memorise a script and present her creation to a jury.

Nur Aamily also took part in school and state dance teams, and little by little, the stage no longer felt foreign to her.

Challenge accepted

Eventually, her parents' encouragement turned into her own drive, and Nur Aamily began looking for platforms to test her skills.

"She would request... 'Mum, can you look for any competitions for me (to participate in), but in English? Public speaking, choral speaking, it doesn't matter. As long as it can kill some time,'" Nurul Husna said.

The mother would then scour TikTok and Facebook for any suitable events.

The family then learned through an acquaintance of the Blue Wave Cambridge English Network and a "Dr Devi", who guided them on how to participate in a competition under the organisation.

First, Nur Aamliy had to go through a qualifier round for Malaysia. The schoolgirl presented to three jury members from the UK about a topic of her interest - robotics.

"She got gold for that. We didn't expect it... I think that was her first. She just wanted to kill time.

"After she got gold, Alhamdulillah, she got to go to the Dubai Global Final in February," Nurul Husna said.

Stepping up

The challenge went up a notch in Dubai. Nur Aamily had to speak about environmental sustainability for about five minutes and was then spontaneously given the topic of recycling.

She was given only 10 minutes to gather her thoughts before delivering a one-minute speech in front of a jury.

Nur Aamily earned the silver medal at the Dubai Global Final and advanced to the next stage - the iWise London Global Final 2026 in August.

Travelling to the UK was no easy matter for the family - Nurul Husna said flight tickets for four already cost almost RM13,000.

However, they managed to secure 10 days' accommodation from Mara, which helped drastically cut down costs.

"If we couldn't find accommodation, we might have had to rethink going to London because the costs involved were very high. Just the flight tickets for four were nearly RM13,000," Nurul Husna said.

She and her husband also had to take unpaid leave to accompany their children on the trip.

Just 'gorenglah'

Before the London finals, Nur Aamily had to undergo a two-month training regimen with her coach, Aimy Fatin Suhana Yusof, and Dr Devi.

The schoolgirl once again chose robotics as her topic, which she enjoyed and found interesting.

When asked what she would do if she had forgotten her script on stage, she simply said: "I'll just keep going. Gorenglah. (just wing it)"

Asked why she stubbornly remained in the hall when the family had a train to catch, she said, "It's the ranking. That's the difficult one to get."

Unfortunately, Nur Aamily then came down with a high fever with shivers that left her bedridden for two days, and she had to forgo several supplementary events, including International Night.

Nurul Husna believed that the stress and fatigue of travelling, the hot weather, and the long wait during the competition could have led to the bout of illness.

However, Nur Aamily said she was not too disappointed that she had to sit out the remaining events, saying she had an unforgettable time at the "beautiful" university and made friends with participants from other countries.

She is now back at school, dividing her time between academics, tuition, and dance activities. Nur Aamily will also be sitting for the Kafa Class Assessment Examination.

Nurul Husna said the schoolgirl's principal, Rosli Ahmad, also fully supports her extracurricular activities, allowing her to skip class to participate in competitions or other events.

Despite her success in public speaking, Nur Aamily said she has no interest in pursuing an oratory profession, and she would like to be a paediatrician instead.

"(It is) because I like to help children," she replied when asked why.

To other school children who may have had the same difficulties in speaking up as she did, Nur Aamily has some advice.

"It's ok, don't be shy. People won't laugh at you; that's just your own thoughts," she said.

When asked how she pictured her journey from a shy pupil at school to a gold medal winner in an English-speaking competition hosted in the UK, Nur Aamily gave it some thought.

"Never imagined," she said after a pause.

SNAPSHOT | Stop using constituency funds as political weapon - Nik Nazmi; paralympian wins bronze in Glasgow

Mum's gambit: Autistic boy gains confidence through street chess

80 medals: Perseverance and passion of young robotics champs

Tamil school students shine at World Robot Games, bag over 80 medals