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QCEC 2023
Winner of QCEC 2023 Silver Award
By: Victoria Maria Huang Rui (2 Growth, 2023)
Category: Why Does Your Voice Matter? (Junior Category)
What is a voice? What makes a voice, a voice? A voice is more than just a sound or a function, it's a way of communicating but what is communicating? It is when two parties share information like opinions, data and experiences with each other. The core of communication is understanding one another. Without this, a voice becomes well, voiceless. I believe that everyone from all walks of life deserves to be heard and understood. All of us are humans, no matter our skin colour, our ethnicity, or our religion. In the end, we breathe the same air and walk on the same level so who are we to decide whether one should be sounded out or treated as less?
YouTuber Ondoni Ssem (Screengrab: YouTube)
Take YouTuber Ondoni Ssem, for example. She built up her YouTube fame as a fitness influencer. Then she proceeded to share her experience of being the only survivor of a horrible familicide that traumatised her, to her audience. She voiced out how the incident had affected her mentally. Through her voice, Ondoni was able to share with the world her experiences and bring justice to her father’s brutal murder.
First of all, everyone offers a different world, a new perspective. Take the life of a celebrity and a homeless person. A celebrity is generally treated like royalty and does not have to worry about meeting their needs. They live comfortably but they are constantly under the watchful eye of the public, always being mobbed by the media and having their private lives invaded constantly, which brings to light the problem of the media’s lack of boundaries. On the contrary, a homeless person lives their lives ignored and neglected. They worry about their next meal and their chances of survival, which brings to light the problem of the government’s lack of care for the homeless. People are brought up in different environments—a homeless person would not have encountered the problem the celebrity faced and vice versa. Another example is how people think that psychiatric hospitals are like torture chambers. However, according to a YouTuber named “Today’s dduk ddark”, who filmed a vlog in a close ward, described her experience as welcoming and lively. She even mentioned how she would play games and eat together with the other patients. This proves the stereotype wrong and allows the public to have a better understanding of the environment at psychiatric hospitals.
“a YouTuber named ‘Today’s dduk ddark’... described her experience [in a psychiatric hospital] as welcoming and lively.”
Furthermore, communication and understanding are key to maintaining relationships. For instance, when you get into an argument, hearing your friend’s side allows you to understand them better - why they did that and how they feel. This allows you to make a sound judgement and prevent further aggravation of your relationship with them. Teenagers like me tend to overthink and worry whether our actions have hurt anyone but we are too timid to speak up, afraid that voicing out will earn displeased gazes. However, if you do not speak up, your friendships will lose their meaning and become one-sided. The conflict in your mind will continue to grow and overwhelm you and before you know it, your friendship will aggravate beyond repair. Thus, communication is understanding.
“Teenagers like me tend to overthink and worry whether our actions have hurt anyone but we are too timid to speak up, afraid that voicing out will earn displeased gazes.”
Finally, I strongly believe that everybody’s voice matters. It can impact everything—perspective, relationships, and your life. A voice can come in many forms like a book, an article and actions—it does not have to be a sound only. Everyone deserves to be respected and valued, not suppressed and ignored. As Dianna Hardy said, “It only takes one voice, at the right pitch, to start an avalanche.”
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