Farel Natanael Sinaga

First of all, I’d like to thank The Almighty God only because of his blessings, we can gather here in this
amazing venue, and for this lovely weather that we’re having. Secondly, I’d like to thank the faculty of
vocation and education of Lancang Kuning University, for giving me this special opportunity to compete
in this speech contest. Last but not least, I’d like to thank everyone in the audience for attending this
event. Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman, my name is Farel Natanael Sinaga. I’m a year 11 Student
from 6 High School Pekanbaru.

Whats The first thing that came to your mind when you hear current issues, -- was TikTok. Why TikTok
you might ask? I don’t really know. But I think it’s because TikTok is often associated with problematic
teens or troublesome trends. But today I’d like to talk about something much further, much deeper than
Tiktok. Today I want to talk about the issues within the internet.

What even is an internet? According to Britannica.com, Internet is a vast network that connects all
computers all around the world. And I’d like to note here, it’s not just computers, it’s pretty much every
devices available on the market. Such as your smartphone, your laptop, your ipad, your smartwatch. You
name it. Everything has internet in it.

The specific issue that I want to talk about today is how internet consumption can lead to low self-
esteem. Imagine you’re scrolling through your social media such as your instagram, twitter or tiktok. And
you stumble upon one of your friends amazing holiday trip to France. Or your friend’s shredded six pack
abs that he posted on his story. And you think to yourself. Damn, I wish I had one. Or let’s say you saw
one of your friend’s picture with their girlfriend. And you think to yourself. Man, I wish I had a girlfriend.
I’d like to put a disclaimer here, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with posting nice things online. The
problem develops when you compare yourself to other people that are more fortunate than you. When
you compare yourself to unrealistic body standards, unrealistic beauty standards, unrealistic couple
goals, etc. You’ll start to feel depressed. Which, just might lead to suicide. Which brings me to my other
topic.

Suicide. Suicide has been a huge problem recently. Quoting World Health Organization website, more
than 700.000 people committed suicide in 2019. As someone that had lost my significant other to
suicide, I’d like to spread the Suicide Prevention Awareness. If you’re going through depression, I advise
you as a friend to seek help immediately. How? By telling people what’s in your mind. Talk to your
friend, parents, teacher, about what’s bothering you. Or even better, you should go seek professional
help. I suggest you go to a therapist. It really helps.

I’d like to end this speech with a quote from my favorite martial artist, Patrick Pimblett. I’d rather let
my best friend cry on my shoulders rather than carrying his coffin. What I mean by that is, I’d rather see
my best friend cry while talking about his feelings rather than seeing him commit suicide. There’s an
ongoing stigma, where apparently Men are strong. Men can’t cry. Men shouldn’t cry. I’d like to break
that stigma. We, Men are humans too. We can bleed. We can cry. We have feelings too. And we are as
vulnerable as you are.

In conclusion, I’d like everyone that is going through depression can seek help immediately. I think that
concludes my speech for today. I hope you guys learned something new from my speech. Thank you for
your attention, Good Morning.
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