In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent and the most Merciful.

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarokatuh,"May the peace, the mercy, and the blessings of Allah be upon you."

The honorable judges,My dear teachersMy respectable competitors,And not forgetting my loving brothers and sisters

All praises be to Allah SWT, the lord of the world, the creator of everything in this Universe. He has given us health and comfort,to attend this wonderful and Insyaa Allah blessed annual GERKO event.

Peace and Salutation be upon our prophet Muhammad SAW, who has brought us from the darkness to the brightness, from stupidity to cleverness.

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the floor,

Indeed, it brings me great pleasure to be honoured the chance to deliver my speech to the esteemed audience entitled: Ignorance is not blissSome people say, ignorance is bliss. Why? Is it really okay to not know or refuse to know? I do not agree with this idea because plugging your ears wont change the truth. Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. I think people who think ignorance is bliss are cowards. Because they are afraid to know the truth, afraid to face the reality, afraid to face and solve the problems. For the record, ignorance is unaware, lack of knowledge or information while bliss is perfect happiness.

Ladies and gentleman, esteemed audiences,We are too occupied, too busy to live our lives that we forgot to step one foot back and look at what is happening around us. This selfishness has led to ignorance. Parents are too busy working, to provide better amenities they sometimes forget to check their children wellbeing. While as children, brothers and sisters, we are too busy growing up, that we often forget, our parents are also growing old.**add personal anecdote**After we finished visiting I watched as my parents left my home and walked down my front steps toward their car. My father took my mother by the arm and slowly and carefully helped her step down the small steps of my porch. As I watched them walk away it hit me really hard that parents were growing oldit hit me almost by surprise, which is crazy because its not as if they have become old all at once. It has been happening slowly over the span of many years. But because my own life has been going through so much transition and change, I thought my siblings and I were the only one who are growing up. I had somehow simply failed to notice just how much my own parents were agingand it made me feel sad.My dear brothers and sisters, respected audiences,As a child you see your parents as these invincible adults. We see our dads as these big strong men who work hard, protect us, and just take care of things. We see our moms as our caretakers who are always there to make sure our needs are attended to that we always know we are loved. I dont know about all of you but for all of my life when I looked at my parents they seemed to be frozen at the same age. All through my growing up years they still looked the same age to me. Strong and energetic and young. That is how they have always seemed to me. Always, that is, until now. Now I see a cute little white haired mom who is fragile and breakable, and I see a gray haired father who walks a little slower than he once did. Now I see more lines appearing on their foreheads and the crescent of their eyes. Both now in their ( age ) the realization is finally hitting me that one day down the road (and I pray that it is many more years down the road still) these two people who have been the absolute rock and foundation for my life may no longer be on this earth with me. I realised, how ignorance I have been, how ungrateful I have acted, how selfish I have become.. Fellow brothers and sisters, members of the floor,Being a teenager, we often feel misconstrued. We claim that nobody understands us. Our parents do not understand us. Our teachers do not understand us. As a result, a series of meaningless state of rebel lioness occurred. We forget that our parents just want nothing but the best, we misunderstood. We missed their late night prayers wishing us well, we didnt see their well covered tears, we didnt realise their sweat-drenched shirt working to provide our needs. My dear esteemed audiences, remember that as we grow up, our parents are growing old. Although it is a thought I simply cannot imagine without breaking into tears, it is a reality that we need to start to remember so that we do not allow ourselves to take another moment we have with them for granted. Spend more quality time with your parents. Be gentle to them and help them without turning into the teenagers state of rebellions. Tell them stories of your lives, and ask them the stories of their lives. Let them know how much you love them and what they mean to you while they are still here to hear it in person. Ladies and gentleman,Before I end my speech allow me to say this. If you are still blessed enough to have your father and your mother on this earth. No matter how old your parents are the reality is that any of us could lose them at any time. Lets all make an effort to make more time for them, express more love for them, and make sure they feel appreciated while we still have them.Treat your parents with loving care, cause you will only know their worth when you see their empty chair.With that. Thank you, may Allah bless all of you.