Friday, January 14, 2005
Worlds Debating Championship Finals
World's Debating Championship Finals is on the same day we had our SAQ paper. I was so pissed with how I did the paper that I decided to go for the finals with Yee Pei and Sheena.
The finals is in KL. We took the LRT and got partially lost getting to the venue. We first ran towards Ibu Pejabat DBKL when Sheena said that it was wrong and it was supposed to be at Panggung DBKL. So we continued running across the roads like chickens, making one huge round. Then at Panggung DBKL, they said that it was at Ibu Pejabat DBKL. So we continued running another circle. Felt like a fool, but what the heck.
Arrived late and no suprise, the thing had not even started. Three of us managed to squeeze a seat and our seats were pretty good in a fully packed Audi. Then about half an hour later, the MC went on stage. She's a Malay (no offence to Malay passengers) and we were cheering because it was finally about to start. But she just stood there like a dumb dumb, just smiling that stupid smile and not saying anything. So the crowd was like, "On your own time Madam." "Some time before Christmas will be good." "No pressure Mam, no pressure". I went like "Some time before I go back to study for OSPE!"
And after a few minutes she finally spoke, "Ujian suara, ujian suara." What the heck?!!! Then she went off stage and came on again after another 10 minutes. But again, she said nothing, so the crowd took its initiative to entertain themselves.
This Irish guy stood up at where he was and invited the rest of his mates to come up and sing with him. His public relation skills are like, wow. Some of his mates came and they started singing, getting the whole crowd to clap with them. They repeated the song over and over again.
Then the whisper started up, "She is still there?" "Not gone yet?" Apparently, they were trying to chase her off stage which she finally took the hint and went off stage. That started a general laughter, but still no starting of the debate. Finally the same Irish guy got up and started singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" with all the funny actions, urging the crowd to follow him do the action. Damn many actually did, Sheena being one of them. And I'm guilty of it too. Hehe...
Logan finally went on stage and got the crowd to settle down. And then we heard the MC and nearly wept. Her English was bad. I was like, why the hell her? Why not just get Tate to do it. But thank God she only spoke like a few lines and debate started.
Opening Gov: Ottawa Law
Opening Opp: Hart's House, Toronto
Closing Gov: Oxford D
Opening Gov: Cambridge D
Talk about an exciting closing half. The motion was "This house will bring back Corporal Punishment into School." For those blur people (like me) Corporal Punishment is whacking and whipping punishment and was taken away from schools a few years back.
Well, Ottawa Law red headed Prime Minister came up with this outrageous mechanism. Before that, he started his speech with, "They put make up on me, but this red hair is real." His mechanism: Make corporal punishment mandatory in all schools, public and private, for children age 4 to 12. The student will be taken into a separate room away from his peers. The teacher who wanted the punishment will watch while someone else will perform it. There will be nurses around to make sure no permenant damage is done to the students. There will be reports to justify the punishment and it will be kept in a file.
When we heard the mechanism, we were like WHAT??? And they actually won the debate. Wow.
The most quotable quote is from this Harry Potter loook alike from Oxford. His point was that the teachers and parents will love corporal punishment. His closing line - in that deep British accent - "The teachers will love it, the parents will love, and the students will just bloody hell have to accept it."
Hear, hear.
This should be fun. When do we leave?
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