Debate Journey

It feels like 10 years ago since our last debate get-together/discussion/competition.

Honestly, I really miss it.
Even though all of us undergo a lot of stress, pressure and craziness.
Especially those who were speaking on that very day.
All of us have been working together side by side for at least 2 months.
When i recalled how much all of us were involved in this debate.
It was waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in early February.
All of us back then (well, there's was more ppl until some of us were eliminated) were zeros.
We know almost nothing abt debate, hows was it like, what are we supposed to do and so on.

Well, all I can say is,
This chapter of my life : Debate
was a great comeback for me.
I met people that came from nowhere and walah! we're now friends and we got closer because of this.

While preparing for the 1st debate, we made a trip down to a hotel in Sepang.
I remembered that we went there after school and came home late at night.
>.< style="font-weight: bold;">
Anyway, Our first debate was against SMK Bukit Indah on
the topic : Parents and not the predators are the real villains behind child abduction.
We got : Government

Government = supporting the motion
Opposition = Rejects the motion

In the beginning, we thought we were at the losing end if we would get government.
But, it turned out, after doing our discussions, government was stronger.
As an audience, I was shaking and freezing cold.
and No, it wasn't a cold day not the fan was too fast.
As our worth opponents are from SMK Bukit Indah, I knew a few of them.
For exam, the 3rd speaker on the right.
I knew her since primary school and to my surprise, she did quite good.
She was always involved with story telling back then.

The 2nd speaker, hmm... I do know his name but never actually had a chance to talk to him although we were studying in the same tuition centre and in the same class!!
ok, i don't know the first speaker.
I also knew one of their reserve speaker. Also from tuition. XDXD

We won the first round and it was a huge accomplishment for us.
I think they didn't really expected us to win since it was our 1st time after 3 years not participating because we don't have a Bumiputera speaker.

We wont the first round. =D
Best Speaker : shazmiq
Now, we have another round to compete on THE SAME DAY

This time was against SMK Taman Keramat.
Topic : Owning a car today is a bane rather than a boon.
We got : Government again. We wanted Opposition but we lost in the coin toss.


After the 1st speaker of our opponent spoke, I had a strong feeling the we might win.
and so we did! =DD

The first speaker was crapping all the way. Cant even understand what she's trying to say.
2nd speaker was ok since she was reading all the way and forgotten one of the rules where you cannot give any POI's in the 1st minute.
Vi said " I'm afraid you cannot give any POI's now. They bell did not ring yet"
3rd speaker was full of crap. My apologies for putting it that way.
I mean, who in the doesn't know the city of Amsterdam?!??
and yet he said it wasn't a popular country.
he kept questioning the audience like he's expecting for an answer which we were not allowed to do so. ugh. you can read my previous post on this.
Oh ya!

Best speaker : Vinaya

well, since that day, wow.
Now, we have to prepare for the next topic which was in 2 weeks.
against muahahaha...

Next round (3rd round)

Against SMK Taman Melawati.
Held in our very own school.
I was the Madame Speaker with Charmaine.
Joanna and Joyce were the timekeepers.
Topic : Geriatric care is the responsibility of the family
We got : Opposition.

While waiting for our opponents to arrive.

Nazrul posing.

Left : Preshna, Pn.Fauziah, Banu and Aishwarya. They were in charge of the registration centre.

Again.. while waiting for our opponents.

This is where it begins.

Please listen and pay attention...
XD

You know, X predicted that they might say something like..
"by putting geriatrics in an old folks home/geriatric care centre is still the responsible of the family"
and our rebuttle was, "if that is still in the hands of the family, then what is not in the hands of the family?? Please prove to us that whats NOT in the hands of the family. and if everything is in the hands of the family, then why are we having this debate today?"
well, i think they were a bit shaken by that.

Best speaker : shaz
We won again. =DDD

Group photo. I look so stiff.

after that we had breakfast.

Spot me!


This is how you'll look after a debate. and this is only the 3rd round.

Now, the 4th round.
against SMK Selayang Baru.
Venue : SMK Ideal Heights
Topic : The Education System in Malaysian Schools are Churning Out Mechanical Dummies and not Critical Thinking Individuals.
We got : Opposition

We wanted government since the points are more solid.
but we lost in the coin toss.


Now, that is one freaking loooong topic. Seriously, Imagine if you have to repeat that again and again during your debate.
and we must include that in our stand like this,
The Education System in Malaysian Schools are Churning Out Mechanical Dummies and not Critical Thinking Individuals because.... it stifles the potential of students to perform.
Something like that. and that was our stand for government.

Well, our opponents were very lost throughout this debate. >.< They were quite messy.

This is how these ppl look while waiting for the results. Beware, Looks may be deceiving.

Happy , sad, happy = either crazy, 2happy+1sad, or i dunno.


smile, smile, choke = suicide. =X

just joking.

Best speaker : shaz again
We won. again.

You know, when everyone asked us abt the results such as all of our parents and other ppl.

"you won?? Again????"
"when is it going to end??"
"soo.... you have more debate ar??"


lol.

5th round was against SMK Kepong.
This time, its the Finals for Gombak District
If we win this, we'll be representing Gombak for The State Levels.
Venue : SMK Ideal Heights
Topic : The stress factor is a motivator rather than a destroyer
We got : Opposition.

I don't remember blogging abt this yet.
I have a feeling you ppl are kinda sick of this post.
who cares. i just like to write.

Tension.

Before the debate started....
Look at their expressions.

Nice picture, Dinnish

And... err... This picture look so perverted. >.< .... omg... i don't know what else to say!!! XDXD This is the 1st nice picture of you I've ever taken. The other pictures look like..... *ahem*

1st speaker. Not bad but he lost momentum/panicked halfway.

Our 1st speaker.

2nd speaker. Hmmm, I cant remember much abt him.

3rd speaker. You know, she reminds me of something/someone.

She is reallyyy good. and she won The best speaker.

She doesn't even need any paper!! she goes on and on and on and I almost believed her. @.@

After the debate was over..

Left : Zhu Liang and Pei Jun.

From left : Iman, Demi, Pravin and Dinie.

just can't stop drawing!!

and the results were out...
we won!!!!!!!!! =DDDDDDDDD

Our supporters! =)

It was a really good debate. You know, We realised that our opponents are getting more real and this was the 1st real debate we've ever had.

XD you have no idea why he wanted to take this picture so much.

When we reached school.. this is what happens... All the time and every time its a different senario.

2 white bread and a blue meat. = Limited edition sandwich.

I can see you guys are really enjoying it.

And I, on the other hand was enjoying taking pictures and laughing.

Aww... Brotherly love....


You see what these ppl are doing.

Dinnish and I.

and..
Khai wen.
I didn't know you're quite photogenic.
Nice pictures.

unlike this one..

RM 1.50 face. XDXD

poser...
he asked me to post these on my blog.

Besties!!!!

Kuala Ampang market is where all of us always have our lunch.

Well, after that day, we had 2 days to prepare for our State Levels.
But this time, we have to prepare for 4 debates as we really want to win the states level.
Crazy wei.
and I forgot to mention that the next day was our HELP Debates which we prepared it for 1 day.
So, there... All of us we're working like mad people.

The following day...

Off we go to HELP University College.


While waiting for our turn for registration. There was tons of ppl! 64 school all over Malaysia.
While waiting....
There are a few students of HELP who were in charge for the registration.
We were in group 2 and they were calling out for group 1.
We kept saying... 2~!!!!!!! to a chinese guy.
We kept saying that over and over again. XD
Kesian him
We asked his name and he showed ur his name tag that says
"Crew Member"
ohhh... so your name is crew!!!
But whats your real name??
hahaha... My name is not important to be printed out on this tag. XD
Lol...

all of us sitting here we watching a debate by The International Islamic University of Malaysia or commonly known as UIA.
Their motion was abt Should surrogate mother be paid or smthg like that.
They were quite boring but good in the sense of their points.
Their points and elaboration were really packed and condensed so much so that I can't take it anymore and I gave up listening.
And... it seems they have a problem accepting POI's.
I don't understand...

i was bored and sick of the debate, i manage to took a picture of 7 dead floating goldfish. and, I found out they were not dead. It was fake.! >.>


ok.. after that, we started our debate against
SMK Jit Sin, Penang
Topic : This house believes that the Malaysian Schools are Robbing Students of their Childhood.
We got : Government.




This is what these ppl always do since day 1 of debate.
Vibrate your cards.
don't ask me how. all of us always do it.
including myself.
Not just cards.. Anything actually!

Chairperson and timekeeper.

Joshua and i cant remember.. >.<

sorry.. really blur because she was moving all the time and her hands were flailing everywhere.
But, Honestly, her English was superb! She spoke British English. @.@. but she was reading all the way.

he english was also like british english. It gets boring after a while since she was also reading all through.

look at his body movement.

XDXD. look at vi..

she was okay...

After the debate...


these ppl were freezing ice cold.
Well, it was... i was shivering.
Lesson of the day : bring your jacket next time!

anyway... we won.
LOL. I guess you ppl are sick of us winning huh...
Well, my parents are.

Ok, after everything was over,


Some of us didn't exactly went home.
we went to mrs mano's place instead.
to discuss our debate topic for the next day.. @.@

Me, before we left.

This looks wrong. reaaaaly wrong. Forgive vinaya for doing that. It wasn't on purpose!!

Therefore, Hear no evil, See no evil and Speak no evil..

o.O??

Before we left the house...
Yes, 2 of these pictures were edited.
They look weird.
please don't be mad at me. >.<

In the car on my way home.

The next day, here I am.. In school waiting for my ride to help. All alone.
Really freaky and scary as there's was a lot of ghost events circulating in our school since these gigantic trees we're chopped off.
I really like those trees... Especially when its windy.



lol... i have nothing else to do besides waiting.


Anyway
we were up against SMK Damansara Jaya.
Reaaaly good school.
I mean this team la.

Topic : This house believes that women who smoke during pregnancy should be imprison.
We got : Opposition.

They are really good. Very systematic. especially the 2nd speaker.

She is good..

1st speaker giving a POI.

Now this is where everything starts to heat up.

LOL...
We lost. Though it was a close fight.
But all of us were glad that it was over...
@.@ @.@ @.@
Congrats!

Well, before we left, we met Crew!
Remember?
So he asked us how we did.
So we said that
"We we screwed!!!"
lol...screw sound better.
Whats your real name anyway???
well, the guys got their name but i cant remember.
I'm better at remembering faces than names.

28 April 2008

So, now, all we have to concentrate is our School Debate.
We have to leave school the next day.
In the morning, we had a prize giving ceremony.
took some pictures which i don't have them as i forgot to bring my camera along.

In school, we skipped classes and we celebrated mrs mano's birthday!
We had cake and we discussed our debate since there was no time to lose.
When i got home, got all my stuffs ready and had some time, so i did some research again.
Printed out quite a lot of things.

We left abt 2. It took us 2 hours to reach Kuala Selangor.
We stayed at De Palma Hotel which was quite deserted.

We lived here..... Pn.Fauziah, Kasturi and I stayed at the chalet next to that big tree. Creepy la this place. The boys stayed beside us.

After settling down, Pn.Fauziah and I went out for awhile to get some food for our troops.
Its really hard to find food around Kuala Selangor.

29 April 2008

Guess what?
Our school was the ONLY school who will be competing twice on the same day.
That is if we win the 1st round.
ok...
The school that we're competing against with is
SMK Kota Kemuning, Klang District
Topic : The Stress Factor is More a Motivator rather than a Destroyer.
We got : Opposition.

Well, if you notice, the topic is similar to our previous topic.
So, we don't have much to prepare since its already prepared.

And... to anonymous who commented on my previous post,
thank you.

I'm sorry for not remembering your school name. >.< Government

Opposition

1st speaker.

She reminds me of Lexie. XD
She's okay.

2nd speaker.
He talks reaaaly fast.


this is one happy guy.

Oh ya, he was the best speaker for this debate. XD

Congrats!

Next,
Vinaya, 2nd speaker. This was his best of all the debates in my point of view.
I don't know what happened but he was quite angry but good.

How can You say that?!
Stress?? A motivator??

Giving a senario.

Let me ask you, when we hear the word stress.
Whats was the 1st thing that comes in your mind?
I'm sure its not something pleasant.
We don't say, Oh, I got stress, I'm happy!

lol... no offense.

LOL. Now I know why we were known as a scary team.
Yeah, back in the semi-finals of the district level debate,
SMK Selayang Baru called us "scary opponents" in their speech.
Even the judges said that. many times.

3rd speaker.
Sad to say that he didn't have much rebuttals.
it was more of a speech.

But his style was good.

Shaz, 3rd speaker.

Stress doesn't come in tiny spurts like kit kat bite size.

True.
I don't like stress. I'm sure most people don't.
Everyone in the room was feeling stressed!

Who's the winner?

Well, we won this round.
Although our speakers spoke less than 7 minutes.
Anyway, It was a good debate.
Its getting tougher and tougher.

After the 1st round ended,
Vinaya realised that he forgotten his speech.
LOL!!!!
i mean his speech for the next debate.
So, we had approximately 1 hour to rush back to the hotel, get the laptops and printer,
print the speeches out.

Well, things didn't really flowed as smooth as we expected.
We thought it would take only a short time to print it.
But there's was something wrong with one of the laptop where it can't PRINT AT ALL!!!
I tried over n over again.
I found out that there's was abt 13 files in queue ready to print which is the main cause of the jam.
Time was running out, I was trying to think of an alternative way to print it or else we're dead.
think...think... think...

fine, I rushed back to my chalet room and grab my thumb drive.
Stuffed all the files that I need.
Insert my thumb drive into mrs mano's mac book and printed it out.
Swtt.....
ugh.
why didn't i think of this earlier.
i was sweating like a pig and we had abt 1o minutes left before the quarantine.

and if we're late, we'll be disqualified.
that's even worse.

On our way back to the school,
we witnessed an accident.
The jam wasn't that long.

A lorry was flipped over.

weird.....

okay, fast forward to the debate,

SMK Damansara Jaya.
Topic : The Heart is more Powerful then The Brain.
We got : Opposition again!

Well, the 2nd debate on the same day.
Our speakers were dead beat.
Shaz swore that,
"If we lose this round, I'll never speak English ever again!"
then what language are you gonna speak??
"I'm gonna speak in Chinese. I don't care!!!"

Lol.. We lost against DJ in HELP and we're not gonna lose to them again. XD

This class is so PINK!!!
I notice that every class have different colours.

and this batch of pictures is the most striking among all the pictures I've taken.

They look really confident.

1st speaker.
I can't remember much abt her.
But she did mention abt us being a truistic (A self-evident truth)
What the heck does that means??
weird..


She mentioned that we should not debate the motion literally/ scientifically as its already a proven fact.
and this is not a science conference.
wth?! a science conference is also a debate.
ughhh... dummy.


1st speaker, Dinnish.
he was quite furious with the remarks made by our opponents.

They said we're being a truest. we're NOT!
This is a DEBATE. we can debate on whatever we want as long as it is related to the topic.



Vinaya accepting a POI.
This guy here said that we gave them no room to debate.

Now, out 1st speaker has just spoken abt how the brain is more powerful literally.
NOW, I'm gonna present you with a point where YOU can debate on which is figuratively.

There is no where in the topic that we HAVE TO debate on it literally only!
ugh!!!!


2nd speaker.

This is one emo guy.

3rd speaker.

He was really annoying. Even more Emo than the 2nd one.
ish..

He was whining abt how we didn't gave them room to debate and he was really upset that they've prepared 12 days for this topic and this is the kind of debate that they're having.
Wat the heck???!!! do you have to say that you've prepared it for 12 days???!!?


me no likey.
he was rude too.
his was pissed off when he got back to his seat.
Don't have to show it lah...

3rd speaker, shaz, with his barrage of rebuttals.
As an audience also i can't tahan.



If you have prepared it for 12 days, you should have research abt this topic on both figurative;y and literally.
There's no where in the motion states that we have to debate it figuratively only!!
We, as the opposition team has already addressed your points figuratively.
In all of your points, You talk abt how feelings its very powerful. Unfortunately you did not relate it back to the heart. We gave you room to debate where you did not even addressed us.
We talked abt it literally and figuratively!

all 3 of them are shot dead on the head!

No offense okay.. Its just some comments I collected from the 3rd point of view from a few people who witnessed the debate. And, from myself too.

Well, when the results were out,
2nd speaker of the government got it.
no idea how.

Unfortunately, we lost the debate.
we were like.... "..........."
omg....
The audience were puzzled.
All of them did not agree with the results.
It was quite unfair. lol.

and guess what? we found out that SMK DJ had a coach!
well, we don't you know.
and their coach told us that he thought that we won the debate.

haih, our teachers were not that pleased as well.

But right after that, guess what happened??

In cantonese,
"Im not speaking in english anymore!!!"

well, he was babbling all the way in cantonese which i didn't really paid attention.
Then, all of us, especially Dinnish, Vi and Shaz we screaming and laughing at the same time.
All of us we're running down the stairs and screaming for joy as if we won.
XDXD
we threw water at each other.
Then shaz started cursing out loud in cantonese.

all of us went into the car, blasted the radio, singing and shaking the car.
XDXDXDXD
Then, it got reaally warm,
we got out and stared laughing and screaming.
LOL.
It was one of the best moments in our lives!

We're glad that it was over!
although we knew that we could go further.
Other teachers were surprised looking at us jumping for joy.

It reminds me of Russel Peter's comedy...
he said..
in a chinese slang.

yor ma-ther so fat,
that wen she jump for joy,
she got stuck.

LOL.
but hey! guess what guys??
We can jump into the pool later!!!
kasturi said.

Yeahhhhh!!!!
then we throw Denise into the pool.

@.@
O.O
omg... I'm dead...

we got back to our chalets, i quickly bathed since its was sizzling hot!!
I was sweating all the time since we got there.
changed into my long sleeve shirt.

after i bathed, the guys wanted to jump into the pool.
I was like.. why didn't you tell us earlier before we bathe?
but we followed them to the pool anyway..


Remember that they wanted to throw me into the pool??
Yeah, they had their evil plan, planned alright.

They started chasing me but i escaped.
Then, i ran into the tennis court and locked it.
I was confident that they could not open it since there's the green fencing.

But, the successfully opened it and start chasing me round and round the court.
I held onto a pole.
Securing myself so that they could not pick me up.
But no....
There were 4 of them and one of me.
Vi, Shaz, Dinie and Dinnish grabbed my hands and legs like I'm some kind of food that they caught.
=.="""""
took off my glasses and slippers.
carried me
and threw me into the pool

*SPALSH*

-.-'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

grrrr........

then, they threw Kasturi in.

Well, I wasn't dressed for swimming as I was wearing a long sleeve.
=.=" how odd is that.


lets cut it short as i don't wanna disclose the rest of the detail of what the guys did in the pool.
XD ask me if you're curious.

After swimming, we went out for dinner.
It took us 30 minutes to decide what food are we gonna eat.
We were picking restaurants.
See which has the most customers.
Well, logically, the more customers, the better the food.
However, we could hardly find any since almost all the restaurants are empty!
seafood is out of the list since 2/3 of us we're allergic to them and one of them is me.

Finally, we decide to eat at a mamak stall.
It was okay lah. eatable.
Can't compare to KL's.
we ate too much!
So much!!
especially shaz and vi.
probably myself too..

After dinner, we head back to the hotel.
We met another team from Petaling Perdana.
SMK USJ 2

they are in the finale against Petaling Utama = SMK DJ (our former rivals)

So, since, they we're the only team staying at De Palma,
we decided to help them.
Well, we have nothing to do for that night and we want PP to win too.
They have 2 topic to prepare.

1. The future of our world is in the hands of the naturalist and not the technologist.

2. The growing sense of individualism is the root cause of the disintegration of todays marriages.

2 looong topics.

by helping them , we got to know each other and made new friends.

Such as..
Atreyi, Lily, Nickoli, Zekey, Aiman, and another guy which i can't remember.

**

So, They boys and I were walking around the hotel area.
We walked to a dark area where the water tank was located.
It looks abandoned and they wanted to climb up.
well, I didn't wanna go.
But we stopped near a abandoned building.
Vi heard and probably saw something and all of us ran!

LOL.
I have no pictures.
To cut the story short,
I went to bed at abt 2a.m and they boys are still wide awake.
Searching for ghosts.

Here's a story they told me.

After I went to bed,
They told me i missed out a lot of fun.
=.="""
As I was saying,
they went to that abandoned building.
slowly....

They saw a table in the middle.
with only one light on which shines on the table.

Then one of them said.

"hey.... is this like some kind of corny haunted movie where a bunch of teenagers rented a cheap hotel and got killed???"

what the heck....
what else?
they ran!!

while running,
shaz saw Dinnish just passed ahead of him.
Well, you know the difference between both of them don't you.
Shaz looked behind and saw dinnish right behind him.

scene #2

Vi saw something just passed by him.

well, they went on and on.
I can;t really remember what they told me since it feels like ages ago.
But they told me I missed out a lot of fun.

Oh ya....
I had a picture of me.
really creepy.
But, Its still with Dinie and he forgot to send it to me.

Dinie!! You better get back here and send me that picture!!



It was waaaay more than that.
The whole auditorium was filled with people from all over Selangor.
While waiting for the debate to start, we made more new friends from ..... omg... i don't know what district was it. but if I'm not mistaken it was the team from Kuala/Hulu Langat.
they are Adeline, Jasereen, a guy which i can;t remember his name again >.<. The day before I met the team from Sepang while the others were in the quarantine room. Anyway, the debate begun abt 30 minutes later.
The summary of this debate :

Team on the left, SMK USJ 2
Team on the right, SMK DJ

The topic : The growing sense of individualism is the root cause of the disintegration of todays marriages.

well, on this topic. probably i might agree.
ppl nowadays are so individualistic.
No wonder thers a high rate of divorces.
Even people who are not married face the same problem.

All i can say is DJ used the same tactics, strategy, statement on them where they used it against us previously.
Well, their style was really good and really convincing and I almost fell for them
Not in love but believed them.
I realised after awhile it was too much and their speech was full of crap.

USJ wasn't that convincing at the beginning but they picked up after a while.

All of us were like.. shite...
DJ will definitely win with their style and confidence since the marking scheme for this debate is STYLE : 40 marks and STRATEGY : 30 marks. SUBSTANCE is only 30 marks.

Hmm... but we were hoping for usj to win. XD
Indeed they won. =)
we were really happy for them. Really.
Best speaker was Atreyi. the one in the pinafore

Congratulations again! =D

anyway, it looks like our debate career(cheh) end here.
But not for them. XD
National levels is in July held in Kelantan.

Ahhhh, all of us here was so determined that we'll be the one representing Selangor to Kelantan.
But I guess not.


Before all of us head home, we took a group picture.



Ahh... I'll definitely miss all the times we had together.
and I miss it already.


You know, this debate has changed my life somehow.
It made me a happier person.
I have to learn how to let go things that don't need me.
It made me realise that this world is huge.
The debate team. Every single one of them.
I cherish them and all the moments we went through together.

All of us worked really hard.




Got to know each other closer than ever.


Ate a lot. Especially me.

i hope you enjoyed reading.
or even if you don't, its okay.

*edits*
Thank you for all the feedback.
My apologies for all the grammar, spelling errors and anything that I wrote hurts your feelings. As I said before, no offense but its over already.
Yes, we know your school has a history of winning so many debates and you people are really good in your own way. So, why not compete? at least we tried our best. Its our first and last year debating because most of us are in Form 5. We started early of this year as newbies and had no debating experience whatsoever. We are really grateful that we reached until the Selangor finals although we lost to your school. It was disappointing for us but hey, all of us were glad that it is over and it was an amazing experience for us.o regrets on that. Besides the debate, I have nothing against you people. So, don't dwell on it.
Once again, thank you for all the comments.