Point, Sir! *

2003-12-16 11:02 p.m.

In a moment sir. Debate has become second nature to me so much that I couldn't bear to see the closure of year 2002-2003 society and the dawn of the new ones.

Debate was some mythical force which drew me to it. The first ever debate I went to was the Secondary School finals back in Sec 1 where ACS (I) challenged RGSS on the motion "THBT the truth is out there". Ultimately, ACS (I) won, and some how or the other, I became stuck to the unexplainable world of Debate. I participated in the inter class debates in Sec 2, facing opponents which were so experienced in the skill that my team was knocked down flat over some motion on smoking.

There was a lull in my debating adventure after that as I turned my focus on Scouts, where I assumed the position of Patrol Leader. Then, in January 2002, the Debate fervor came back again. The Worlds Schools Debating championships, the most prestigious international debate competition came to Singapore. After checking out their website, I found familiar names, like Mr. Mark Gabriel, Ms Kristy Tan and Mrs. Geetha Creffield. I dreamt of being in this debate circle and entering real competitions. On some wet Saturday in February 2002, I found time to watch one of the preliminary rounds in HCJC. The finals was scheduled to be on the 1st of March, however I could not purchase any ticket. By some stroke of luck, my friend gave me a VIP pass and I found my self sitting in the front row with all the dignitaries watching Team Ireland and Team Australia battle the motion "THBT the media has become too powerful". My dream from then was to reach their level of excellence.

Upon entering NJC, debate was the main CCA I had in mind. It just so happened that there was a inter GP class debate in the third week, and I naturally signed up without any hesitation. Incidentally, the other member on my team was Seng Woon, my sec 4 classmate and his classmate Amandae filled the last place. We were given the motion “THBT Science and Technology does more harm than good”. Preparations were haphazard and in fact only took place half an hour before hand. We pulled it off, my very first time in many years that I debated. It was, in my opinion, a tough one, with only Woon and me offering POIs. Nothing was really wrong with that. In the end, we lost, because we narrowed the scope of the debate to only military issues. That wasn’t what I really expected, but I was determined not to let that deter me from my ambition. I stuck around and soon found out that the other team—which was lead by Wee Jian—was down to only him because his two other members decided to leave. Somehow or the other, Woon and Amandae filled up that place and went against a team which consisted of all Indians (no pun intended). The motion was “THW censor the media”, one which was close to the World Schools motion a month or so before. The two of them redeemed themselves and the motion went to their team, not so much because of any superb debating talent but rather because the other side made many flaws in speaking and content. The finals would come a week or so later, with WJ, Woon and Amandae against the team we lost to. It would only be after the finals would I learn the names of the other team—Dave, Biyou and Chi Hoong. Out of all those who entered for this inter class competition, I was the first to sign up as an official member of NJC debate, and the three names mentioned earlier were invited to join too. Another week passed, and finally I was given another motion to tackle—“THW legalize prostitution”. I handled this as a second speaker—a role I was not comfortable with at first—with Chih Hung and Joseph as my team mates. It was in my opinion, a horribly done debate, because firstly we were against the experienced debaters—WJ, Cynthia and Woon, and secondly, we had absolutely no knowledge of the topic. I was quite dejected until after that, Alex, my senior, met me and Chi Hoong in the canteen and commented on our style. He saw Mr. Leong as a definite pick for the NDC team and told me I needed to practice more.

Debate meeting intensified after that because of a looming competition—the ACJC inter collegiate debates. The team was selected swiftly and it brought a slight surprise with the last member on this list—Woon, Nupur, WJ, Alex and Prasana. It was a surprise as he did not seem to be one with debate experience. I was to learn later that he was added as a token and also because being an Indian national, he would not be able to enter for the August competition. Anyway, I still remember the first training for the team. I met Woon, Biyou and a couple of the other JC 2s heading up the stairs for training at GR 34 and decided to tag a long with them. What was suppose to be a simple training became a 3 hour long argument over how the motion, which was “THW intervene in the Israeli Palestinian conflict” should be address. During the last half an hour or so, Alex pulled me and Biyou outside and gave us five minutes to create a case of our own. I ended up give most of the points since Biyou had little knowledge on the topic. Not good enough, Yeo Alexander Lawrence Han told us, you got to be better than that. By the time I left at 1915, I wondered whether that long session was really worth it.

The day before the competition itself, I found myself in the library finishing up my work when the team charged into one of the study rooms at the back and locked themselves in. Later, I became personal assistant to the team by collecting their blazers for them and running some other errands. It was also at this time that the locked dear Alex Yeo out and refused to let him into the actual team preparation. Such was the slight yet not permanent animosity that existed in the society.

The ACJC debates came and went with our team not qualifying for the second round but Wee Jian gaining best speaker for the first debate. It was also around this time that I met Li Shengwu, star of RJC debate and a friend of Chih Hung’s. Ok, maybe met is an incorrect term to use, but I was thrown of my seat the way he tackled the opposing team, both in POIs and in speech. We would never stand a chance against him.

After ACJC, sessions continued focusing selecting the team for the NDC. Now, I must say that I never even imagined myself being in that team, but somehow or the other I was selected, along with Wee Jian, Biyou, Chi Hoong and Zhilin who was a friend of Chi Hoong. There was quite a bit of high handedness in the final selection of the team and all I can say here was that it was due to other considerations such as activities in June. More of this will be explained in other entries. Anyway, despite the team make up, we were united in purpose. Training was two fold: Conducted by ourselves and coached by the seniors. The later type of training was more frequent until middle of June or so, where WJ would be the one organizing the training sessions. We tried major topics like abortion, American foreign policy, GM food and conflicts like that between India and Pakistan. At each session, we grew stronger, wiser and our confidence built up. It was also during these grueling trainings that I would be introduced to card games like bridge, a sort of relaxation for the team, especially the other boys. Food was never a problem at all as we always met in the afternoon, but we soon ventured out to KAP McDonalds. Biyou would never join us and we would soon learn why—a story for another time. The team soon broke down divisions and worked amazingly well together.

After the JC 1 June Common tests, the actually motion for the NDC was released—“THW welcome refugees.” Training intensified to every day of the week as we had to prepare for both the opposition and proposition. Wee Jian, Zhilin and Chi Hoong would be our three speakers for the proposition, while Biyou would replace WJ as second speaker for the proposition. I, on the other hand, was stuck as research, but had no qualms about it for I was happy enough to be in the team. For one of our own trainings, we stayed past 2130 in the evening and everything still was not finalized. We would not even budge when the guard told us that there was a black intruder prowling around the school.

Anyway, to cut the story short, we made it only to the quarter finals. We breezed through the first two motions with little difficulty as the opposing teams either were weaker than us or messed up their own case. At the quarters—which was to be an impromptu round—we were placed against RJC over the motion “THBT the media should be censored” or something like that. Now, you would think that ought to be too simple for us having dealt with simple motions before but under the pressure of one hour our case baseline was not the same as RJC’s narrowed definition. What made things worse was that Shengwu was a tiger on the debate floor, scaring some of our speakers. Although the RJC team's case was fatally flawed in many areas, we still lost 5-0 to them. Biyou as usual, left us for her own activity and we ended up at KAP with Alex the great, planning our farewell for the seniors.

Whilst all this was occurring, another lot of high handedness took place, this time over the Debate EXCO positions. I did not expect a high post on my part, but at least a position. In the end, despite much hinting, I was not to be in at all along with a few others who should have been there. Hence, there was a short split between the EXCO and non EXCO members but things straightened themselves up as time went by.

Training wined down for the Promos but intensified after that, mainly for the NUS debates the following year. I eagerly participated in these trainings during the November/December holidays in order to redeem myself. Motions included democracy in developing nations and intervention in countries affairs, interesting topics that were also useful in GP. By this time, different members were specialists in different debate topics. I was strong in current affairs topics, especially political ones and could also handle certain issues like media, but hated stuff on social issues. Chih Hung was the wizz on international affairs, especially for topics on the UN. Wee Jian was a jack of all trades and a master of some areas—can’t remember which ones. Zhilin could handle certain social issues while Chi Hoong seemed (or rather pretended) to know everything. Biyou, well, was suppose to be well versed in GM Food. Despite these fortes, the team sent up for the NUS debates was the same NDC team with Joe replacing me. CH was sent in too for something which joined debaters from different colleges. Despite being the most experienced lot, the NUS team never made it to the semi finals. The reconciliation and revenge would come in the NTU debates, but I was not in it. My fondest moment would be adjudicating for the JG Secondary schools debates, but that story can be found in my old entry, “An adjudicator’s perspective”.

OK, another rushed entry. Most of the other stuff concerning debate sessions will come up in my recollection of my JC life. However, despite the arguments, the disagreements and the tension that may have occurred between members of NJC debate, I must say it was a privilege to be amongst this group. We may not have been the elite, we may not have been the best, but we were what we made of ourselves, debaters with the passion to bring forth anything. Who knows, you may find us in that same light as lawyers, politicians or just coachers for debate teams.

Do turn to the next entry: it’s a tribute to NJC Debate.

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