NY debaters at MOE Invitational Debates (MIDC) 2007
Last Saturday (21/7), the debaters from NY Debate Society (affiliated to journalism) were at Anderson Junior College to participate in this annual debate invitational competition.
The team comprised veteran debater, Benjamin Foo (0705), and two first-timers Jack Chan Chun Yink (0710) and myself, Yeo Kheng Meng (0713), representing third, second and first speakers respectively.
The motion for the first "prepared" round was released on Friday 13/7. The motion read, "This House would prosecute teenagers as adults for criminal offences". We were opposition to Serangoon Junior College for the first round.
We spent a full week researching and preparing our speeches. Many sleepless nights, with trainings lasting up to 10pm for 3 alternate days, tutorials and PW commitments cast aside.
Despite our best efforts, including predicting any flaws in our argument and possible Points of Information (POIs)* we might receive, we lost to SRJC. However, we cheered when Foo was named best debater in this spar.
The next round was an impromptu debate for which we had only 1 hour to prepare our case. The motion was "This House would legalise prostitution." What a shocker this was! The whole lecture theatre literally erupted with a buzz that continued for a few minutes before the announcer regained order. This motion was one that even the veteran debaters did not forsee.
After 35 minutes of preparation, all participants were reassembled at the LT. Apparently, some teams had brought in some unauthorised materials to help them in their preparation. The only materials allowed were an almanac and dictionary. No past cases were allowed.
To everyone's dismay and joy at the same time, the motion was also changed to the more familiar "This House would abolish the death penalty." We were assigned to oppose this motion against Anglo-Chinese School(Independent)(ACSI) to whom we again lost.
Despite being defeated in both rounds, we took back with us greater experience and more confidence in facing new challenges. Our preparation reinforced the bonds among our club members even more.
The NY Debate Society would like to thank our coach Aquila, Mr Seah, our tutor-in-charge, and fellow debator, Emelyn Ang (0723) who could not make it tothe competition, for their support and guidance. Without you all, we, especially Jack and I, would not have had the courage to take on the more seasoned debaters of other institutions.
For my original unedited article, see my blog.
By Yeo Kheng Meng