Sunday, July 12, 2009

President's Cup 2009.

The President’s Cup English Debate 2009 was held from the 8th till the 10th of July. We were the host for this year’s Cup. The format used is the Asian Parliamentary style.

Just a short introduction. There two opposing teams in an Asians format of debate.

1. Government/Preposition side- proposes and defends the motion;
2. Opposition side- refute and negates the motion.

Our campus was represented by 2 teams, MIAT 1 and MIAT 2. I’m the 1st speaker/Prime Minister for MIAT 1. Below is the summary of our journey.

[Round 1 Preliminaries - MIAT 1 vs. MIIT 1]
The Motion: This House Should Go For Nuclear Energy.
Government/Prepostion: MIAT 1
Opposition : MIIT1
Outcome: Lost
We defined the motion by narrowing it down to countries that have already achieved first-world status. It was a close debate. Adjudicator’s decision was a spilt 3 to 0. We lost the round. Was pretty annoyed because our points were strong, and the opposition’s case had no mechanism. But they won because they were more convincing and they had good rebuttals, quoted the adjudicator. Nonetheless, it was a good round and a nice wake-up call indeed.

[Round 2 Preliminaries – MIAT1 vs. MITEC2]
The Motion: This House Believes That Mat Rempits Should Be Whipped.
Government/Prepostion: MIAT 1
Opposition : MITEC2
Outcome: Win
First round loss had a significant impact, and we were pretty fired up to take the 2nd round. We defined the motion by stating that they should be whipped according to their age limit and also the severity of the offence. The opposition was unable justify their argument; therefore our proposal was barely negated by them. They went on to commit a royal suicide by agreeing our points of information. The point difference between the 2 teams was a 12-7-7, which is considered a thrashing. (: We were satisfied.

[Round 3 Preliminaries – MIAT1 vs. KMK]
The Motion: This House Believes That The English Language Should Be Used To Teach Science And Maths. (PPSMI)
Government/Preposition: KMK
Opposition : MIAT1
Outcome: Win
This motion was a lil biased to the government’s side. It was a fair battle. They raised up issues about competence in the world today where English is the primary mode of communication, whereas we defended our case that our national language is our pride and identity and till today, there’s no positive results in school which clearly shows that students are still struggling to learn Science and Maths in English, proving precisely why it is to be abolished by 2012. We quoted strong examples such as Japan and Russia, where the national language is used in all levels of education, yet they still excel and thrive in their various fields. We edged them just by margin of 1 point.

[Round 4 Preliminaries – MIAT1 vs. KMKN]
The Motion: This House Believes That University Students Should Not Be Involved In Politics.
Government/Preposition: KMKN
Opposition : MIAT1
Outcome: Win
The proposal by the government had many loopholes, and we exploited and thrived on that. Only their 1st speaker was good, whereas the other 2 speakers had serious confidence issues. Their 3rd speaker tried to give an extra definition to their proposal, which further cast them into doubt. Failure to convince the adjudicator and flimsy rebuttals were their downfall.

[Quarter Finals – MIAT1 vs. BMI2]
The Motion: This House Believes That Scary Photos On Cigarette Boxes Is Not The Way To Go.
Government/Preposition: BMI2
Opposition : MIAT1
Outcome: Win
The toughest round for us. We were up against a team that was coached by former top debators, and they also had a weapon in the form of “Kat” Ammar, the best speaker of the recent ARAU Open Tournament. But their weakness was the other 2 speakers, who didn’t support each other’s points. Not to mention their whip who stirred up the wrath of our whip, Mr. Arjuna, who proceeded to give a pretty nasty 7-minute tongue lashing, rendering BMI2 speechless and visibly shaken. We won on a very slim margin, was told that the decision came down to the reply speeches. Nonetheless, a sweet win indeed.

[Semi Finals – MIAT1 vs. MIAT2]
The Motion: This House Would Share Healthcare Research Discoveries.
Government/Preposition: MIAT1
Opposition : MIAT2
Outcome: Lost
This round was awkward, but fun! We were up against our own teammates whom we practiced and trained week in, week out. We had strong points and a good mechanism whereas the opposition had none and they thrived based on rebuttals alone. It was quite a relaxed round. But we failed to link it and thus, it was left floating. But we felt pretty relieved that we lost because quite frankly, MIAT2 stood a better chance of winning the final. It wasn’t selfish desire to win the round; whoever proceeds to the final doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, the primary purpose is to retain the cup.

[Grand Finals – MIAT2 vs. MICET2]
The Motion: This House Believes That Proton Should Have A Foreign Partner.
Government/Preposition: MIAT2
Opposition : MICET2
Outcome: Win
MIAT2 lived up to their expectations, recording a streak of 7-0. They have not lost a single round, no mere feat. The finals were pretty lopsided, with MIAT2 clearly owning MICET2 in terms of case mechanism, construction and points. MICET2 raised issues on patriotism, but was easily rebutted by MIAT2 who used status quo against them. Nonetheless, it was a split decision of 4-3.

-The End-

The whole tourney was a certainly enlightening experience, though it was really stressful at the same time. Made friends and enemies, trash talked to the moon, did loads of nonsense and the like. (: MIAT1 achieved 3rd placing, we were very happy of our progress till the semis. And the cup stays with us for yet another year, thanks to MIAT2. (: Good job, guys.

The host for next year’s tourney is at the Royal College of Medicine, Perak (RCMP).

Watch out. We’re out for blood. RCMP will be owned just like everyone else.

And I saved the best for last. We did it without Osama. Hehe. (: