Page 8 - 張祝珊英文中學（2018-2019學生報）

The Sing Tao roller coaster ride 5C Yeung Kit Yee Lilian

The beginning 2 preliminaries 3 preliminaries
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I wasn’t good at debating when I joined the It was my turn. The motion for the 2 preliminaries As we made through each round, our opponents
English Debating Team four years ago. Thankfully, was a very challenging one, about whether the became stronger. It was February and we had just
I was still given countless opportunities and support government should relax property cooling measures started our second term of school. We had less
that made me improve bit by bit. After two years in Hong Kong. It involved many economic concepts preparation time due to lessons at school, not to
of hard work, I acquired the courage and skills to and special terms that took our debaters, especially mention our other obligations that clashed with
participate in the Sing Tao Inter-School Debating those in junior forms, half of the preparation time to the preparation schedule. This time, we had to rid
Feature Article
Competition, one of the best-known local debating digest. This demanding motion threw a wet blanket on a company of their deep-rooted ‘evil’ image to the
competitions, with other senior members. It was my our burning ambition. Luckily, the 7 days’ preparation public. It was quite tedious to research for favourable
first time stepping onto the stage of such big events schedule coincided with our post-examination period statistics and work on packaging the case for the
and I was still a muddle-headed debater relying and with the help of our coach and teachers, we were whole week. We did our best and our performance
much on other senior debaters. I was ambitious perfectly prepared for this debate. on stage was a satisfactory one. We made effective
yet inexperienced, which contributed much to my rebuttals with an organized and coherent structure. We
missed rebuttal shots in the two and a half minutes were quite confident that we could enter the quarter-
I had for my speech. We did not carry the day in the finals, but surprisingly, we lost and that marked the
end and that single competition marked the end of end of our Sing Tao journey for the year 2019.
my Sing Tao journey last year.

Looking to the future
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1 preliminaries As captain of the Sing Tao team for two
This year, as one of the most experienced consecutive rounds this year, I can proudly say that
members of the team, I expected more from myself. I have no regrets. We had team goals and personal
I made every endeavour not only to prepare well goals for each round, and we made satisfactory
for my own speech but also to assist other debaters progress. Thanks to the team for giving me this
to perform their best, just like what the graduated 2 preliminary We spent a whole week preparing for the once-in-a-lifetime experience. Though our
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debaters had done for me. On the one hand, I was debate. The chemistry and unity among us were profound! ultimate goal has not been achieved yet,
looking forward to leading the team to victory. Towards the end of the debate, I boldly stepped it was still a truly rewarding experience.
On the other hand, I was worrying that I would out of my comfort zone and improvised the captain’s From every debate I joined in the past
disappoint my team and myself. Our Sing Tao summary with all the rebuttals popping up in my four years, I learned more about how
journey this year started off with a motion familiar mind at that time. Abandoning my cue cards and to improve myself. All this has made
to us. Notwithstanding our unfavourable stance, other prepared materials was certainly one of the me a better debater, and even a better
the three S4 debaters of our team won the debate. craziest things I had ever done in debating. It proved person. It was this slow but sure progress
It hadn’t been easy for them as the exhausting how debating had transformed me from a timid that made me devote my leisure time
preparation schedule and revision for tests had script-reader to a genuine debater. Hard work paid to debating. I hope my fellow debaters
put them in great distress, yet they made it. That off. We were qualified for the 3 preliminaries and I can experience the same. I also hope
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was when I promised myself to do my best in the was named the Best Interrogative Speaker. we can pass on the torch and see more
following rounds and live up to others’ expectations. debating enthusiasts like myself!
Hard work paid off and I was elated to be named the Best Debater and Best Interrogative Speaker in the competition.

Keep striving and be proud 4A Fung Chin Ying

debating fun for them. Therefore, I searched the On the competition day, my students’ wonderful
Internet for effective and interesting teaching ideas. performance showed how my worries had been
I also sought advice from my teachers to learn more unnecessary. They shone on stage like a bright star
about grabbing students’ attention during lessons. in the night sky and spoke passionately. When the
I love debating and I wanted my young debaters to adjudicator was about to announce the result, I was
find passion and joy in the programme, too. even more nervous than they were. I asked them
Look how attentive the kids were during the debate! As
their coach, I was even more nervous than they were. In the first coaching session, they already whether they would still love debating even if they
exceeded my expectations. As they knew they were lost this match. They answered me with a definite
“It’ll be okay if we fail,” my student said. “But “yes”. I was touched at that moment.
one thing I know for sure is that we would regret not less experienced than other teams, they worked extra We lost the match, but we took pride in seeing
hard. They generated many arguments and found
trying.”
supporting evidence from different perspectives. our young debaters learn and thrive. Being a
In the first term this school year, the English They didn’t limit themselves to online materials, but debating coach to primary school students was an
Debating Team held a primary schools debating took the time to discuss the topic with their peers, unforgettable experience in my secondary school
tournament to introduce the gist of English debating teachers and parents. I was deeply inspired by their life. It benefited not only the primary students but
to primary students. At first, my impression of diligence and creativity. The motion was “Plastic also my teammates and me. As students in Hong
primary students was that they were naughty and straws should be banned in Hong Kong” and they Kong, we always seem to be constricted by our
had short attention spans. I also doubted their sense were the affirmative team. During their research, spoon-feeding learning environment and our fear of
of current affairs and willingness to devote their time they found that plastic straws created a large amount trying something new or different. These primary
to preparing for a debate. Therefore, my teammates of waste and harmed many innocent sea animals, so students showed me how stepping out of our comfort
and I did ample research and designed plenty of they decided to give up using the small plastic straws zones is indeed exhilarating. Their courage to accept
teaching materials to equip our participants for the that came with cartons of drinks. They put what they failure and their smiles reminded me how joyous
tournament. And we even prepared for the worst had learnt into practice in daily life. true learning should be.
scenario, that is, our writing speeches for them. The preparation time was quite short. I was
It turned out that their behaviour was the exact worried that it would cause great distress to them,
opposite of my expectation, and the experience I had as they needed to transform themselves from total
with these young kids really opened my eyes. newbies into debaters ready to compete in only two
At the beginning of the term, our team conducted weeks. My teammates and I guided them bit by
a debating workshop for the participants. A total of bit, from forming topic sentences to signposting.
twenty students and their teachers from four primary These young children wove lines into paragraphs
schools came to our school and spent three hours and finally produced a well-structured speech. My
with our team, getting to know about the selected teammates and I had to outdo ourselves, as preparing
social issue and what debating is. Our next mission ourselves to teach young children took even more
was to coach the teams in their schools. The primary time and work than preparing for our own debates.
school that I coached had had no debating team We felt so fulfilled when we saw their speeches Even though the kids lost the competition, they were still
before. Nor did their students have any experience in growing in length and maturity, in step with their very spirited. Our team hope they will continue debating in
8 debating. I wanted to give them my best and make burgeoning confidence and proficiency. the future!