I'm in my mid-sem break right now. But's it's not so much of a holiday bacause I'll be having my exams right after this. So, I have to do some studying at home.
As some of you might know, I was in World's Debating Championship. This year, it is organised by MMU. Like any sporting events (e.g. Olympics, Commonwealth, etc), universities have to bid for it. So, this year, MMU got it. Next year, it will be in Dublin, Ireland and the following year in Canada I think. This is like the Olympics for debate and it's really prestigious.
It's an eye opening experience. There are over 900 people from all over the world - US, Britain, Japan, Korea, HK, Australia, just to name a few. And so from so many renowned unversities e.g. Cambridge, Oxford, Inner Temple, Sydney and even Colgate (you read right). Colgate is a university in US. It's called Colgate because the whole university is sponsored by Colgate (the toothpaste brand). So we have really people from all over the world.
I met Teong while I was in MMU. Sorry Teong, didn't know you working right inside MMU before this. And we went 'sight-seeing' because Teong claims that he saw many pretty girls especially the Japs.
This World's championship has shown me another perspective to debating. People who excel in it are not born with the talent to speak. They all work hard for it. They have to do research on all topics, from politics to economics, environment, science, social and anything you can think of. And they practice hard with training sessions as often as they could. I truly salute these debaters for their sheer determination and dedication. I must say I'm lucky just to be there.
Philippines is the best Asian team as they manage to reach semifinals. I believe this is the first Asian team to reach that far. In Asia, the best teams come from Philippines and Singapore. And Malaysia is coming on strong as well. One of the UKM teams (not mine) won the ESL (English as 2nd Language) category. It is an achievement because they have to beat teams from Russia, Singapore, Philippines and so on. The finalists in the maindraw are Ottawa Law (Canada), Hart House (Canada), Cambridge and Oxford. It's British Parliament style, unlike the ones you see in school. There are 2 government teams and 2 opposition teams and they are all fighting against each other. Each team comprises of 2 members. The winner is Ottawa Law.
This debate tournament has definitely enriched my life. I had so much fun meeting new people and learning from the best in the world. Best of all, the fellowship within the UKMers is what I have enjoyed the most. Retirement from debate? We'll see about that.
