Today’s Debate (18 November 2006)
Today, I have the most memorable debate competition ever in my life. This experience is so invaluable that even though I do not usually share my personal daily life in my blog, I want to keep this forever, as a wonderful memory. I can imagine sometimes in the future, I read back this blog entry and be truly amazed of what I have done when I was just a 16 years old teenagers. This is one of the greatest achievements I had ever have in my life. I will never forget this. To make everything clear, I guess I have to explain again what have happened a few weeks ago. I, Paulina, and Stevensen was chosen as delegation from Sutomo 1 by Mr. Hapis to join provincial selection from ISDC (Indonesian Schools Debating Championship). It was a wonderful thing, considered that if we were good enough, we would have the chance to move on for national selection, and finally, ends up being an international debater. I was actually having a Physic exam that time that I was surprised to know that I was chosen, approximately a day before the exam. We finally ends up given compensation by our headmistress that we neither have to take the exam nor to take the replacement test. It was such a luck to me, considering that I was not really good in Physic. I have known Paulina and Stevensen before, but none of they have known each other. Eventually, we won the 2nd place. But that is not the deal. The big thing about that is the fact that we had become not only team mates, but we had just recognized each other as the perfect mates. And I have to say that PAS (Paulina, Andrew, Stevensen) is the most solid debate team I have ever had. We had some crazy plans about celebrating this at Sun Plaza and we finally went home at nine o’clock in the evening. It was crazy. It was that day, too, that Ms. Catherine invited me to join a debate competition in USU under IMSI, which bring us to the debate I have just had today. The debate was really great. We won all the three rounds. At the first round (proposition side for the motion THBT sex lesson should be added to high school curriculum), we won by margin +3.5. For the second round (proposition side for the motion THBT movie should be censored), we won by margin +2. And for the last round (proposition side for the motion THBT death sentence should be imposed on proven-guilty corruptors), we won by margin +3. (Highest margin: +5. Lowest margin: -5.) The total of these margins are +8.5. And we have the highest margins in the competition. This is just too cool for me to be forgotten. And that is the most obvious reason why I am keeping this memory on my blog, even though I usually do not share my personal life on my blog. Actually, those three rounds are still the preliminary rounds. But the fact that we were the best today really surprises me (there are 22 teams in total). Of course, the competition is not over yet. The quarter final will take place tomorrow. Also, the semi final and the final round. I really have to prepare for tomorrow. Actually, I am quite unconfident for tomorrow. The teams chosen to compete for the quarter round are really tough. Actually, I do believe that the total margins of +8.5 today is a luck. I am quite afraid that we will lose tomorrow. But I have to fight harder tomorrow. I have already made it here, I will continue what I have started. And even though I lose tomorrow, I already have a wonderful and memorable life experience about this. I will never regret this. Of course, I will pray for victory tomorrow. Hope that we can win the whole competition. Beside, I had a nice day today with PAS, the best debate team I have ever had. The experience today is invaluable. Oh yeah, thanks to Paulina and Stevensen too. I would not have ever experienced this if not because of you.
November 19th, 2006 at 7:14 am
And today (19 November 2004), the debates were completely messy.
At the quarter final, we have the motion TH supports home schooling, in which we were on the proposition side. We met an awful team. To be honest, the mechanism that we proposed was too complicated. The opposition team gave rebuttals that rebutt nothing at all, only make everything a little bit more confusing. And in the result, everything was confusing and puzzling, as if the debate is not going anywhere. And on the adjudication process, even everything spoken by adjudicators are confusing. We won by margin +3 or something, I have already forgotten. But it was already a sign that we were not good that day. I mean, none of us are proud to actually won by margin +3. We were really bad, it is just that the opposition team is terribly awful.
At the semi final, we met a very tricky team, with the motion THBT the press violates public figures’ privacy, in which we were on the opposition side. We knew that they were going to be tricky that day. So we tried to analyzed every single words they have said as a boomerang back to them. Unfortunately, our philosophical and wording approach led us to a bad way. Now that I understand that we should never “cheat back” on a “team who loves to cheat” in the same way. Because, well, they were already a bad team. And we used exactly the same approach as an ironic way to beat them. Ironically, the boomerang that they threw, in which almost hit them back, mysteriously turned around and hit us. Goddamn! They were tricky from the very beginning, and everybody knows that their case is bad. Our team should have proved that they were tricky, not to play the trick back for them. Because we play the trick back, we were considered bad. And even worse, because we followed the tricky path which they set. We lost by margin -2. I regret this so much. I guess it was all my fault.
Yeah, we did not manage to get into final. But we still have to fight with the other team who lost on the semi final. We were on the opposition side for an impromptu motion called TH would let gay couples’ adopt children. Actually, we have a strong suspicion that the judge and the other team misunderstood our points. We lost by margin -0.3. I do not mind losing, because I admit that the other team was tough enough. And they deserve it. But I am not really satisfied with the verbal adjudication. It seems that our points were misunderstood. Perhaps we were not convincing enough to the adjudicators. Perhaps we did not explain clear enough. If so, then it is perfectly clear that everything was our fault. But I am still disappointed with the misunderstanding.
So, in the conclusion, we were the fourth champion. Actually, it could have been a great achievement. But I feel that today’s debates were awful. I cannot believe that we were that awful. Even when we won by margin +3, it was only because that the opposing team were so much horrible, not because we were really good.
What was wrong with PAS? =(
But anyhow, I will not regret this. Never will I. PAS is still a solid team. And even though we lost twice, this should be a sign that we should try harder next time. And anyhow, we still have a really high margin left, a total of 9.something. Still the team with one of the highest total of margins. =)
November 19th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Well you should fall once to get up twice. Congrats to you guyz ! It somehow makes me proud hiks hiks the younger generations who achieve what i could never do during my hischool time hehehe
This time blog shows your humanity side haha !
November 19th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Haha..
Yup, this is me as an ordinary human being.
Not as a critic. ^^
Thanks for the congratz… But, uh, I’m still sad. Huuuu…..
November 19th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Cincin, dy know Paulina is the student in Success
and Ms. Catherine is Success teacher too?
Somehow everybody gets connected.
For Andrew, keep practising.=)
November 20th, 2006 at 2:42 am
Heh !?
It’s true if i say : Sekai cin se kai
November 20th, 2006 at 6:03 am
But I’m not anything related to Success. Oh well, I joined the debate competition on Success Anniversary last time. But that’s all. ^^
But yeah… somehow, I think that everything’s connected. I mean, it’s quite a coincidence that DJ Ivan and Ms. Catherine somehow are connected. Not to mention if you want to link it to the whole other list of other people.
By the way, what is “sekai cin se kai”. Sorry, I just do not know what it is.
November 20th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Haiya, Andrew, are u Medanese or not? Se kai (The world) cin (is very) se kai (tiny, small).
U know Cincin is a Success teacher too. C’mon, call her lao shi first. hehe.
November 20th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
oi bole sic jago bersilat lidah pake bahasa orang, tp masa bahasa sendiri ga ngerti sic !?
ai tiok phak liaw ar !
wah, don’t call me laoshi d, i even have to learn more from andrew, what a great skill of english !
cool !!!
November 21st, 2006 at 8:30 am
Haha… I thought it was Japanese. Sekai cin sekai or something like that.. Haha….
But of course, I know what se kai cin se kai and ai tiok phak liaw ar. ^^
Oh yeah, lao shi… ^^