Friday, October 16, 2009

The Debate Journey: Part 1

Right now the most major thing that countries are trying to develop is there human capital. As someone who once have given a speech bout human capital i would have known( ASAT National 09), and in some cases people agree with me( I was the winner).
And one of the major things to look upon on human capital is leadership skills, debate as you know it enhances these skills by ten fold(teamwork, public speaking, critical thinking, logic n etc).
This is my story about debate, MY debate journey:

2 years ago……


After six Preliminary debate rounds and one knock- out round, we made it! We made it to the octo final round. I never thought our debate team could actually go so far. Who would have thought of it? This was our first year in entering this competition. The Inter- School Debate competition hosted by IIU (Islamic International University). It was hard getting through all this, that I could tell. And it was a national competition, a place where everyone is here.

Actually, much of the work was done by Nafeesa, Sis Atiqah and Asyraf. They were the reason behind all this. The Super- Trio they were once called. And me, well I didn’t do much at that time. I was just the definer (the one who finds the definition). I was just a beginner that time, and I was lucky enough to actually be with them in the first place.

Nafeesa stood up. Our opponent, STAR (Sekolah Tunku Abdul Rahman) was cheerful- happy, as if they already won. But still, I could see the nervousness in their faces, especially the first speaker (whom I now know is Zuhri). Both sides have just delivered a spectacular speech and because we were the government side, Nafeesa (who at that time had to give the Reply Speech) would speak the last.

“Ladies and Gentlemen”, the clock just ticked, signaling that the 4 minutes have begun.

“There are many things that the opposition has been disagreeing with us. When we say that Indonesia doesn’t need to pay, they say no. we say that Indonesia needs help, no. we say that it is not Indonesia’s fault in the recent mist, no. The guy with the stagy- hair over there is handsome, NO!” the whole room burst into laughter.

“So, what do you want to agree on? This Mr. Speaker is what we want to bring forward in this debate. What we have been tirelessly doing in this debate was proving that, how much we look at it, Indonesia is not the fault to the fog that happened in Malaysia. It was because of the companies in Indonesia that burned the rainforest. And so Mr. Speaker we, the government strongly believes that Indonesia should not pay the debt for the Malaysian fog.”

Things went so fast. She has been talking from how wrong it was for the opposition to just point fingers, then summarizing the points of the government. And before you know it, TING, TING. The bell rang twice, signaling the end of the reply speech, and so the end of the debate.

The debate has ended. The team did a great job. We made it to the octos! The only thing now is to win. Fingers- cross.

The judge took some time to make a decision. Then one of the judges, the chairman of the debate, stood up. I could feel my heart pounding as if it was going to explode. I saw similar faces on Nafeesa. I was afraid that time. I couldn’t do anything at the moment. I don’t want to lose. But I didn’t debate, I didn’t stand up, and I didn’t talk in front of everyone like my sister did. I just watched them debate and prayed.

“So, before I announce the team that would be going to the quarter finals, I would like to congratulate both teams for this spectacular debate”, everyone clapped their hands in agreement.

“The team that will be going to the quarter finals is...” fingers- cross, prayers, mathurat’s, Yaseen water, everything! Give the results already!

“Sekolah Tunku Abdul Rahman”, STAR went uproar! It was as if they already won the game.

WHAT!!!! There could be a mistake, how could we possibly lose! It was insane. The team didn’t looked sadden with what happened. No big deal they said, but I could have sworn I sensed how disappointed Nafeesa was when she talked to me after the results. And after that I knew, this was not the end for debate. This was just the beginning for me. I have to changed, get stronger, become a better speaker. Atiqah, Asyraf and many others of my senior debaters were going to go. They place their hopes on us, to win, to become better, something that I made a promise to myself.

I will be better. I will win. I promise……..


11th April 2008

IIUM Inter- school debate Championship 2008

Today is the day. I never believed it would actually come. After a disappointing defeat in the zone competition against Jalan 4 (which is my fault for becoming a lousy whip), I’m determined to do the best in this tournament. I’ve trained with my sister everyday, got shouted by Asraf for not concentrating, and I am the last man standing in this year’s debate team. What luck!

I woke as usual as any day. Wait a minute, my clothes; I don’t have anything to wear today. WHAT! Only option, even though I’ll be a laughing stock for the rest of the day. A white Baju Melayu with black sleek pants. And guess what, my black shoes are wet. Then again, bad luck on first day!

Everyone was ready. Iman, Syazwani, the BM debate team, Firdaus and Azmil, to name a few, and myself. Teacher Mai was following, great! I packed everything, including a bottle of Yaseen water, the Database I made last year, and double inhalers, just in case. Nafeesa was late, as usual, and I mean very late. She came at around 8 o’ clock, Teacher Mai wasn’t mad though; she was just relieved that Nafeesa was fine. She was the best speaker we have.

“Why are you wearing sneakers?” she asked. She saw I wore the blue- white sneakers I got for my last birthday.

“Don’t ask”

At IIU we registered our team. I didn’t like the idea of BM bringing two teams this year at first; they never actually won a lot in this tournament. We had to forget the idea of bringing an observer. The school never wanted to pay for just a person. How could they? Their bankrupt.

A lot of the committee members were excited. Only Sekolah Ugama they say. The idea of just our school being the only Sekolah Ugama just increase my nervousness.

I had a room for eight people. Huge. And nice. The boys of BM debate were also a room with me. I scrambled for the white polystyrene on my table. There was rice with ayam masak lemak. Spicy. Hot. I couldn’t finish it up, I never like spicy food, it makes my face sweet as if I had run across the world. After my little brother, Fattah had an operation on his appendix for eating too much spice just made me lose my appetite even more. I gave the rest to Firdaus.

In the afternoon, after Jumaat prayers, the SRI Ayesha debate team arrived. All the debaters were boys. Fattah, Safwan, Syed and Haqqim. I like them. Especially Safwan, he talked a lot and questioned me a lot.


To be Continued....................


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