~The events in this post precedes the last and was written before that. However I've decided to do the seventh first because it was the seventh post. So sue me haha!~
Hey guys sorry for the late posts. I was busy with Forensics for the past two weeks so I'll try my best to blog as much as possible during this one week break. Anyhow before I start please allow me to wish everybody a Happy Chinese New Year! May all of you be blessed with hope, health and happiness through out the boar year!
Forensics: 'connected with the scientific tests used by the police when trying to solve a crime' (Oxford Advance Learner's Dictionary); 'a wordplay on deciphering the meaning in words and speeches, phrases and prose'; 'an unforgettable experience'. For the uninformed, Forensics is a competition comprising of seven categories hosted by the KL International School (ISKL) annually. This includes Oral Interpretation, Original Oratory, Debate, Impromptu Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, Solo Acting and Duet Acting. As yours truly is totally hopeless in all the other events, I decided to have a go at the debate competition. Forensics debate is an American style debate with teams of two going up against each other. The resolution of the year was 'A just government should provide health care for its citizens'. My partner this year was another freshman in KTJ, Kevin Erazon Dickman (yea, cool name haha). The other team was a pair up between Isaac and Alison.
What preceded the actual competition was three weeks of research, research AND research! We scoured the Internet looking at numbers, facts and studies. As it was a new format of debate for all of us, we also struggled with new terms and jargon ranging from 'contentions' and 'value criterion' to the obscure like 'burden of clash' and 'burden of proof'. Hilarious mock debates ensued between the two teams a week before the competition as we tried our best to familiarise ourselves with the different format. You know that you're in for a joyride with the debaters when you hear things like 'ignorant people should all die!' (Quote: Kevin) and 'some health care is not health care!' (Quote: Isaac). However there were also serious discussions that kept us up as late as we were allowed to (11:30!) and by the time the competition arrived, the debaters can be easily distinguished by their sullen eyes and sick looking faces. Extra sympathy goes to Alison who was also taking part in Impromptu Speaking.
The three actual days of competition at ISKL, 14th-16th February (yep, it started on Valentine's Day), seemed like a blur of shouting, laughing, cursing, more researching and McDonalds. We went there confident but prepared for the worst. This was it. Judgement Day. Apocalypse. When the dust settled, the debaters actually did fairly well. Both of the teams won two ties out of four each, which is a 50% scorecard. Even though we didn't get into the quarter-finals, it was a pretty good result considering we did everything on our own and pieced together a decent effort in three weeks. In between our debates we managed to catch some of the other events and lend some support to our fellow team members. On the final day, KTJ actually had 10 finalists in various events and we were poised for a record breaking feat this year. Final haul was 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze, courtesy of Sangheetaa (Solo Acting), the duo Faiz and Nadzra (Duet Acting), Jonathan (Oral Interpretation) and Stirling (Original Oratory). The icing on the cake was when KTJ was announced as the winner of the Sweepstakes Trophy. It was only fitting that our beloved mentor, Ms. Carol was the one to receive the coveted trophy on stage amidst cheers and claps from everybody.
Looking back, I realise that it was really the process, rather than the competition itself that justified the experience. It is much more about putting in the hours of practices rather than finally going on stage and delivering your piece. At the end, everybody is a winner (yes, its cliche I know but its true!) because everybody gave their best at the competition. The standards were so high you needed to be towering to be above others. I look forward to next year's 30th Forensics competition with great anticipation. Hopefully I'll finally manage to win something haha. ~Zhong~
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