WordPress Craze

Ever since I first started blogging on WordPress way back in October last year, we have seen wordpress begin to snake its way through the community with WEUer on KennethChan.com and Heather Pickerell joining the blogsphere.

More recently however, I have seen what I can only describe as a ‘WordPress Craze’

First there was fellow debater and SISer Tiffany Chung’s new blog titled ‘Tiffany Chung’s Blog’. She’s known to have a lot to say and way too many opinions, so maybe this may spare our ears.

Then there came another debater, this time from Queens College Hong Kong, as Benjamin So launched his blog ‘Put into Perspective’. The self described

epitome of the typical Asian student – Chinese, bookish, arrogant, ignorant and career-minded.

During WSDC itself, I helped the gaffe loving ‘funny’ guy to set up a blog of his own after he saw mine. Micheal.com from Michael Nauta himself provides a Namibian perspective that looks to shake things up and provide a good humorous time.

Happy Blogging Guys! Best of Luck!

HKPDS SW 2010 Canceled

UPDATE : From individuals intimately involved with the organization of HKPDS, it has been decided that the HKPDS Summer Workshop 2010 will again be run, albeit on a smaller scale.

One of the most popular debating workshops in Hong Kong is the annual Hong Kong Parliamentary Debating Society (HKPDS) Summer Workshop. However sadly, it appears that HKPDS Summer Workshop 2010 will not be held this year due to funding problems.
From the organizers at HKPDS posted on Facebook :

Dear all,

I realize many of you have been waiting excitedly for the announcements regarding HKPDSSW 2010. There has been a buzz even on facebook as we have noticed many of you clearing that time in July and asking people to be partners.

It is with much regret then, that I must inform you that HKPDSSW 2010 will not be happening. Various concerns have meant that the marquee event of HKPDS is infeasible this year. This is not to say that HKPDS will never again be able to hold a SW, indeed I can assure you that we are looking at 2011 to make a return if possible.

Until then, keep debating.
Sandeep
HKPDS

To my knowledge, there are a number of alternative summer debating courses being planned and in the work by other organizations. I will post further details here as it comes in.
Hopefully we will be able to attend HKPDS SW 2011.

WSDC 2010 – Videos

This is part of the WSDC 2010 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2010 from Doha, Qatar as a debater, blogger and Hong Kong national team member.

WSDC 2010 Doha may have concluded, but it’s time to review some of the highlights.

First, here is a finalized list of all the Awards handed out, after the organizers finally filled in the ‘Results‘ page of http://www.wsdc2010doha.com/.

Videos

In addition, videos of the event are starting to pop up, I will continue to post them here as they appear.
You can see two full debates that people have uploaded. The first is round 6 between Canada and England (http://www.youtube.com/user/debaterandskeptic#p/u). The second is round 8 between Nepal and Mongolia (http://www.youtube.com/user/hobbyscience#p/u)

Opening Ceremony

School Performances
School Performances

Mapping the World

Blaise explains Bing Maps. Microsoft may finally have a product that rivals that of Google.

Will you continue to use Google Map or are you going to give Bing Map a try? I’m all for the latter.

SDIOP – Review

The school has never done it before, at least not in the 5 years that I’ve been at SIS, and I have no idea why the school suddenly decided to do so, perhaps it has to do with IB or maybe it’s to do with the CIS/WASC accreditation the school desperately wants. Regardless of the motivation, the school finalized the ‘School Development, Improvement and Operation Strategic Plan 2009-2010′ in September 09.

A few words about its creation:
A very brief draft had been shown to Student Council ONCE before and demanded that all copies be returned at the very same meeting which means no-one knew how it has changed since then. Those in the School Council, even the student representative not only refuse to give details, they are bound by some kind of contract to stay mute under a gag-order.

The fact that it was finalized during the summer holidays at the start of the school year means that Student Council wasn’t consulted on the final version. Surprise!

I received a copy of the SDIOP from Mr. Wray after sending my request in. Here is a summary of the proposal and a sign of where SIS’s development will go.

• Student population will remain at 1,400 for the time being
• The school is “not yet ready to take that (MYP) decision although the developments are largely aligned with the approach of MYP”
• More cross-curriculum links amongst subjects and across years
• An integrated Humanities program to be introduced for year 7′s starting next school year
• 1,250,000 maximum for development of creative subjects within curriculum over the next 3 years
• 200,000 for training and planning of new IB language courses to begin teaching in 2011-2012 academic year
• All students with few exceptions to focus on one language from year 9 with possibility of extending this to year 7 or 8
• New ‘Moodle’ learning platform at http://vle.sis.edu.hk/ piloted in Maths, English, LF and DT to be completed by 2011-2012
• Release of Moodle in Spring 2012
• Increased international education links with China and HK schools and possibly African, French and Spanish schools in 2012-2012
• Consideration and review of early entry, fast track and pre IB courses for certain students
• Online school calendar arrangements finalized
• “Extended student representation and leadership on school consultative groups”
• CIS/WASC accreditation in March 2012
• 300,000 for staff leadership development
• Staffing costs increase 1 million per year with no new staffing changes
• A possible new building costing 60 million or more to be decided by the School Council this year
• New public announcement scheme installed in 2009-2010
• Learning at SIS sent 3 times a year
• New annual report published yearly
• Atrium strategy approved by School Council in December 2009

Appendix D – IB Diploma Results 2009

The strange and quirky results reporting I noted in a previous post was once again, suspiciously repeated at the end of the SDIOP. Once again, the comparative results were left out

Verdict – Skim

WSDC 2010 – Final Rankings

WSDC 2010 Logo

This is part of the WSDC 2010 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2010 from Doha, Qatar as a debater, blogger and Hong Kong national team member.

Following the conclusion of World Schools Debating Championship 2010, the numbers are in, the results crunched and the final rankings decided. Here they are courtesy of the organizers at WSDC Charity.

Motions

R1: That we should support Military Intervention in Somalia
R2: That we should make physical education compulsory in schools
R3: That every Country should have the right to possess Nuclear Weapons
R4: That we should support quotas for women in high government positions
R5: That Doctors should report evidence of Martial Abuse to the police
R6: That developing nations should have the right to give priority to development ahead of the environment
R7: That Terrorist suspects should have the right to a Trial in Civilian courts
R8: That we should legalise performance enhancing drugs
OF: That we should have no law restricting freedom of speech
QF: That compensation should be paid for the injustices committed by past generations
SF: That the United States should withdraw from the Middle East
GF : That Governments should Never Bail out Big Companies

Teams

You can find the results for each individual round here.
See how the 16 teams progressed during the Knockout Stages.

Overall Team Rankings

1. Canada
2. England
3. Singapore
4. Wales
5. Australia
6. Slovenia
7. New Zealand
8. Pakistan
9. Greece
10. Israel
11. Netherlands
12. Sri Lanka
13. India
14. Scotland
15. Ireland
16. Hong Kong

Best New Country : United Arab Emirates
China (2nd) and Sudan (3rd)

Best English as Foreign Language Country : Netherlands
Romania (2nd) and Germany (3rd)

Best English as Second Language Country : Slovenia
Greece (2nd) and Sri Lanka (3rd)

The Break

1. Australia, 8 wins, 23 judges, 6277 points
2. Canada, 8 wins, 22 judges, 6171 points
3. Singapore, 8 wins, 22 judges, 6161 points
4. Greece, 8 wins, 22 judges, 6105 points
5. England, 8 wins, 21 judges, 6188.5 points
6. Slovenia, 7 wins, 19 judges, 6016.5 points
7. New Zealand, 6 wins, 19 judges, 6189.5 points
8. Wales, 6 wins, 19 judges, 6080.5 points
9. Israel, 6 wins, 18 judges, 6012 points
10. Netherland, 6 wins, 18 judges, 5961 points
11. Sir Lanka, 6 wins, 17 judges, 6047.5 points
12. India, 6 wins, 16 judges, 5982.5 points
13. Pakistan, 5 wins, 18 judges 6114.5 points
14. Scotland, 5 wins, 17 judges, 6163 points
15. Ireland, 5 wins, 16 judges, 6093.5 points

Hong Kong, 5 wins, 16 judges, 6074.5 points

16. South Korea, 5 wins, 16 judges, 6072 points
17. Bangladesh, 5 wins, 16 judges, 6022.5 points
18. South Africa, 5 wins, 15 judges, 6107.5 points
19. Mexico, 5 wins, 15 judges, 6023 points
20. Philippines, 5 wins, 15 judges, 6001.5 points
21. Indonesia, 5 wins, 15 judges, 5955.5 points
22. Romania, 5 wins, 14 judges, 5970 points
23. Germany, 5 wins, 13 judges, 5970 points
24. Sweden, 5 wins, 13 judges, 5821.0 points
25. Estonia, 5 wins, 12 judges, 5952.0 points

Shaheen

Speakers

Overall Best Speakers
The full top 100 speakers list can be found here.

1. Joanna Connolly – Australia – 75.333
2. Laura Birchall – Australia – 75.033
3. Charlotte Thomas – Australia – 74.875
4. Eleanor Gordon-Smith – Australia – 74.833
5. Manasvin Goswami – Canada – 74.292
6. Gregory Farquhar – England – 74.222
7. Shehryar Sheikh – Pakistan – 74.083
8. Maria English – New Zealand – 74.000
9. Georgina Barker – Scotland – 73.944
10. Hasan Dindjer – England – 73.917
11. Aria Newfield – New Zealand – 73.867
12. Ashish Kumar – Singapore – 73.813
13. Keenan Macneal – Canada – 73.800
14. Jonathan Carson – Canada – 73.792
15. Ella Katharine Robertson – Scotland – 73.694
16. Edward Schweitzer – England – 73.694
17. Rebecca Meredith – Scotland – 73.667
18. Jasmin Moran – New Zealand – 73.625
19. Teoh Ren Jie – Singapore – 73.605
20. Filippos Lekkas – Greece – 73.583

Hong Kong Individual Results (as stated in the top 100)

39 – Heather Pickerell – 4 – 72.583
40 – Ben Allen – 5 – 72.467
45 – Paul Lau – 4 – 72.333
50 – Annette Chau – 4 – 72.250
60 – Prakash Sanker – 7 – 72.048

Individual EFL Best Speakers :

1. Lionie Beyrle – Germany
2. Zan Zveplan – Slovenia
3. Sanjit Dias – Sri Lanka
4. Elisabeth Van Lieshout – The Netherlands
5. Inka Mobinger – Germany

Individual ESL Best Speakers

1. Shehryar Sheikh – Pakistan
2. Filippos Lekkas – Greece
3. Muhammad Gulzar – Pakistan
4. Do Kwon – South Korea
5. Jeewon Yoo – South Korea

Individual New Nation Best Speakers

1. Andirudh Sivaram – UAE
2. Raeesa Munshi – UAE
3. Sara Smylie – UAE
4. Calvin Cox – Sudan
5. Jiali Li – China

WSDC 2010 – Results

This is part of the WSDC 2010 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2010 from Doha, Qatar as a debater, blogger and Hong Kong national team member.

Here are the overall results  from the prize presentation ceremony at La Caliga Hotel in Doha. All errors are mine until organizers confirm details.

Best New Country : United Arab Emirates
Best English as Foreign Language Country : Netherlands
Best English as Second Language Country : Slovenia
Overall 4th : Wales
Overall 3rd : Singapore
Overall Runner-up : England
Overall Champion : Canada

Individual EFL Best Speakers :

1. Lionie Beyrle – Germany
2. Zan Zveplan – Slovenia
3. Daluwatumullagamage Jayasuriya – Sir Lanka
4. Sandarruwani De Silva – Sir Lanka
5. Inka Mobinger – Germany

Individual ESL Best Speakers

1. Shehryar Sheikh – Pakistan
2. Filippos Lekkas – Greece
3. Muhammad Gulzar – Pakistan
4. Do Kwon – South Korea
5. Jeewon Yoo – South Korea

Overall Best Speakers

1. Joanna Connolly – Australia
2. Laura Birchall – Australia
3. Charlotte Thomas – Australia
4. Eleanor Gordon-Smith – Australia
5. Manasvin Goswami – Canada
6. Gregory Farquhar – England
7. Shehryar Sheikh – Pakistan
8. Maria English – New Zealand
9. Georgina Barker – Scotland
10. Hasan Dindjer – England

WSDC 2010 – AUS vs. HK Octofinal

This is part of the WSDC 2010 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2010 from Doha, Qatar as a debater, blogger and Hong Kong national team member.

After breaking into the Octofinals ranked 16th, our path crossed with that of top breaker Australia. In what turned out to be a close, difficult and tense debate on the motion That there should be no law restricting freedom of speech, Australia emerged victorious by a unanimous decision of 5-0. However, as both sides admitted whilst waiting, the debate that was supposedly one-sided and easy debate on paper for Australia turned out to be quite a battle. At the end of the day, we gave Australia a run for their money, although we ultimately lost, the debate was one of our best performances ever and certainly a high-quality final bow.
Whilst not directly reflected in the result, the following article from the Qatar Tribune accurately captures the nature of the debate. I’ve highlighted my favorite elements, albeit from a biased stand-point of a Hong Kong debater.

Favourites Australia scored a

not-so-convincing win

over lowly placed Hong Kong in the octo-finals, to move into the quarter-finals of the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC). The final eight teams who are in the final round are Australia, Canada, Singapore, England, New Zealand, Wales, Pakistan and Slovenia.
In the first phase of the knockout stage, all 16 teams debated the motion ‘There should be no law restricting freedom of speech’. The octo-finals took place at four venues in four different universities.
In a competition held at Weill Cornell Medical College, Team Australia took on Hong Kong and had a vigorous round of debating.
With Team Australia going for the motion and Team Hong Kong in opposition, it was a contest worth listening. Both teams failed to convince the audience on many key issues. But the all-girl Australian team came up trumps primarily due to its vast experience and flair.

Team Hong Kong gave quite a tough time to the Australians and were almost on the verge staging a big upset in the tournament.

But Team Australia, guided by the eloquent wrap-up by Janna Connolly, safely saw the argument wrested from Team Hong Kong. Team Australia with great presentations from Laura Birchall, Joanna Connolly and Eleanor Gordon Smith finally saw the competition going their way. However,

Team Hong Kong should be proud of their effort and of the fact of having taken the contest right down to the wire.

Claire Rayan, the chief adjudicator of the competition, while announcing the results, commended the efforts of both the teams and said that it was very close. She said “Probably both the teams should have a better understanding of the topics in terms of its applications as both restricted themselves on some part of the motion. This made both the teams miss on many of the key arguments.” It was a team of five judges that adjudicated on the competition. The quarter-finals as well as the semifinals will be held on Wednesday and the grand finale will be held on Thursday.

Grand Final tonight between Canada (proposing) and England (opposing) on the motion That governments should never bail out big companies. Will be posting all results from the closing ceremony as soon as I get back.

WSDC 2010 – Quarter & Semi Final

Quarterfinal

On the motion : That compensation should be paid for the injustices committed by past generations

Canada beat New Zealand 6-1
Wales beat Australia 4-3
Singapore beat Slovenia 6-1
England beat Pakistan 6-1

Semifinal

On the motion : That the United States should withdraw from the middle east

England beat Wales 9-0
Canada beat Singapore 9-0

Incidentally, both opposition sides won.

Grand Final

Hence the Grand Final will be
Canada vs. England
on the motion
“That governments should never bail out big companies”

WSDC 2010 – Quarter Final

This is part of the WSDC 2010 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2010 from Doha, Qatar as a debater, blogger and Hong Kong national team member.

At the end of another tough day, AGM, Scotland and South Africa’s presentation as well as 8 difficult debates, those in the running for the 2010 World Schools Debating Championship has dropped from 16 to just 8 who after hard-fought victories today, progress to the quarter finals.

Today’s results on the motion :
That we should have no law restricting freedom of speech

Australia beat Hong Kong 5-0

Canada beat Ireland 3-2
Singapore beat Scotland 3-2
Pakistan beat Greece 5-0
England beat India 4-1
Slovenia beat Sir Lanka 4-2
New Zealand beat Netherlands 5-0
Wales beat Israel 5-0

This means the quarter final match-ups will be as follows :

• Quarterfinal A : Australia vs. Wales
• Quarterfinal B : Canada vs. New Zealand
• Quarterfinal C : Singapore vs. Slovenia
• Quarterfinal D : Pakistan vs. England

Best of lucks to all quarter finalists

Winner of quarterfinal A will debate winner of quarterfinal D in Semifinal 1.
Winner of quarterfinal B will debate winner of quarterfinal C in Semifinal 2.