Archive for July 2012
[VIDEO] WSDC 2011 – Octofinal (New Zealand vs. Singapore)
Octofinal debate between New Zealand (Proposition) and Singapore (Opposition) on the motion ‘THW abandon nuclear energy’. Singapore won to advance to the Quarterfinals.
Results for HKPDS SW 2012
The Hong Kong Parliamentary Debating Society Summer Workshop 2012 concluded earlier today at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The 7 day event began with training workshops in the British Parliamentary format with coaches from Canada, USA, the Netherlands and China. 16 teams broke to the quarter-finals after 7 rounds of debates.
The Grand Final saw two teams from Hangzhou Foreign Languages School, China in the upper house with composite teams from Ying Wa, Island School, SPCC and DGS in the lower house. The four Grand Final teams, whom broke 1st, 3rd, 5th and 10th debated the motion that THW get rid of all national borders.
Champion: Ryan Tang and Jessica Yung (Team Draco Malfoy)
Grand Finalists: Team WOW! (Will Zhang, Elizabeth Hu), Team Lisabeth (Bon Bong, Brian Wong) and Team Fiona’s Illegit Baby (Fiona Zhang, Johnny Chen)
Best Speaker of the Grand Final: Ryan Tang
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2nd China National High School Debating Championships 2012 [MOTIONS]
Motions used at the 2nd China National High School Debating Championships 2012
R1 (Women’s Issues): THW promote women higher and faster in employment situations as a matter of government policy
R2 (Arts): THW make public funding for the arts available for the production of video games
R3 (Education): THW test teachers regularly
R4 (Rights): THW encourage its citizens to break laws in other countries that violate human rights
R5 (Popular Culture): THW teach the appreciation of popular culture in schools
R6 (Medical Ethics): THW criminalize healthcare workers who flee from work during a contagious epidemic
R7 (Social Dilemmas): THBT, upon death, every person’s body should revert to the State for scientific use, or for organ donation, depending on necessity
R8 (Sexuality): THW ban clinics that claim to cure homosexuality
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Results for 2nd China National High School Debating Championships 2012
Finalists and members of the organizing committee
The Grand Final was between Team Fat Boy (Hangzhou Foreign Languages School) and Team Two Rivers (Chengdu Foreign Languages School). Team Fat Boy won by 4-3 on the motion that ‘THW ban corporations from donating to political campaigns’. Peter Yang of Team Two Rivers was awarded the Best Speaker of the Grand Final award.
Ann Shen Chong of Team Memeda (Nanjing Foreign Languages School) was awarded Best Speaker of the Tournament.
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Typhoon 8 topples tree at Siu Sai Wan
Just got back home to find the whole of Siu Sai Wan Road stuck with numerous buses and taxis in the way. Apparently a tree had fallen over, one of those times when you remember that all the stuff in the news could be happening to you too.
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The prepared motions for the 3rd Thailand World Schools Debating Championships to be hosted by the Anglo Singapore International School in Bangkok, Thailand from August 22nd – August 28th.
THW make the protection of Human Rights a condition for receiving Developmental Aid
THW sign an international treaty banning Cyber warfare
THBT the Euro Zone should harmonize its debt through Eurobonds
THW ban all religions from actively seeking conversions
GF: THBT Corporations are not people
TWSDC 2012 will see 7 preliminary rounds (4 prepared, 3 impromptu) followed by a 16 team break to Octo-finals. Teams will not be notified of whether they are proposition or opposition, as a result, teams will have 30 minutes preparation time for prepared motions and 60 minutes for impromptu motions.
Sides will be “determined randomly by a Power-Slide Pairing Draw, based upon the Australs and Asian Parliamentary Debates, these rules are detailed in the constitution and tournament rulebook on the website.”
Source: TWSDC 2012 Facebook Group
UNJ English Festival for Highschool 2012 [MOTIONS]
Motions for the Universitas Negeri Jakarta English Festival for Highschool 2012 in Jakarta, Indonesia
THBT the independent candidate could become a member of the house of the representative
THW give home schooled student a tax break
THW eliminate the fuel subsidy
THBT all schools should implement English in every aspect
THBT corruptors’ wealth would become a state-owned
THW ban cigarette companies as a sponsor of event
THBT officers are not allowed to carry firearms while at the time of duty
THW move the capital city to outside of Jakarta
THBT government subsidy should be stopped
THW apply virginity test to students who will enter high school
PaulLau.com 4.0
It has been nearly three years since I started blogging here. It has been, for me, an amazing journey, what with over 140,000 views and nearly 700 posts so far. From the original intent of being a collection of my opinions, this blog has grown to become a key source of debating news as I began to attend international level competitions. In many ways, this blog has evolved like me, as I moved half-way around the world to attend UWC Atlantic College, a whole new set of posts about those experiences sprang up.
At times, I’ve found the blog a little bit too messy for my liking, too hard to find exactly what I’m interested at that moment, a little too much content without it all being nicely sorted and easy to access. Inspired by Dennis G Campbell during the AC Arts Festival 2012 and with all the time in the world on my hands now during summer, I’ve done a little spring cleaning and updated the blog. Here is PaulLau.com 4.0.
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Labschool Rawamangun Interval 2012 [MOTIONS]
Prepared motions for Labschool Rawamangun Interval 2012 in Indonesia
Women
THW determine the extent of abortion rights by holding popular referendum in which women and only women are entitled to participate.
THBT feminist movement should support pornography
THBT Sister Margaret Farley has brought more harm than good to Catholic Women
Family
THW fund facilities that seek to normalize kids with autism
THW ban junk food from schools (including but not limited to: food in school cafeteria, lunch students bring from home, etc)
THW adopt Singapore’s Maintenance of Parents’act
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The failure of elected representatives
Most of the world now heralds the brilliance and importance of representation by our elected representatives. But it has occurred to me that we really shouldn’t be so upset that even those we elect don’t truly represent our views on all or even most issues. There are two ways to look at this, firstly by looking at the voting process, and secondly from the representatives point of view.
THE VOTER
Votes, no matter what the ideal situation might be, are either not based on the issues, or based on just a few issues out of many. In the first instance, although seen as undesirable, reality is that many voters cast their ballots based on the appearance or their impressions of the candidates rather than actual policy. Obama is a good example of someone who won on high public approval but often based purely upon personal charisma and a favorable personality. That’s not to say people don’t agree with his policies, but rather than a large part of his electoral base (or those of his opponents) are based upon his personality and how they feel about him. Let’s not pretend that uninformed voters don’t exist.
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