Hong Kong’s Tiger Tutors

Lots of people have probably heard me joking about the asian stereotype of studying all the time. If you’ve got some free time, then I’d encourage you to watch this documentary.

Admittedly it is somewhat exaggerated and of course this sort of experience isn’t universal (so don’t go around talking to everyone from HK as if they did go through all those), but certainly it’s representative of the experience of lots of people. It also gives you an idea why I dislike the tutorial system in general. It’s not that it doesn’t help people, but rather that it should be a necessary component of the education system.

All that sad, having not been through this system myself, my own experiences are only peripheral.

Oxford Women’s Open 2013 [MOTIONS]

The Baillie Gifford Oxford Women’s Open 2013 was CAed by Anat Shapira, Leela Koenig and Tasha Rachman.

R1: THW ban religious street preachers in the public sphere
R2: THBT The US Should Give South Korea Independent Control Over A Nuclear Arsenal
R3: TH, as a professional female athlete, would not pose in a sexualised manner for magazines and commercials
R4: In areas where hostage taking is a tactic, THBT soldiers, whose unit mate is about to be captured, should be required to kill their unit mate
R5: THW subsidise art that glorifies the working class
SF: In newly democratised nations, THW limit voting rights to those who have completed secondary education.
GF: TH as a feminist, would not join the army

Why humans like to cry

This is a random collection of thoughts that came after a talk organised by the Oxfordshire Branch of the British Science Association. It was titled ‘Why humans like to cry – tragedy, evolution, and the brain’ by Professor Michael Trimble.

Why even worry about this issue? Simple really. Animals have emotions and are capable of producing tears. But humans are unique in that they cry and produce tears emotionally rather than for biological reasons.

Women cry more than men at a ratio of about 5 to 1. This raises the question of whether this is for biological reasons (in terms of the way men develop or their brains are wired) or whether this is attributable to sociological reasons (such as societal views that make crying acceptable or unacceptable in particular circumstances or for people of different genders).
I think this is, for the most part, a social construct. That said, it may have arisen from perfectly defensible societal demands such as the fact that men in hunter-gatherer time had to continue hunting or growing crops even in the face of hard times and adversity, whereas women may have had more time to mourn and grieve so to speak.
What is more interesting, as was noted by Prof. Trimble, was the question of why the gender gap hasn’t been reduced if its source has been sociological. One would expect that societal views might change given the new circumstances. And yet, men are more likely to apologise for crying, more likely to cry quietly and in less discoverable places.

Undoubtedly, crying is very much a contextual activity. The perhaps obvious explanation for crying is that it is something triggered by emotions. Joy, sorry and bereavement can all be causes, in some instances injustice also triggers crying. More interestingly are instances where there is no prescribed or specific emotion that is easily identifiable, but rather the weight of a myriad of emotions that triggers crying.

WIDPSC 2013 – Grand Final [VIDEOS]

Other WIDPSC 2013 videos can be found in my earlier post. These are only from the Grand Finals hosted at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Debating Grand Final
Motion: THW sacrifice economic gain for the good of the environment
Proposition: Nick Marine (South Africa) and Emma Pottinger (South Africa)
Opposition: Joseph Kahn (South Africa) and William Richardson (Canada)
Result: Joseph Kahn – Champion; Emma Pottinger – 1st runner-up; Nick Marine – 2nd runner-up; William Richardson – 3rd runner-up

After-Dinner Speech Champion
Emily Leijer (Australia)

WIDPSC 2013 Speaker Tab [RESULTS]

The overall speakers tab for the 2013 World Individuals Debating and Public Speaking Championships hosted in Durban, South Africa are included below. These results are taken from the WIDPSC Facebook Page.

1. Connor Campbell (Canada)
2. Joseph Kahn (South Africa)
3. Nicholas Marine (South Africa)
4. Madhav Menon (Hong Kong)
5. William Richardson (Canada)
6. Raja Noureddine (Australia)
7. Nicolo Mazaro (USA)
7. Ryan Sherbo (Canada)
9. Lucien Wang (Hong Kong)
10. Ella Thomson (Canada)
11. Greta Hoaken (Canada)
12. Emma Pottinger (South Africa)
13. Jaclyn Flom (Canada)
14. Philip Balson (USA)
15. Clare Moffat (Canada)
16. Zachariah Lee (Hong Kong)
17. Shaun Gohel (USA)
18. John French (USA)
19. Katie McAllister (Australia)
20. Pierce Dickson (Canada)

WIDPSC [VIDEOS]

A compilation of videos from the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in reverse chronological order.

WIDPSC 2013 [VIDEOS]

The videos of the Grand Final have been moved to a separate post for simplicity’s sake. These are videos of the rounds and of WIDPSC 2013 as a whole, created by the Clifton Film Academy at Clifton School, Durban, South Africa.

Debate Final 3
Proposition: Clare Moffat (Canada) and Nicholas Marine (South Africa)
Opposition: Aspen Wang (Hong Kong) and Waris Asmal (South Africa)

Interpretive Reading Finals
Claudia Tam (Hong Kong) [Broke 1]

WIDPSC 2013 [RESULTS]

The 2013 World Individuals Debating and Public Speaking Championships recently concluded, having been hosted by Clifton School in Durban, South Africa. In particular, the organisers were quite efficient with the results and accompanying videos of the event, much of which are included below. Almost all of this information can originally be found on the WIDPSC Facebook Page.

Champions and Grand Final

In reverse order of the occurence of the Grand Finals.

Overall
1. Connor Campbell (Canada)
2. Joseph Kahn (South Africa)
3. Nicholas Marine (South Africa)
4. Madhav Menon (Hong Kong)
5. William Richardson (Canada)
6. Raja Noureddine (Australia)
7. Nicolo Mazaro (USA)
7. Ryan Sherbo (Canada)
9. Lucien Wang (Hong Kong)
10. Ella Thomson (Canada)

After-Dinner Speech
1. Emily Leijer (Australia) [2]
2. Raja Noureddine (Australia) [3]
3. Povilas Rutkauskas (Lithuania) [5]

Persuasive Speaking
1. Eleonora Lekaviciute (Lithuania) [5]
2. Lucien Wang (Hong Kong) [11]
3. Madhav Menon (Hong Kong) [4]

Impromptu Speaking
1. Nicolo Mazaro (USA) [10]
2. Lucien Wang (Hong Kong) [7]
3. Clare Moffat (Canada) [2]

Debating
1. Joseph Kahn (South Africa) [4]
2. Emma Pottinger (South Africa) [8]
3. Nicholas Marine (South Africa) [9]
4. William Richardson (Canada) [3]

Interperative Reading
1. Ryan Sherbo (Canada) [4]
2. Shaun Gohel (USA) [2]
3. Connor Campbell (Canada) [9]

Oxford Schools Debating Tournament 2013 – Finals Day [MOTIONS]

The Tournament was CAed by Hasan Dindjer and Stephanie Bell.

R1: THW Grant An Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants
R2: THW Remove Patent Protection On Life-Saving Drugs In Low Income Countries
R3: THW Place Significant Decisions On Environmental Protection In The Hands Of Scientific Experts Rather Than Democratic Bodies
R4: THW Require All Religions To Allow Women To Ascend To Their Highest Ranks
GF: TH Opposes The Funding And Arming Of The Syrian Rebels By Western Nations

Oxford Schools Debating Tournament 2013 – Finals Day [RESULTS]

The finals day of the Oxford Schools Debating Tournament 2013 was sucessfully held yesterday at the Oxford Union. I rather brutal tournament where 87 teams competed to break into the Grand Finals.

After four tough rounds of debating, the following teams emerged atop the tab:

1. Westminster A (Ellie Shearer, Louis Willis) – 11, 658
2. Eton ET (Harry Elliott, Toby Tricks) – 10, 670
3. Dulwich KP (Arnav Kapur, Patrick Kenny) – 10, 640
4. TWGGS A (Lucy McCann, Elly May) – 10, 635

On the motion that TH Opposes The Funding And Arming Of The Syrian Rebels By Western Nations, Closing Opposition, Eton ET, emerged as Champions of the Oxford Schools Debating Tournament 2013. I understand there was a recording of the Finals but I’m not sure where it might resurface.

A full tab may be released by the organisers, the speaker and team tabs as relased on the evening are included below.