[VIDEO] TWSDC 2012 – Octofinal (HKSDC vs. ASIS)

Octofinal debate at the 3rd Thailand World Schools Debating Championships between HKSDC 2 (proposition) and Anglo Singapore International School 1 (opposition) on the motion ‘THBT a strong dictatorship is better than weak democracy’. HKSDC2 beat Anglo1 2-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals. The members of HKSDC2 are Justin Lee, Michelle Sum, Brian Wong and Aspen Wang.

Video credits to Gary.

Afternoon in Bangkok

Hilarious bench and a good advertisement

Debating tournaments and touristing are not exactly a perfect match. Both take up so much time and energy that one is usually left to have to choose between one or the other. Thankfully, I was able to find myself a free afternoon during TWSDC 2012 in which I was able to wander freely around the shopping center of Bangkok. For me, aimless directionless random wander is the best way to see a new place, you get to notice all sorts of weird things without necessarily missing out on the traditional touristy spots.

Sooo many in Bangkok

I started at Siam Paragon where we were having lunch down in the food court. I had been told that the mall was massive, but somehow it didn’t seem that way from the outside. Not to mention that I almost didn’t realize that the podium entrance was in fact elevated above ground level, maybe it just seemed that way from the BTS platform. It took me nearly half an hour to wander through all the floors, mostly without going inside too many shops and still managed to miss large parts of the place. It says something when one shopping mall has 3 cinemas and almost every type, category and sort of food one could imagine. They even had enough space for some Swiss-Thai exhibition at the time.

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TWSDC 2012 Tab

Many thanks to the tabmaster, Chaya Suttichujit, for publishing a full copy of the TWSDC 2012 Tab.

Included below:

• Team Rankings
• Top 20 Speakers
• HKSDC Speaker Rankings
• Top 20 Adjudicators

TWSDC 2012 [MOTIONS]

Motions for the 3rd Thailand World Schools Debating Championships 2012 at Anglo Singapore International School, Bangkok, Thailand.

TWSDC 2012 was hosted by Anglo Singapore International School, Bangkok, Thailand

R1: THBT the Eurozone should harmonize its debt through Eurobonds
R2: THBT states should not compensate individuals who choose to live in disaster areas
R3: THW make the protection of human rights a condition for receiving developmental aid
R4: TH supports rehabilitation over retribution for juveniles
R5: THW sign an international treaty banning Cyber warfare
R6: THW require schools to stop teaching a gender normative* curriculum** (*Based upon societal stereotype of traditional gender rules. **Courses, subject matter and activities.)
R7: THW ban all religions from actively seeking conversions
OF: [Governance] THBT a strong dictatorship is better than weak democracy
QF: [Wealth Distribution] THBT income equality should be prioritized over economic growth
SF: [Syria] THBT military intervention is justified to protect civilians from the state
GF: THBT Corporations are not people

TWSDC 2012 Overall Results, Grand Finals, Rankings

The 3rd Thailand World Schools Debating Championships concluded last night at the Landmark Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. Here are a compilation of the various results of the tournament.

The Grand Finals underway

Grand Finals
Champion: Malaysia
Runners-up: Xavier School

On the motion that ‘THBT corporations are not people’, Malaysia beat Xavier School by the slimmest of margins, with a 5-4 split decision.

Top 10 Speakers

1. Aaron Lee (Malaysia)
2. Josh Broomberg (South Africa)
3. Joe Kahn (South Africa)
4. Justin Lee (HKSDC)
5. Emma Pottinger (South Africa)
6. Eunice Leung (HKSDC)
7. Natalie So (HKSDC)
8. Donald Felbaum (Xavier School)
9. Tan Tse Hao (Malaysia)
10. Raynard Lao (Xavier School)

Semifinalists receive their certificates from the Chinese Ambassador to Thailand

Top 10 Adjudicators

1. TJ
2. Brynne Guthrie
3. LP
4. Iris Zhang
5. T
6. Arpaporn Tangkrisanakajorn
7. Siraj
8. Steven Lee
9. Keana Reinu
10. Gary Sakuma

NOTE: Any errors in this post are the authors sole responsibility.

TWSDC 2012 Semifinal results, Grand final match-up

The semifinals motion was ‘THBT military intervention is justified to protect civilians from the state’. The theme being Syria.

WSDC Malaysia Team beat HKSDC 1 by 5 votes to 2.
Xavier School beat HKSDC 2 unanimously (7 votes).

This means that the Grand Finals will contested between WSDC Malaysia and Xaveir School on the motion that ‘THBT corporations are not people’

In other Hong Kong related news, the Grand Final adjudication panel will include both Iris Zhang and Steven Lee, a certain recognition of their adjudication.

Debaters also participated in the official opening ceremony of ASIS’s new campus at which we have been based for TWSDC. Here are some pictures of the celebrations, courtesy of Brynne at SADebatingTeam. In addition to speeches, there were also a Marching Band, a Lion Dance and firecrackers.

TWSDC 2012 Octofinal results, Quarterfinal match-up

Octofinal results

Quarterfinal match-up
Malaysia vs. Anglo 2
South Africa vs. HKSDC 2
Xavier School vs. Leaders Academy 1
HKSDC 2 vs HKSDC 3

Motion: THBT income equality should be prioritized over economic growth

TWSDC 2012 Break

After 7 preliminary rounds, 16 teams have broken to the ocotofinals. Here is the break. So far only the order has been made available but the organizers have indicated they will release a full tab at a later point.

1. Malaysia
2. South Africa
3. Xavier School
4. HKSDC1
5. HKSDC3
6. Leaders Academy 1
7. HKSDC2
8. Nanyang Girls’ High School
9. Anglo Singapore International School 2
10. Anglo Singapore International School 1
11. Leaders Academy 2
12. Hangzhou Foreign Language School 1
13. Triam Udom Suksa School
14. Sacred Heart College 2
15. Nanjing Foreign Language Schol 2
16. Bala Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School

The octofinals have concluded and the results are now pending.

TWSDC 2012 Rounds 4-6

The preliminary rounds of the 3rd Thailand World Schools Debating Championships are coming to a close with the conclusion with Round 6 earlier today. One round remains before 16 teams break to the octo-finals.

Convening Room

The day began with Round 4′s impromptu motion that ‘TH supports rehabilitation over retribution for juveniles’. Round 5 saw teams compete on the prepared motion that ‘THW sign an international treaty banning Cyber warfare’. The day was concluded with Round 6 on the motion that

THW require schools to stop teaching a gender normative* curriculum**’. *Based upon societal stereotype of traditional gender rules. **Courses, subject matter and activities.

After the initial 6 rounds, only Team Malaysia stand with a perfect record of a 6-0 win-loss ratio. They are almost certain to break. Although the top of the tab was initially almost exclusively populated with international teams, a number of local Thai teams have put together a strong run of debates today to push their way into the top brackets.

It will be interesting to see how the break turns out tomorrow, especially as an evaluation as to the sliding-power-pairing system. Following the lunch-time announcement of the break, tomorrow will see the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, both impromptu debates with an hours preparation.

TWSDC 2012 Rounds 1 to 3

TWSDC is now in full swing with three rounds of debate today. There are 30 teams (one swing team) and today saw two prepared motions and one impromptu motion. Round 1 started with the motion ‘THBT the Eurozone should harmonize its debt through Eurobonds’ and random pairing. After a quick lunch outdoors to the very very recently finished ASIS, the first impromptu round began with the motion that ‘THBT states should not compensate individuals who choose to live in disaster areas’. After two rounds, the sliding-power-pairing system has begun to separate teams with largely international teams sitting near the top. Round 3 was on the prepared motion that ‘THW make the protection of human rights a condition for receiving developmental aid’.

After the end of the day, teams left on their own, grabbing dinner and doing further preparation in their own order. Tomorrow will also see three debates (Round 4 to 6). Both round 4 and round 6 are impromptu motions to be released with 1 hour preparation. Round 5 will be on a prepared motion; either on cyberwarfare or religious conversions.

Many thanks to Gary for uploading a video of the Test Debate, full details can be found in my previous post.