Posts Tagged ‘WIDPSC 2009’
Top Posts of the Year
We’ve just turned a corner and now are in 2011. PaulLau.com is now 16 months old and still going strong with over 23,000 views and over 180 posts. 2010 was my first full year of blogging and featured all the expected ups and downs. Here’s a round up of the top posts of 2010.
Notably in 2010 was the WSDC 2010 series covering the 2010 World Schools Debating Championships in Doha, Qatar which featured 29 posts and stole 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th spot in this Top Posts of the Year list. Whether a result of reader interest or just because it was the most common topic on my blog, debating related posts took 7 out of the top 10 and 15 out of the top 20 posts of 2010.
1. 2010 World Cup Broadcasting [1ST ALL TIME]
This post came out in March, when the issue was gaining considerable media attention. Interestingly enough, come May, the issue was the topic of the Sing Tao Grand Final (see the 10th Top Post). The issue may have been resolved for now, but it won’t be until 2014 before we know if the stations have truly resolved similar disputes.
2. WSDC – Final Rankings [3RD ALL TIME]
Part of the WSDC 2010 series, this post was the culmination of more than a weeks of debating. It brings together the team and individual results of the 2010 WSDC and by-in-large drew to a close WSDC 2010 for PaulLau.com
3. The Story Behind Football Shirt Swapping [4TH ALL TIME]
During my IGCSE Media Studies revision, I stumbled upon a New York Times Article that detailed the story behind the tradition of Shirt Swapping in Football.
4. WSDC – Results [5TH ALL TIME]
Part of the WSDC 2010 series, this post had the immediate results following the Closing Ceremony. It helped provide instant information before the WSDC – Final Rankings post (see the 2nd Top Post) replaced it.
5. UWC Principal Personnel Changes [6TH ALL TIME]
Shortly after Neil Richard’s ‘resignation’ was announced, there was a lot of furor within UWCs around the world about Principal resignations, changes and departures. As a result, I summarized the 3 principal changes at LPC, AC and MI.
6. WSDC – Break [7TH ALL TIME]
Part of the WSDC 2010 series, it took a while for me to calm down after learning that HK would break into the Octo-finals. But once I did, I was able to posts the full break, frantically copied down during a few tense minutes at the WSDC 2010 Break Night Party.
7. WSDC – Round 1-4 Team Results [8TH ALL TIME]
Part of the WSDC 2010 series, the results after round 1, 2, 3 and 4 representing the mid-way mark at WSDC 2010.
8. WSDC – Final Draw [9TH ALL TIME]
Part of the WSDC 2010 series, this is one of the few top posts related to the run-up to WSDC 2010. Indeed, many readers were first notified of their countries draw through this post.
9. Hong Kong Schools Debating Council [10TH ALL TIME]
After many frantic hours of work, messaging and coding on wordpress, me and Heather finally managed to cobble together the HKSDC website at http://hksdc.wordpress.com. The website and the organization, the Hong Kong Schools Debating Council was successfully launched in April.
10. Sing Tao Grand Finals 2010
This Grand Final was not only my last Sing Tao debate, it was also my last debate in Hong Kong and for South Island School. It capped a wonderful journey that really began at the Sing Tao Grand Final in 2006 and ended on the 4th May. Thank you to everyone that I’ve had the joy of sharing the journey with.
Honorary Mentions
11. Tabbing Software
12. HK Bid for 2023 Asian Games
13. WIDPSC Day 1 & 2
14. 10 Things to do if you Finish Exams Early
15. WIDPSC 2010 – Lithuania
16. WSDC – Quarter & Semi-Final
17. WSDC – Round 3 & 4
18. WSDC – Aus vs HK Octofinal
19. WIDPSC 2010 – Results
20. Chinese Sport School System
WIDPSC 2010 – Results
Here are the final results for each category and overall. Hong Kong’s brilliant performance is clearly visible amongst all these numbers.
Overall
- 1st – Zenia Framrose – Canada – 745.33
- 2nd – Adam Litman – Canada – 740.25
- 3rd – Colleen McCutcheon – Canada -734.08
- 4th – Cameron Ewing – USA – 733.07
- 5th – Saad Sohail – Pakistan – 730.33
- 6th – Heather Pickerell – Hong Kong – 725.58
- 7th – Thomas Diment – UK – 724.47
- 8th – Easton Sheahan-Lee – Canada – 723.83
- 9th – Aidan Fishman – Canada – 723.12
- 10th – Lisha Jeena – South Africa – 722.83
- 16th – Sachin Srivastava – Hong Kong – 719.60
- 20th – Benjamin So – Hong Kong – 718.00
- 24th – Tiffany Chung – Hong Kong – 715.83
- 25th – Griffith Cheng – Hong Kong – 715.58
- 44th – Geoffrey Liew – Hong Kong – 695.93
Debating
- 1st – Jessica Hichens – South Africa
- 2nd – Cameron Ewing – USA
- 3rd – Adam Litman – Canada
- 4th – Aidan Fishman – Canada
Impromptu Speaking
- 1st – Thomas Diment – UK
- 2nd – Aidan Fishman – Canada
- 3rd – Adam Tohn – USA
Interpretative Reading
- 1st – Adam Litman – Canada
- 2nd – Jan Adrian Muller – South Africa
- 3rd – Zeenia Framroze – Canada
Persuasive Speaking
- 1st – Saad Sohail – Pakistan
- 2nd – Tamara Murat Khan Saleen – Pakistan
- 3rd – Adam Litman – Canada
After Dinner Speech
- 1st – George Alexander Charalambous – Cyprus
- 2nd – Cameron Ewing – USA
- 3rd – Marcus Ruddle – UK
English as Foreign Language
- 1st – Eglė Nefaitė – Lithuania – 697.75
- 2nd – Vykintas Glodenis – Lithuania – 696.88
Full results here.
Hong Kong
Results for Hong Kong following the 2 rounds of each category
WIDPSC 2010 – Team Hong Kong
The 2010 World Individuals Debating and Public Speaking Championships have finished. Held in Lithuania this year, it has been a resounding success, especially for Team Hong Kong. Of the 52 spots in the finals (essentially a semi-final), Hong Kong snagged a record 7 spots in total, the best in Hong Kong’s 3 years of attendance.
Prakash Sanker and Paul Lau each grabbed 2 final spots last year totaling 4. That record was broken with this years astounding 7 final spots.
Debating : Heather Pickerell
Impromptu Speaking : Heather Pickerell, Benjamin So, Sachin Srivastava
Persuasive Speaking : Tiffany Chung
Interpretative Reading : Sachin Srivastava, Griffith Cheng
With the conclusion of WIDPSC 2010, the overall results have also come in. Team Hong Kong of Heather Pickerell, Sachin Srivastava, Benjamin So, Tiffany Chung, Griffith Cheng and Geoffrey (Biffo) Liew broke new ground in a highly competitive field.
Although Hong Kong was unlucky not to have any grand finalists, the record for 2010 was still shockingly impressive.
Here are the overall rankings for Team Hong Kong 2010:
- 6th – Heather Pickerell
- 16th – Sachin Srivastava
- 20th – Benjamin So
- 24th – Tiffany Chung
- 25th – Griffith Cheng
- 44th – Geoffrey (Biffo) Liew
Congratulations to Team Hong Kong for a wonderful showing. Many of the team will remain in contention next year so the future looks bright for Hong Kong. As the founder of WIDPSC John Robinson said himself “Hong Kong is on the Map!”
Congratulations to Team Hong Kong!
WIDPSC 2010 – Lithuania
On the 7th of April 2010, 6 students from Hong Kong will set off with coach Mr. Allen to attend the 2010 World Individuals Debating and Public Speaking Championships in Lithuania.
It will be the third time Team Hong Kong is represented at WIDPSC following great success in 2008 at Stuttgart and in 2009 in Reading. Contrary to WSDC, WIDPSC is fought on an individual basis over 4 categories (Debating, Impromptu Speaking, Persuasive Speech/After Dinner Speech and Interpreative Reading) You can find more information about WIDPSC at its unofficial information portal.
As a sign of the competitiveness of the Hong Kong Public Speaking scene, the continuous development and wealth of talent in Hong Kong, all six Hong Kong representatives will be attending their first WIDPSC tournament. The 6 representatives for Hong Kong will be :
The art piece representing Hong Kong that won the WIDPSC 2010 art competition
Team Hong Kong
- Yu Fai Benjamin So (Queens College)
- Ho Fung Griffith Cheng (La Salle College)
- Heather Pickerell (German Swiss International School)
- Sachin Srivastava (German Swiss International School)
- Tiffany Chung (South Island School)
- Geoffrey ‘Biffo’ Liew (Sha Tin College)
The team have been coached by Mr. Roy Allen who will join the team in Lithuania. Ms. Mary Garland was also crucial in the organization, coaching and management of the team although she will not be joining them in Lithuania.
You can read about the team’s last minute fears at their blogs below :
Given the many numbers that need to be crunched in order for results to be finalized, results are infrequently released as opposed to the WSDC who post daily updates. With over 100 competitors and at least 3 judges per individual, the hundreds of numbers take time to sort and results are usually only announced towards the end when those who have qualified for the final and released. A final list is given to each competitor only at the closing ceremony, containing the top 40 odd individuals for each category. As a result, news will be far and few in between with regards to results.
However, I will post results as they flow in to me form various sources. Tiffany in particular has said
“I’ll be documenting Lithuania for the next couple of days!”
so we shall be waiting for news.
Most importantly, we must say good luck to the entire team. It is a wonderful experience that they will thoroughly enjoy.
Chinese Sport Schools System
In 2008, our televisions, newspapers and conversations were overwhelmed by the Beijing Olympics. Yet while the spotlights in the Bird’s Nest stadium swirled around Liu Xiang and Yao Ming, they failed to highlight the millions who were once their training partners, the millions who gave up all in pursuit of the unattainable, the millions who devoted their lives and lost everyone. Once again, the world ignored the graveyard of aspiring children, the bubble where all contact with the world is lost, the school that will expel you when you are no longer profitable. Let me tell you the stories of a few young people, described by a New York Times reporter, as being “another cog in China’s sports machine”
It’s a machine that begins with the selection of thousands of children by officials most of whom have never participated in the sports themselves. Some are as young as 4 or 5, all of them are younger than you or me, one of them was Xu Jiamin. She was selected for her long legs, short torso and large hands without being given a choice whether to enter or not. Being tall doesn’t mean you are good at volleyball, being flexible doesn’t signal brilliance at gymnastics and being short doesn’t mean you’re good at table tennis and bad at running. I for one fare terribly at table-tennis but excel at running. The selection process ignores many other potential athletes and disregards our freedom of choice.
And yet, the selected throng of 400,000 are dumped into 3,000 sport schools to train seven hours a day. They practice in rooms lit by one low-voltage bulb and sleep in dormitories that reek of urine and sweat. Imagine that you were instructed to be a gymnast at just six. Multiple times each day, you are required to stretch your legs over 2 blocks in the splits. While your legs begin to tremor, your coach walks over, smiles and hands you a timer set at 30 seconds before setting his 70 kg frame on each of your outstretched limbs in turn. The additional weight is just too much to bear and as the seconds tick, the agony wells up inside each of us, tears begin to flow. It’s an inhumane training method, but that’s not all.
