Well, actually, I was also involved in a debate when I was Primary 5, but I don't think that one counts - It was more of a Courthouse Lawsuit than a Traditional Debate, and the Motion was that 'This House believes that Kevin Heng (An old classmate) deserves to be kicked out of the class of 6A'. And the Form Teacher was seriously at the brink of transferring him to another class. And I was Kevin's Lawyer. And Wee Tze was the Prosecutor. And good ol' Pi Wei was the Judge. And I won.
But that's getting us away from the point. Let's start off the day.
After Assembly, I informed Mr. Tay, Tim, Niranjan and, well, the rest of the class that I cancelled my tution and was prepared for the debate in the afternoon. Rather good news to Sir and, I suppose, the class. Although I'm not certain about a few. Ah, well.
After that was Maths, which was somewhat the same: Sir's sometimes too fast in explaining questions, I'd end up a question or so behind after half an hour. But still, at least I had everything written down on paper. Then I can revise it over later. Yayz!
Then there was History, where Mr. Ang finally had the opportunity to go through the notes about MM Lee Kuan Yew's life during World War II, and he was able to panic Koon Min, Matt and Joel as they were 'chosen by the sticks of joy' (Basically, Sir's version of Buddhist-like sticks that tell a fate) to answer his questions. But since he always makes the lesson enthusiasticly enjoyable, I guess that makes up for it. A Thriller can mean a Horror, but at the same time it can mean an Adventure.
For Recess, I did the ussual thing many students would do on Fried Food Day - Buy Fried Chicken Rice! But unfortunately, CLB' dismissed us rather late so we had to queue up at the back, and queues on Fried Food Day can stretch all the way tothe other sideof the canteen. So anyway, after purchasing $2 worth of the stuff and applying meat broth, I made my way around the SAC in search for large 2.10 clans, and found a nice spot just near-by. Now thanks to the HPPS Boys, I've addapted the habit of assuming that I'd be welcomed to any 2.10 table I'd drop by. Hope it doesn't become an annoyance. But anyway, I sat down at the edge of the table, said Grace and dug into good-quality food while engaging in a chat with Wei Yang and Joel about Piano Playing and the things involved in it. Later, I cleared my plate, went to the piano and played 'He's A Pirate' after a long time of not playing it and made my way back to class.
Back in class, Winston payed a visit and wanted to ask if my class was going to continue with the debate. I told him yes, and over the next few minutes he started giving me the many points that he thought about (He was Proposition like us), telling me that he's leaking all this to me as he doesn't want to continue with his class 2.something , who were slackers in his opinion, but still wanted his points to be shared in the debate. I agreed to do what I can with the points, and so he left with an assuring smile. Creepy.
When the class was being seated down at the chior stands in the Music Room for Music, I saw how fast the people sat in their own clusters, and it was interesting seeing how each person related with his neighbour in parellel to his position on the platform. So interesting, Peter had to tell me to sit down before Sir came in. But anyway, it was now Koon Min's and Ben's turn to present their favourite songs. Koon Min played 'How To Save A Life', while Ben, of all songs, played 'Jesus I Surrender'. For those who don't know, 'Jesus I Surrender' is a Christian Pop song and it's the same song that made many people kneel down crying during Synegiz. Nice hearing it again in school. After the presentations, we had a short lesson about African Music, of which the class couldn't stop laughing at once Sir played the CD. Awimba weh!
For EP, we divided ourselves into the small 'Companies' we were in and finally purchased some materials for our different projects. My Company used my fulscap to the max, with loads of notes, signatures, drawings, catch-phrases and the sort, and right now I'm gonna keep it as one of the many memories of the class.
Hee hee... I'm gonna be involved in the Bookmark Project in my Company, along with Ben and Niranjan, so pray for us that we do well!
Last thing to end off the day before the Debate was Lang Arts A, and today Mdm. Kavita led us to one of the Language Rooms to watch an old video version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Rather immature, with the fact that it's probably a few decades old. The actors/actresses said their lines a little too fast, the scenery was more 'English' than 'Greek' and it was too obvious that the camera man was carrying the camera and didn't have a camera stand (The vieo was shaking everytime the characters walked long lengths...) But hey, they didn't know what to do back then. Shouldn't blame them for the low quality. But there was a part where Oberon and Titania met up, and Titania was, erm, naked. The only thing covering her, erm, breasts was her long hair, and it's a very good thing they never filmed the bottom half of her. But we stopped at Act II, Scene 1. and after being briefed on our homework we were dismissed.
So now's the thriller part!
It was raining heavily, with thunder at small intervals. 'Rain,' I thought to myself.
'Emmanuel. God's with me.
Tim, Niranjan and I were making our way to the Class of 6.1, expecting the walk-over we were informed about. The walk-over against 2.9. But when we arrived, we found out that not only did they arrive ready, but they also swapped a member of their team for a better debater. Tim lost his notes, so I lent him mine for him to copy down. As the proposition, we hurriedly got out our notes and revised the points we thought about. I was slightly nervous as I was First Speaker, and I had to spend the 4 minutes given to me well, including the introduction of our Motion and our main points.
And soon, it happened. We were called in by the Judges, and were seated (not) according to Opposition/Proposition. We quickly finalized all our thoughts and registered ourselves, and in a matter of seconds, I was called to speak.
Now, I'll just cut the chase and show you the fulscap I had to depend on throughout the entire event. It's so detailed, it even has the time when each point was said.
.BMP)
But what I want to add in was that:
1) I didn't speak loud enough when I addressed our Motion, so we were pinalised for 'not saying it at all'.
2) Tim instructed me NEVER to look at him or Niranjan during the whole debate, so everytime it was their turn to present their points, I made sure I stared at the water bottle in front of me and looked at the reflection of the plastic instead.
3) The Opposition's Last Speaker got tricked in general by our POIs and ended up summarising our points at our favour.
4) I'll never forget the first POI I ever asked to an opponent;
See, remember earlier on when Winston was telling me his points? Well, one of them involved the Law, and it was about how Laws have pulled criminal children away from their families and placed them in Boy's/Girl's Homes so that they could be nurtured properly the way a good parent(s) should. And when the Last Speaker of the Opposition was saying his speech, he mentoned something about how laws have been made in favour of their views.
The moment I heard that, I remembered about Winston's point and gestured to Tim if I should take a try. Tim 'yes'ed back, and I rose my hand, saying what I remembered I was suppose to say when I'm trying to get a Point Of Information from someone.
"Po...Po...Point Of Information, Sir?"
The Opposing Last Speaker stopped in his speech, glared at me, then nodded his head. I slowly rose from my seat as I stated my (Or more like Winston's) point, then ending with a simple "Explain yourself." before sitting down. By now, the poor chap only had a few seconds left to summarise his speech and quickly tried to travel back to the Oppositions points and answering my question at the same time. And as I said, he ended up summarising our points in a grave mistake.
(Man, I've got a lot to say...)
Once everyone had his say, the Judges dismissed us for a break while they discussed on the winner, and we left quickly but quietly. We then had a small chat about the game, joint in with JKit and Matt Ch'ng who were watching at the back of the classroom. After almost half an hour of waiting, the Judges, and a visiting Teacher-In-Charge, called us back into the room. Once we were seated, the Judges gave us a few pointers on our strengths and weaknesess before pointing out that our group won! YAY PRAISE THE LORD! And by now, the rain stopped, and in just good timing to cheer me up! Thank you God!
After shaking hands with the other team, we made our way down to the SAC to grab a good Lunch to celebrate. I bought a couple of Egg Pratas, as ussual, PLUS a couple of Tao Sar Baos, while the others had Italian. We then had a lively conversation and played around with words, body features, food, drinks, calls and even an old piano. Hahahaaa! It was fun, but soon we had to head home(s), and I separated from the pack once we reached the road crossing outside the school. While on the bus, I was praising the Lord for today. Although I might not be able to convey the excitement of today well, I can garuntee you I had a great time today.
Ah, well. Now if you excuse me, I'll just go and try to get Morriel off my bed before she knocks off again...
Luke 7:50! G'd night, and God bless!
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