Today's debate was held at Yusof Ishak Secondary School. The debate team went in Miss Junaidah's car, while the supporters went by bus (no. 963).
Our opponent was Beatty Secondary School. (For the motion, see the previous entry.) Skip the details of the debate, and we arrive at the verdict. The Best Speaker of the debate was Crystal, the second speaker on our team. The winning team was, of course, Nan Hua Secondary.
Two down, one to go. If our team wins the next one, we are almost certain to get into the Quarter-Finals. For the first time. I'm definitely waiting for that day.
Stayed back this afternoon for a debate practice. I was picked as the last-minute speaker for the Proposition team. We were going to debate on the motion our debate team would be debating tomorrow. It was "This House believes that voting in general elections should be optional".
After the debate, we had our last-minute discussion on the points our team's gonna have (they're the Opposition). We went home very late.
Everything's last minute these days...
Today, for Assembly, we had the 10th Student Council Investiture.
The time when the Councillors (including me) were on stage was the hottest time of the Investiture. There was little wind to cool us down. I'm so glad nobody fainted.
After the Investiture, the Councillors chilled out at the back of the Hall. Waited for a debrief. When it was over, we went off for our own activities.
There will be another Investiture for parents this Saturday.
Very busy today. Won't talk much.
Nothing much today. Gotta go read the Councillor Pledge again.
Went to Westmall today. Bought Stefanie Sun's latest album titles "To Be Continued." Sounds great.
Morning: ELDDS. Nothing much to say.
Afternoon: Councillor Monthly Meeting. At the end of it, we got down our positions for the Investiture.
Ha ha ha.
This afternoon, I stayed back for a while to help set up the steps for the Councillors to stand on for the Student Investiture next Wednesday and Saturday.
Mr. Lim, the Operations Manager, brought me and a few other Councillors to get the steps. They were flat and required some steps to form the ... er, steps. Mr. Lim, however, just went about trying out all sorts of methods to try to set up the steps.
What I did? I read the instructions on the back of the steps and soon I got one of them set up. How easy can it be?
Stayed back this afternoon for a fun debate practice session. The motion for the second preliminary round of the SSSDC will be out tomorrow.
Firstly, congrats to myself for making it to the 50th day of 2003!
Our school's Annual Cross Country is up today afternoon at the MacRitchie Reservoir Park. This year's order in which we are running is slightly different. We are grouped into Competitive and Non-Competitive runners. Competitive runners will run first, and they stand to get medals if they come in the Top 10 of their divisions. The Non-Competitive runners went next. And guess what? Every Non-Competitive runners started at the same time, and Non-Competitive runners took up almost three-quarters of the school population. Perhaps it was a measure to save time.
Anyway, I'm running as a Non-Competitive runner. In the first half of the 3.2-km route that I was running, I felt a pain in the left side of my tummy, where the stomach was. Then as I reached the road (second half), my right side hurt - where the appendix was. I was so scared back there, but a few minutes after the run, I was all right again.
That's all for today.
The debate's on today. But I wanna talk about the other things that happened in school first.
Today was Water Rationing Day for our school. Our school's water supply was cut off. Every toilet was provided with only one pail of water. Every student was also provided with one bottle of Newater for drinking. I won't elaborate on how some (stupid) people waste the Newater.
After recess, we had an Emergency Evacuation Exercise. Almost everyone in the school already knew of it (through some source), so even before the announcement to assemble was given, pupils were lining up outside their classrooms. I was mobilized as Mrs. Lim's helper (to write messages). It went smoothly, although there were a few real casualties.
Now on to the debate. Need I say that it was a disaster for us? Of course, we lost. We were shocked by the Proposition's attack, so we became nervous. No more to be said.
But, on a happier note, no more late afternoons to prepare for a Chinese debate!
Doing final preparations for the debate tomorrow. Can't talk much. (Actually I can, but I just don't feel like doing it. :P)
Revising for the upcoming tests. Also waiting for my debate script to come so that I can memorise. :)
Today's Total Defence Day in Singapore.
The whole morning I was at school. First for Odyssey of the Mind, then for ELDDS. Later that afternoon at 4 p.m., I met up with the Chinese debate team to continue our discussion. Time is of the essence. We stayed at Louis' house till 8.45 p.m. Yuhui has decided to help me rewrite my script 'cause it wasn't relevant to the questions I was supposed to ask.
Today's a very busy Valentine's Day for me.
Immediately after school I had to see Miss Ong to read my lines for the SYF play to her. Then at 1415 I had to rush off to Canteen 2 for the CNY Potluck, a small event organised by Councillors Jane and Rebecca. We had yu sheng (my first time having it).
After that at 3.30 p.m., the Chinese debate team met up with Mdm Yong and a lawyer to get tips on improving our team's case. Yup, I've officially replaced Rainy Day as the second speaker.
Time dragged on till 4.55 p.m. I realised that our discussion (the lawyer had left, and we were improving our scripts with Mdm Yong) would not end at 5 p.m. But the English debate team are leaving for their preliminary round at 5 p.m. So I informed them that I could not go and as "compensation", I lent one of the speakers my tie. (The other two speakers already have ties.)
The discussion dragged on till 6.30 p.m. Mdm Yong was editing the script for me so that I could finish speaking on time. Went home, had dinner, and waited for 10 p.m. to come. 'Cause I wanna watch Survivor: The Amazon!
PS: The news I got was that our school's English debate team won their debate!
The Chinese Debating Championship "Qualifiers" is up today. Yes, our team's round is next Tuesday, but our school's other team (all Sec 4s) is competing today.
The venue is The Chinese High School. We reached there a little past 2. The classmates of the competing team also came along, which means not everybody would be able to watch the debate by our school's team. Mdm Yong asked me and the other two team members who came along to watch the debate between Raffles Girl's and River Valley.
The motion was something like "Competition is more effective than co-operation in the development of the human race". RGS was the Proposition; RV was the Opposition. It was a heated debate, and RV won.
After watching that match, I don't really think I can match up to their standard. Also, you know what's the worst thing? I might become more than a reserve. Mdm Yong had said that if a particular team member doesn't appear at tomorrow's meeting, I would replace him at the second speaker.
Oh dear, I am in trouble.
Today I went to IMM to meet up with some friends to discuss for the upcoming Chinese Debating Competition. Our round's on next Tuesday.
The four of us (all in the debating team) first discussed a bit at McDonald's. Then, when it became noisier and more crowded, we moved to the foodcourt on the third floor. One of the reasons was because there was a bookshop next to the foodcourt.
We discussed all the way to 1 'o clock. Then I went home first while the others had lunch at McDonald's.
Again, nothing special's up. Tomorrow's Hari Raya Haji. Happy Hari Raya Haji to all Muslims!
Yea...My 40th entry.
Duh.
This morning, I went to school to attend the Odyssey of the Mind meeting for the Dramatisation Team members.
I was originally there as a senior advisor (I had taken part in this competition before), but I ended up thinking about whether I wanna join this year's team. I am still eligible (I'm not yet 15).
So should I join? I already have a role in the ELDDS' SYF play. Both the SYF and the OM's competition dates would be in early April. Wouldn't it clash? But a member on the team, Tammy, has to take part in both competitions (by order of Miss Ong, the teacher-in-charge of ELDDS). Besides, I love being busy, but I cannot be too busy.
I think I would remain as a senior advisor.
There's a friendly debate this afternoon at our school. It's between our school's debating team and Tanglin Secondary School's debating team. The motion was a tricky one: This House will not support human cloning. NHSS was the proposition and TSS was the opposition.
I was told to invite TSS's debating team to the Reading Room, where the debate was held. Then, I transformed into a last minute reserve for NHSS's team, writing notes on the debate.
The debate went on smoothly (unless you count the chairperson's occasional blunder). Note: The second speakers of both teams were boring.
In the end, it was a one-mark difference which might have resulted in the win of TSS. But, TSS thrived on content, but not the overall appearance and performance. Therefore the win went to our school.
That afternoon, we also received our motions for the first preliminary round of the Singapore Secondary Schools Debating Championships 2003 (SSSDC 2003), to be held next Friday. The three motions for the day were:
6.00 p.m.
This House believes that the influence of Hollywood is bad for society
7.15 p.m.
This House believes that only native-born citizens should be allowed to represent their country in international sports
8.30 p.m.
This House believes that the widespread availability of the Internet has done more harm than good
Our school's team got the first motion. And we are on the Proposition team. We are on the wrong side again!
Nothing special's up today.
Had ELDDS practice today. Completed another scene of our play and brushed up on the first two scenes.
A normal day for me. Today three tests were given back to us. Last week we had already gotten back the other papers.
Today's Young Journalist Workshop was cancelled, so I'm home early. All right, good bye here!
To the seven men and women who perished in the Columbia space shuttle disaster: Rest In Peace.
Today's Day 2 of Chinese New Year. Early this morning a lion dance troupe came to one of the apartments in our block and performed. The family is always inviting lion dance troupes.
Then on TV this morning, I actually saw my school and its students! Wow! It's very rare to see Nan Huarians on TV.
Today's Day One of Chinese New Year.
My family visited one of our relatives in Singapore this afternoon. Most of my other relatives live in Malaysia, since my parents came from Malaysia.
I won't reveal the amount of hongbao money I got. All I can tell you is that it's a two-digit sum only.
Happy Chinese New Year!
