HKSSDC 2020-21

Junior Team III - our second speaker, Precious Sit, was awarded the Best Speaker in the debate.

Following the victories of both the Senior English Debating Team I and Junior Team II, our Junior Team III defeated PLK Lee Shing Pik College in their second round of the HKSSDC debating competition on 2 December, 2020. As the Affirmative Team, we argued for the motion “Hong Kong should introduce a residential garbage tax by 2022”. It was the S2 students’ first time debating, and they did a wonderful job! Congratulations to our debaters: 2B Cheryl Li, 2B Precious Sit and 2B Chloe J MacCallum. Also, 2B Jane Chan acted as the Chairperson. They put forth a lot of effort to prepare for the competition, and our second speaker, Precious Sit, was awarded the Best Speaker in the debate.

hkssdc_3

I think this competition was a good experience for me and broadened my horizons. During the competition, I felt very anxious at first. When I read the script, my heart beat really fast and felt like it might explode. However, I was still able to deliver my arguments in a calm manner. While preparing for the competition, my team and I had a mock debate with the Senior Debating Team, and it really helped us to get better. Miss Yeung’s Senior Debating Team was really well-prepared, and it motivated us. Also, our second speaker, Precious, reminded me that we joined this competition to improve our speaking skills. Precious was right, so I kept working hard in this competition. At last, I want to thank my teammates and Miss Li who encouraged me to do better. Thank you!

2B Cheryl Li

This was such a unique debate competition experience for me because I think a minority of people will have an online debate competition from home (due to the current coronavirus situation). During the debate, the serious atmosphere made me feel nervous even though I was just the Chairperson! Before the debate competition, I finished my chairperson script quickly, so I had spent my time doing my best to help our debaters whenever they needed my help. Now, I'm looking forward to our next debate competition.

2B Jane Chan

Junior Team II - won in their first round of HKSSDC debating competition

Following the victory of the Senior English Debating Team I, our junior Team II comprising all S3 students has also won in their first round of HKSSDC debating competition on 6 November 2020 against PLK Wu Chung College on the same motion on “compulsory charity work” speaking as the negative house. Congratulations are to the debaters, 3A Kary Ching, 3A Denise Fung and 3A Ophelia Wong. Their confident and well-prepared speeches have impressed the adjudicator, in particular the 2nd speaker Denise Fung who was awarded the best speaker in the debate. Sincere thanks are also to Mr Hedley who has been committed to guiding and training our English Debating Team II.

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I really enjoyed and was grateful for being a participant in that competition. During the debate, it was really nerve-racking but I’ve never been so calm at the same time. I worked day and night for half a week to write the script and also to do some research. I know I could’ve done better, but a wise man once said, ‘practice makes perfect.’ And to do that, I memorise by heart what the adjudicator commented on every competitor, then I’ve written them down, so that before every competition, I make a checklist. Finally, after the debate to see if I have met my standards. Again, I really enjoyed my experience and look forward to our next round of semi-final debate.

3B Chiara Pang

Senior Team I - Entering Finals

This has been a challenging but rewarding year for our English Debating teams. Despite a brand new arena on the online platform Zoom amid the raging Covid-19, our senior English Debating Team I has proudly strided into the HKSSDC Div II Finals after defeating CUHKFAA Chan Chun Ha Secondary School on 27 November 2020. We would like to congratulate Team I comprising all S4 girls, 4A Nicole Chan, 4A Anna Chan and 4E Yolanda Lam, on their victory for their exceptional performance. They spoke as the negative house on the motion about the introduction of the residential garbage tax. We are also grateful to the adjudicator and the opponents for staging this exciting match for us. We wish Team I all the best in their Finals competition.

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This is the first time for me to try debating. All things were fresh for me. I want to thank all of my fellow teammates and a group of student researchers who helped us prepare the ideas, and also Miss Yeung for teaching and guiding us, without whom we won’t have such a successful victory. Owing to the COVID-19, we had the competition on Zoom which was a unique experience for myself too. I felt truly honored that I can represent the school to join the competition. The motion was “the house believes that Hong Kong should introduce a residential garbage tax by 2022” and we were the negative team. Three of us have worked together to bring out the team line that garbage tax does not have the prerequisites to be successful in Hong Kong. Despite all repeated practices and drilling on the speech and on the rebuttals, I was so nervous in the contest but luckily it turned out all well. We surely did our best and it was a memorable and meaningful event in my secondary school life.

4A Anna Chan

First victory with our Senior English debating team

Another exciting year has started for the Hong Kong Secondary School Debating Competition (HKSSDC). Our first contest took place on 14 October, but because of the coronavirus, it had been staged as an online debating competition, in which our True Light girls spoke as the Affirmative House against the opponents from Henrietta Secondary School. Our Senior English debating team, 5E Tasha Lam, 3B Chiara Pang and 5E Coco Keung, had led the school to our first victory with their impressive performance. 

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I feel so glad to be an audience of such an unprecedented competition and I was amazed by the speakers who all did an awesome job. The motion of the debate was “All secondary school students should do compulsory charity work”, which was a meaningful and thought-provoking topic for students to talk about. I think our team demonstrated excellent skills in research, critical thinking and delivery. For example, they cited reference materials from various studies and South China Morning Post; and their persuasive tones delivered the arguments clearly and forcibly in a perfectly managed period of given time. True Light girls truly deserved the win and we are so proud of them! As a debater for the coming rounds, I feel so honoured and excited to be part of our school’s debating team. Learning from the senior team members, I hope to hone my debating skills and speak confidently in the upcoming match, gaining valuable experience from it. It would be my pleasure if our team can win the competition as our peers did in this competition.

4A Nicole Chan