i'll exchange one of my kidneys to get this car restored!
another phone-throwing effect
and another..........
a typical sunset at my place....dont ask
.............................i hate biology
i'll exchange one of my kidneys to get this car restored!
another phone-throwing effect
and another..........
a typical sunset at my place....dont ask
the new guy
this is kinda predictable, i mean, barack obama....president of the united states, we all saw that coming. undoubtedly, we all heard about his background too......and we saw those, who are even so remotely related, cheering up, right after the big news. we heard them say about his multicultural exposure during his early years in indonesia, about his blood ties, about his parent.....i even heard mccain congratulating him, so i take that as being a gentleman in accepting defeat. one point for the losing side. no, no, no, this wont be another post about politics. by now, any political blogsphere would have nothing much to talk about as everything is already said and done. anything further would have to wait until 2009.
i was just wondering, that how people react so easily and so predictably in everything. i dont know whether it is a fact that "reaction" is limited to a positive feedback and negative feedback. what happen to the thing in between? what about indifference? yes, this is the usual me talking now.
i guess it is normal human instinct to react only in 2 ways. we cant help but to either support or go agaisnt any stimulus we encounter. for now, the most obvious ones would come in the form of cheering people jumping around, feeling they deserve to share that moment of triumph of obama's presidency, regardless of their nationality, gender, race, or even religion....for once, i can see unity in people, through something that is irrelevant to them in any possible way. apart from those who actually voted for obama, i dont see why the rest of the world is popping up champagnes. yeah, i know, US is the main powerhouse of the world's economy, and pretty much everything else....if they go down, we are soon to follow. but, as for now, they are still sinking. so, why be so happy, why do we all feel somehow relieved, even when no results are yet to be seen. why cant the worldwide celebration be postponed until the world is actually saved? are we going to be another ferrari F1 team, who couldnt wait until hamilton crosses the line and decided for a group hugging session in the pit stop? im not agaisnt obama at all, but i'd hate to hear anyone say "i told you so"....and im sure the majority is with me in this one. but for now, im still wondering, why is the rest of the world celebrating?
all that need to be said is, why are we leaning on his side to begin with? is he the saviour of global stock market? will he call back the army from iraq and actually focus on internal issues like health care and education? will he lead US on the right track? for now, he is nothing, but an american dream, he is nothing but possibilities, he is their hope, and if i may, ours too. but in times of hope, people sit in silence, praying in their hearts....not buying the house a round of drinks, not shaking hands with everyone in the room. people dont rejoice when they found their knight amidst a losing battle, they do that after victory is theirs. so where do we stand now? and what are we doing? now, do i have your attention, or are you seeing nothing but the bottom of the glass pointing towards the ceiling?
sadly, we are born with this sense of preconceived notion, we always take sides...YES, WE DO! no one can deny, that somewhere in their heads, there's a voice whispering either obama's name or mccain's. it doesnt matter whether it is about the US presidency, EPL, or F1.......we are quick to accept or reject anything that is new to us, sometimes without rationalizing, mostly, for no reason at all. for example, if i were to have a poll this very moment, saying that obama will fall, and there would be a nuke war between the US and North Korea......in this hypothetical situation, what would you feel after reading that sentence? did you have an urge to oppose that, asking me "why would you say so".....or did you just nodded without uttering a word? so who actually took more than a minute to decide between the two?
i assume that was the simplest method to express the whole idea of this post, though its accuracy is highly debatable. same goes to the election, same goes to everything. without having a moment of rational thinking, without having second thoughts of what you are about to say.....you have decided, promptly and swiftly, whether you are with me, or agaisnt me. its not about saying it out loud, its just that little voice in your head telling you what to choose between the two right after you finish reading a particular statement. some of us didnt even take the time to reach the dot, jumping the gun, and hoping you are right. reason is, we, in any given situation, need a stand on certain things, so that we know who is our ally, and who are you going to feed the bullets to. it boils down to "us" and "them". nobody wants to be left out, which explains why almost no one is sitting on the fence....because they'll be the first to get shot. so look at us now.....mainly divided only between the two......and the ones rooting for neither, is either ignorant and oblivious.....or waiting for the right moment to speak their minds out. i hope there are more of the latter....because the last laughs are always the best.....and yet, they wont be the ones saying " i told you so"....that's just a different story. the "i told you so" group are always the losing side.....not that they are losers, just that they keep their biased opinion to themselves, pretending to be the wise ones, and hope, that one day, they are right....maybe they are the real losers.....i dont know, do you agree or disagree.......dont say it yet........haha.
i was just wondering, that how people react so easily and so predictably in everything. i dont know whether it is a fact that "reaction" is limited to a positive feedback and negative feedback. what happen to the thing in between? what about indifference? yes, this is the usual me talking now.
i guess it is normal human instinct to react only in 2 ways. we cant help but to either support or go agaisnt any stimulus we encounter. for now, the most obvious ones would come in the form of cheering people jumping around, feeling they deserve to share that moment of triumph of obama's presidency, regardless of their nationality, gender, race, or even religion....for once, i can see unity in people, through something that is irrelevant to them in any possible way. apart from those who actually voted for obama, i dont see why the rest of the world is popping up champagnes. yeah, i know, US is the main powerhouse of the world's economy, and pretty much everything else....if they go down, we are soon to follow. but, as for now, they are still sinking. so, why be so happy, why do we all feel somehow relieved, even when no results are yet to be seen. why cant the worldwide celebration be postponed until the world is actually saved? are we going to be another ferrari F1 team, who couldnt wait until hamilton crosses the line and decided for a group hugging session in the pit stop? im not agaisnt obama at all, but i'd hate to hear anyone say "i told you so"....and im sure the majority is with me in this one. but for now, im still wondering, why is the rest of the world celebrating?
all that need to be said is, why are we leaning on his side to begin with? is he the saviour of global stock market? will he call back the army from iraq and actually focus on internal issues like health care and education? will he lead US on the right track? for now, he is nothing, but an american dream, he is nothing but possibilities, he is their hope, and if i may, ours too. but in times of hope, people sit in silence, praying in their hearts....not buying the house a round of drinks, not shaking hands with everyone in the room. people dont rejoice when they found their knight amidst a losing battle, they do that after victory is theirs. so where do we stand now? and what are we doing? now, do i have your attention, or are you seeing nothing but the bottom of the glass pointing towards the ceiling?
sadly, we are born with this sense of preconceived notion, we always take sides...YES, WE DO! no one can deny, that somewhere in their heads, there's a voice whispering either obama's name or mccain's. it doesnt matter whether it is about the US presidency, EPL, or F1.......we are quick to accept or reject anything that is new to us, sometimes without rationalizing, mostly, for no reason at all. for example, if i were to have a poll this very moment, saying that obama will fall, and there would be a nuke war between the US and North Korea......in this hypothetical situation, what would you feel after reading that sentence? did you have an urge to oppose that, asking me "why would you say so".....or did you just nodded without uttering a word? so who actually took more than a minute to decide between the two?
i assume that was the simplest method to express the whole idea of this post, though its accuracy is highly debatable. same goes to the election, same goes to everything. without having a moment of rational thinking, without having second thoughts of what you are about to say.....you have decided, promptly and swiftly, whether you are with me, or agaisnt me. its not about saying it out loud, its just that little voice in your head telling you what to choose between the two right after you finish reading a particular statement. some of us didnt even take the time to reach the dot, jumping the gun, and hoping you are right. reason is, we, in any given situation, need a stand on certain things, so that we know who is our ally, and who are you going to feed the bullets to. it boils down to "us" and "them". nobody wants to be left out, which explains why almost no one is sitting on the fence....because they'll be the first to get shot. so look at us now.....mainly divided only between the two......and the ones rooting for neither, is either ignorant and oblivious.....or waiting for the right moment to speak their minds out. i hope there are more of the latter....because the last laughs are always the best.....and yet, they wont be the ones saying " i told you so"....that's just a different story. the "i told you so" group are always the losing side.....not that they are losers, just that they keep their biased opinion to themselves, pretending to be the wise ones, and hope, that one day, they are right....maybe they are the real losers.....i dont know, do you agree or disagree.......dont say it yet........haha.
its over
the new team 2008
so mani left us, and we were short of one member. we were looking for a replacement, and that person got big shoes to fill....because he is new member, he would have to mix with us...we need all 5 members to work together to pull it off.....and the new guy is going to help the 4 new members after we leave. after some talk, adrian got in. but that means there would be some shuffling of posts. and we another teacher for debate. me and putra retain our original place, vijay had to do 2nd speaker on both sides, and karmen 3rd speaker on both sides too....adrian was going to take any of our place should one of us die before the competition. the new teacher was mr hoh. and this time, we had help from the juniors. last time, we had jason and jordan doing 3rd speaker last year because there was no one else willing to waste their time on us. its always funny looking at them, because they would have no idea what to do or say. this year, kugan and patricia came to help out. and they were going to make the new team next year. it didnt take long for us to get along together.....because it all started from the 1st motion of district level.
district level 08
the 1st motion was something about parents upholding their responsibility on their child's safety. in a hypthetical situation, we all pretended to be in a family....which explains why i got a son, who budded off from me, and i abandoned for my ps2; his foster, dad karmen; the uncle, vijay; the family friend, putra; the auntie, mani; his step siblings, kugan and patricia; his grandma, all the way in pahang;....which left me wondering, does he have a mom....or did i just reproduce asexually? anyway, this time, we started off as govt, and it was putra, vijay and karmen speaking. the rest was me doing opp. the gurun team had these 3 speakers whose pronunciation were a complete mess. we all panic, trying to decipher what the were saying and hoping to have something to rebut later. i got a poi by one of them, and i dont know, for once, i completely rely on my guts and guess what the dude was saying, and i got it right. none of my friends could understand them, and they all wonder how on earth did i answer that poi. semi final was agaisnt convent, our arch nemesis. coming from an all boys shool, we had this prejudice and ego whenever we meet convent. they srew up, mostly the 3rd speaker, for having almost nothing solid to say, and resorted to saying "eating cars" and "freakin" in the house of parliament. the finals was a repeat of 2007, we were up agaisnt bakar arang.....and for once again, they couldnt understand the meaning of "1st runner up"a. imagine how awkward was it, to have two teams cheering at the same time, with one thinking that they really won....it says it all doesnt it.
state level 08
the state was held rather late because of the stupid jpn dudes sitting on their lazy asses staring at the blank wall hoping for fungus to grow on them. they were so lazy to come up with a new set of motions they just reused last years. 1st round was me again, and it was agaisnt the host. their 3rd speaker poi me asking me that if someone were to drive a car, and crash, whose fault is it, the driver or the car.....by simple logic, we all know the answer, but the thought of him asking me that, was downright suicidal.......dont ever mention car unless you seriously know what you are talking about, or i'll just have fun shooting you down. 2nd round, we were up agaisnt some unknown school that beat asma in the district, and it was the ict motion again....except that we were doing govt, and i was prime minister. that was really awkward, and putra wasnt so emotionally stable back then. we moved on the the finals, and met jitra, the same school we beat last year in state level in the 1st round. two of their speakers were the same.....the one with the thick accent and the chinese girl. putra did a repeat of last years state, and so did vijay and karmen. the prime minister had several eye contacts with the speaker of the house, and vijay so kindly pick up the opp's notes that flew away in the middle of the debate.....obviously, they were flirting on stage, but heck, we win. karmen had this aura, when he stared to speak, the sky got darker by the minute, and the wind was violent....its the sign!!!!
the unfinished story
so, we were on our way to the nationals. we got stupid motions, it was in kelantan, and the date kept on changing. then,spm trials were near, and we still havent got a fixed date. it may not be the coolest thing to do, but we decided to withdraw, based on these prospects, we wont gain anything......even though we have finished discussing about all 4 motions, the scripts and preparations were going to take a toll on us. we gave way to jitra, but it was like a boomerang, and we still had to go, as they were not prepared at all, and a month's time is not enough. so, this is it, we have to send the juniors. after some terrible conflict, we've got the new team, consisting my exson, his step siblings, and two new addition to the team who's blood tie is still unknown, eza and alisia (i dont know how to spell ur name la).
wait, its finished, its done
so mani left us, and we were short of one member. we were looking for a replacement, and that person got big shoes to fill....because he is new member, he would have to mix with us...we need all 5 members to work together to pull it off.....and the new guy is going to help the 4 new members after we leave. after some talk, adrian got in. but that means there would be some shuffling of posts. and we another teacher for debate. me and putra retain our original place, vijay had to do 2nd speaker on both sides, and karmen 3rd speaker on both sides too....adrian was going to take any of our place should one of us die before the competition. the new teacher was mr hoh. and this time, we had help from the juniors. last time, we had jason and jordan doing 3rd speaker last year because there was no one else willing to waste their time on us. its always funny looking at them, because they would have no idea what to do or say. this year, kugan and patricia came to help out. and they were going to make the new team next year. it didnt take long for us to get along together.....because it all started from the 1st motion of district level.
district level 08
the 1st motion was something about parents upholding their responsibility on their child's safety. in a hypthetical situation, we all pretended to be in a family....which explains why i got a son, who budded off from me, and i abandoned for my ps2; his foster, dad karmen; the uncle, vijay; the family friend, putra; the auntie, mani; his step siblings, kugan and patricia; his grandma, all the way in pahang;....which left me wondering, does he have a mom....or did i just reproduce asexually? anyway, this time, we started off as govt, and it was putra, vijay and karmen speaking. the rest was me doing opp. the gurun team had these 3 speakers whose pronunciation were a complete mess. we all panic, trying to decipher what the were saying and hoping to have something to rebut later. i got a poi by one of them, and i dont know, for once, i completely rely on my guts and guess what the dude was saying, and i got it right. none of my friends could understand them, and they all wonder how on earth did i answer that poi. semi final was agaisnt convent, our arch nemesis. coming from an all boys shool, we had this prejudice and ego whenever we meet convent. they srew up, mostly the 3rd speaker, for having almost nothing solid to say, and resorted to saying "eating cars" and "freakin" in the house of parliament. the finals was a repeat of 2007, we were up agaisnt bakar arang.....and for once again, they couldnt understand the meaning of "1st runner up"a. imagine how awkward was it, to have two teams cheering at the same time, with one thinking that they really won....it says it all doesnt it.
state level 08
the state was held rather late because of the stupid jpn dudes sitting on their lazy asses staring at the blank wall hoping for fungus to grow on them. they were so lazy to come up with a new set of motions they just reused last years. 1st round was me again, and it was agaisnt the host. their 3rd speaker poi me asking me that if someone were to drive a car, and crash, whose fault is it, the driver or the car.....by simple logic, we all know the answer, but the thought of him asking me that, was downright suicidal.......dont ever mention car unless you seriously know what you are talking about, or i'll just have fun shooting you down. 2nd round, we were up agaisnt some unknown school that beat asma in the district, and it was the ict motion again....except that we were doing govt, and i was prime minister. that was really awkward, and putra wasnt so emotionally stable back then. we moved on the the finals, and met jitra, the same school we beat last year in state level in the 1st round. two of their speakers were the same.....the one with the thick accent and the chinese girl. putra did a repeat of last years state, and so did vijay and karmen. the prime minister had several eye contacts with the speaker of the house, and vijay so kindly pick up the opp's notes that flew away in the middle of the debate.....obviously, they were flirting on stage, but heck, we win. karmen had this aura, when he stared to speak, the sky got darker by the minute, and the wind was violent....its the sign!!!!
the unfinished story
so, we were on our way to the nationals. we got stupid motions, it was in kelantan, and the date kept on changing. then,spm trials were near, and we still havent got a fixed date. it may not be the coolest thing to do, but we decided to withdraw, based on these prospects, we wont gain anything......even though we have finished discussing about all 4 motions, the scripts and preparations were going to take a toll on us. we gave way to jitra, but it was like a boomerang, and we still had to go, as they were not prepared at all, and a month's time is not enough. so, this is it, we have to send the juniors. after some terrible conflict, we've got the new team, consisting my exson, his step siblings, and two new addition to the team who's blood tie is still unknown, eza and alisia (i dont know how to spell ur name la).
wait, its finished, its done
yup, the story has finally ended...the debate story of 2008 finally got its proper ending. i'll keep the results to myself, im not saying it here, its not my story to tell....mine....is over, for good....at least this year...no guarantee i wont be debating after school. so thats it.......i know the details are missing, altered or just irrelevant, but thats all i can remember for now. its sunday, spm is next tuesday......thats my story now.
debate
i know my time is over, i mean, as a debater....secondary school level at least. so, in the spirit of the new beginning of the new debate team, i'll talk about my last two years in the team before any of the juniors can say "thank you mr speaker" on stage.
note.....this is a very long post.
how it started
now, that aside, lets begin. the 1st time i saw a proper debate was like when i was in form 1 or 2, but i do remember seeing gopi, thaalita and malini speak....but maybe not together.....sorry, bad memory. yeah, i still remember gopi and his "policeman in every car" story, and seeing mani on the Syed Jan stage for the very first time. guess they got me into it or something. in form 2, i decided, if not, obliged to the extent of being forced to enter the inter class debate held by the english club....well, i screw up back then, i supposed that's normal for first timers eh? that was my first debating moments, and i dont remember anything about it, except the handshake issue vijay had. then, everything about debate, just stop for a year, maybe due to pmr, i receive no news about debate at all.
form 4, was a different story. i wrote my name on the list of those who wanted to try out for debate and drama. yeah, i went for both. in the early stages, there were a lot more people in both teams....then, most of them just lost interest. so i guess i went to my first debate session with the seniors for a good trashing....i went there late, had to do 3rd, on something about fast food, or voting age. my 1st word that year, "WHATS THE POINT". definitely not my best moment, but hey, for a guy who just got there, i managed to somehow get adila do that scandalous look in denial and disbelieve.......and i still dont know why i said that. by the way, after a not so successful debate session, i went to drama, for only a day, because i was told that we had to choose one or something (again, bad memory). between the two, i chose debate, and im still looking for the reason behind that decision. so went to yet another session, and another, and another....it didnt take long to notice that the number of those coming back were decreasing. after some time, it boiled down to 4 of us, vijay, karmen, putra and me. i think among those who walked off was eujin and nigel, stephanie, chandera, possibly jason and jordan too. to be honest, i didnt get selected into the team....i was all they got, we were whats left of the list.
fast forward ( i forgot again)....we got the topics for district level....maybe at the same time with the HELP debate...which explains why we didnt go. anyway, when the team was formed, i got to know malini and putra, two absolute strangers to me. karmen and vijay and i came from the same primary school, so at least when debate started, i wansnt a complete loner. somehow, all 5 of us just clicked. we just dont fight i guess. in the beginning, i was the prime minister, and putra was the first opposition leader, but by some cosmic fate, mr fletcher, our debate teacher, made the switch, which is why im the opposition leader, and the reason i went on stage far too frequently. you see, the main reason for entering debate, for me, was to skip class. speaking on stage was never part of the plan. there was one senior who did very little debate the previous year because his side was rarely drawn. i entered with the hope of repeating that, and for a moment, i was going to succeed....but the switch just killed my brilliant plan....and there i was, speaking more than i wanted on stage.
the official team 07
so, there was the team, i was the first opposition leader, putra, a more successful prime minister than bodohi, vijay the 2nd opp leader, karmen, the irrelevant casanova speaking as deputy prime minister who once, abused the word "basically"..and the odd one, malini, the 3rd speaker for both sides, who managed to withstand all of our insanity combined...and still maintain her original mental state. we got two teachers in the team, mr fletcher and pn jac.
before i knew it, we started staying back for sessions, sir kept telling us stuff about each motion, news, history....just to give us an idea of the meaning of each motion. after learning that we got opp all the way in the district level, i know i had to work hard....because im speaking and yet, i was the least prepared, maybe still am. debate sessions drag on till 4 or 5 in the evening, and then we got the bonus, skipping class!!....my true aim.
District level 07
then, my first official starting point in a real competition began...agaisnt smk khir johari. pn jac worked her way out to get me less nervous, so since then, i always look at her when debating. moving on to the 2nd round agaisnt smk sin min, a chinese school that sent a non-chinese debate team. i kinda screw that one up, and with the finals in the next few hours, i felt worse. i mean, we heard that the kesh dude was good, so we got intimidated. so, going on a real stage for the 1st time, i killed the prime minister, got the mdm speaker helping me out, and realised that kesh wasnt so good after all. sir said, that was my best performance, one girl said i looked like i was going to cry....i thought "thats all it took?" so yeah, we won, after some confusion in the bakar arang team, who failed to comprehend and differentiate "1st runner up" and "champion", we defended our challenge trophy. that was one of the most awesome day in my life.....i was actually jumping and hugging the dudes there......and it felt as if i were on drugs.
State level 07
went on to state after that, with a lot more confidence. went agaisnt jitra in the 1st round as opp again....sail through that one. and we got to the drawing process.....brimming with confidence in my luck, i went and draw. we got sultanah asma in the next round, on the hardest motion in state level. i thought "damn", mani didnt have time to think, she just started whacking me with files and books. i know, this time, if we fall, its my fault for that stupid draw. i just cant allow the team to loose because of the bad draw. i worked like hell for that motion, stayed up longer than i should writing scripts with lots of drafts....went to school feeling like throwing up....got on stage with one of the biggest nerves, speaking like a drunk, and vijay and mani did just right to defeat the host that year. yeah, we beat sultanah asma, on their homeground, on that motion.....so the whacking stops there....and conspiracies began, where we thought that they were going to poison us with their canteen food or something....but i guess no one died anyway. sir was going to put me on stage regardless of the sides we were on in the finals, and i got that bad feeling of taking over putra's job. i mean, it just didnt look proper. so we had a discussion and agreed that putra was going. knowing that, i was really hoping to get govt that day, because if i do, i can sit down and relax for the 1st time that year. by luck, i got it. yup. WOOOHOOO, im not speaking! we sent putra and karmen for the finals, and that was their very 1st official debate, together with mani as 3rd. and it turn out to be awesome. putra had his cool and this air around him, karmen had his one-hand-card-flipping technique, got hit on the head when putra was adjusting the mike, and the debate was held with a useless mike on our side. regardless of that, we won and got our tickets to kuching.
Nationals 07
this is it. we never thought we were going to make it, but we were on our way to the airport. i still tak puas because i didnt get to sit in karmen's 3 series. ok, we stopped by klia wearing that stupid jpn yellow shit smelling like durians and pineapples, terrorized the place, left for kuching, putra got poisoned in the plane, i was related to the air stewardess for no reason. when we got there, we just checked in into our rooms and lock ourselves up. didnt bother making friends in the beginning. the next day, 1st round agaisnt terengganu as opp....which was easier than expected...and the dudes were kinda cool i guess. 2nd day, opp against selangor. you notice the pattern, in all the debates that year, we only got govt once, thats when i drew once out of 4 times. the rest were opps. which means, my plan to be a dormant speaker didnt work out...and thats a good reason to be an agnostic....some external force were agaisnt me, and i retaliated by ignoring its existence! ok, back to selangor, where we lost. hmm, dichotomy was too hard on them, even the judges, because they didnt get the idea. some of us cried, some went emo, the rest were just blur....i was drinking coke. so then, we sat in the hall while the 2nd debate was on between penang and some other state....and perhaps their idea of "car bumper" worked fine on the judges. after that, the host's students, was it st thomas?....came to us and said we should have won agaisnt selangor...coming from complete strangers, i was kinda touched by their sincerity....all of us were perhaps. but we didnt sulk for long. when we got back to the room, all hell broke loose. went for the tour to the clay factory, bought our pengetua a gift which he seems to forget the meaning behind it, got this stupid "pelawat" sticker from the factory, and we found lots of them on selangor's door...that was unity...and a classic. we went to the muzeum, making some video, dicovered that art was porn, and still is in the art gallery. look, the dragon thing was banging that man, and it was obvious...so if its not porn, im a saint! i fitted a whole ice cream cone in my mouth, guess vj still has the photo somewhere. back to the room, where me, mani and karmen didnt bother socializing with the rest, while putra and vijay lost the track of time admist all of their moments in getting to know yet more people. of course, the grudge against selangor was still there, and we always support whatever team that was agaisnt them. by some jinx, they got in the finals, and most of us thought they didnt deserve to be there at all. i mean, denying you are the government when that stupid card on the table is saying you are is complete foolish. at least, sabah beat them in the end, and we admit it, sabah was a good team. they had this amazing synchronization and uniformity we have never seen before. went back straight after the finals, and again we terrorized klia. we were pushing the trolley with putra on it. we were young and bored, thats all i got in my defence.
i'll do 2008 on the next post. ciao
note.....this is a very long post.
how it started
now, that aside, lets begin. the 1st time i saw a proper debate was like when i was in form 1 or 2, but i do remember seeing gopi, thaalita and malini speak....but maybe not together.....sorry, bad memory. yeah, i still remember gopi and his "policeman in every car" story, and seeing mani on the Syed Jan stage for the very first time. guess they got me into it or something. in form 2, i decided, if not, obliged to the extent of being forced to enter the inter class debate held by the english club....well, i screw up back then, i supposed that's normal for first timers eh? that was my first debating moments, and i dont remember anything about it, except the handshake issue vijay had. then, everything about debate, just stop for a year, maybe due to pmr, i receive no news about debate at all.
form 4, was a different story. i wrote my name on the list of those who wanted to try out for debate and drama. yeah, i went for both. in the early stages, there were a lot more people in both teams....then, most of them just lost interest. so i guess i went to my first debate session with the seniors for a good trashing....i went there late, had to do 3rd, on something about fast food, or voting age. my 1st word that year, "WHATS THE POINT". definitely not my best moment, but hey, for a guy who just got there, i managed to somehow get adila do that scandalous look in denial and disbelieve.......and i still dont know why i said that. by the way, after a not so successful debate session, i went to drama, for only a day, because i was told that we had to choose one or something (again, bad memory). between the two, i chose debate, and im still looking for the reason behind that decision. so went to yet another session, and another, and another....it didnt take long to notice that the number of those coming back were decreasing. after some time, it boiled down to 4 of us, vijay, karmen, putra and me. i think among those who walked off was eujin and nigel, stephanie, chandera, possibly jason and jordan too. to be honest, i didnt get selected into the team....i was all they got, we were whats left of the list.
fast forward ( i forgot again)....we got the topics for district level....maybe at the same time with the HELP debate...which explains why we didnt go. anyway, when the team was formed, i got to know malini and putra, two absolute strangers to me. karmen and vijay and i came from the same primary school, so at least when debate started, i wansnt a complete loner. somehow, all 5 of us just clicked. we just dont fight i guess. in the beginning, i was the prime minister, and putra was the first opposition leader, but by some cosmic fate, mr fletcher, our debate teacher, made the switch, which is why im the opposition leader, and the reason i went on stage far too frequently. you see, the main reason for entering debate, for me, was to skip class. speaking on stage was never part of the plan. there was one senior who did very little debate the previous year because his side was rarely drawn. i entered with the hope of repeating that, and for a moment, i was going to succeed....but the switch just killed my brilliant plan....and there i was, speaking more than i wanted on stage.
the official team 07
so, there was the team, i was the first opposition leader, putra, a more successful prime minister than bodohi, vijay the 2nd opp leader, karmen, the irrelevant casanova speaking as deputy prime minister who once, abused the word "basically"..and the odd one, malini, the 3rd speaker for both sides, who managed to withstand all of our insanity combined...and still maintain her original mental state. we got two teachers in the team, mr fletcher and pn jac.
before i knew it, we started staying back for sessions, sir kept telling us stuff about each motion, news, history....just to give us an idea of the meaning of each motion. after learning that we got opp all the way in the district level, i know i had to work hard....because im speaking and yet, i was the least prepared, maybe still am. debate sessions drag on till 4 or 5 in the evening, and then we got the bonus, skipping class!!....my true aim.
District level 07
then, my first official starting point in a real competition began...agaisnt smk khir johari. pn jac worked her way out to get me less nervous, so since then, i always look at her when debating. moving on to the 2nd round agaisnt smk sin min, a chinese school that sent a non-chinese debate team. i kinda screw that one up, and with the finals in the next few hours, i felt worse. i mean, we heard that the kesh dude was good, so we got intimidated. so, going on a real stage for the 1st time, i killed the prime minister, got the mdm speaker helping me out, and realised that kesh wasnt so good after all. sir said, that was my best performance, one girl said i looked like i was going to cry....i thought "thats all it took?" so yeah, we won, after some confusion in the bakar arang team, who failed to comprehend and differentiate "1st runner up" and "champion", we defended our challenge trophy. that was one of the most awesome day in my life.....i was actually jumping and hugging the dudes there......and it felt as if i were on drugs.
State level 07
went on to state after that, with a lot more confidence. went agaisnt jitra in the 1st round as opp again....sail through that one. and we got to the drawing process.....brimming with confidence in my luck, i went and draw. we got sultanah asma in the next round, on the hardest motion in state level. i thought "damn", mani didnt have time to think, she just started whacking me with files and books. i know, this time, if we fall, its my fault for that stupid draw. i just cant allow the team to loose because of the bad draw. i worked like hell for that motion, stayed up longer than i should writing scripts with lots of drafts....went to school feeling like throwing up....got on stage with one of the biggest nerves, speaking like a drunk, and vijay and mani did just right to defeat the host that year. yeah, we beat sultanah asma, on their homeground, on that motion.....so the whacking stops there....and conspiracies began, where we thought that they were going to poison us with their canteen food or something....but i guess no one died anyway. sir was going to put me on stage regardless of the sides we were on in the finals, and i got that bad feeling of taking over putra's job. i mean, it just didnt look proper. so we had a discussion and agreed that putra was going. knowing that, i was really hoping to get govt that day, because if i do, i can sit down and relax for the 1st time that year. by luck, i got it. yup. WOOOHOOO, im not speaking! we sent putra and karmen for the finals, and that was their very 1st official debate, together with mani as 3rd. and it turn out to be awesome. putra had his cool and this air around him, karmen had his one-hand-card-flipping technique, got hit on the head when putra was adjusting the mike, and the debate was held with a useless mike on our side. regardless of that, we won and got our tickets to kuching.
Nationals 07
this is it. we never thought we were going to make it, but we were on our way to the airport. i still tak puas because i didnt get to sit in karmen's 3 series. ok, we stopped by klia wearing that stupid jpn yellow shit smelling like durians and pineapples, terrorized the place, left for kuching, putra got poisoned in the plane, i was related to the air stewardess for no reason. when we got there, we just checked in into our rooms and lock ourselves up. didnt bother making friends in the beginning. the next day, 1st round agaisnt terengganu as opp....which was easier than expected...and the dudes were kinda cool i guess. 2nd day, opp against selangor. you notice the pattern, in all the debates that year, we only got govt once, thats when i drew once out of 4 times. the rest were opps. which means, my plan to be a dormant speaker didnt work out...and thats a good reason to be an agnostic....some external force were agaisnt me, and i retaliated by ignoring its existence! ok, back to selangor, where we lost. hmm, dichotomy was too hard on them, even the judges, because they didnt get the idea. some of us cried, some went emo, the rest were just blur....i was drinking coke. so then, we sat in the hall while the 2nd debate was on between penang and some other state....and perhaps their idea of "car bumper" worked fine on the judges. after that, the host's students, was it st thomas?....came to us and said we should have won agaisnt selangor...coming from complete strangers, i was kinda touched by their sincerity....all of us were perhaps. but we didnt sulk for long. when we got back to the room, all hell broke loose. went for the tour to the clay factory, bought our pengetua a gift which he seems to forget the meaning behind it, got this stupid "pelawat" sticker from the factory, and we found lots of them on selangor's door...that was unity...and a classic. we went to the muzeum, making some video, dicovered that art was porn, and still is in the art gallery. look, the dragon thing was banging that man, and it was obvious...so if its not porn, im a saint! i fitted a whole ice cream cone in my mouth, guess vj still has the photo somewhere. back to the room, where me, mani and karmen didnt bother socializing with the rest, while putra and vijay lost the track of time admist all of their moments in getting to know yet more people. of course, the grudge against selangor was still there, and we always support whatever team that was agaisnt them. by some jinx, they got in the finals, and most of us thought they didnt deserve to be there at all. i mean, denying you are the government when that stupid card on the table is saying you are is complete foolish. at least, sabah beat them in the end, and we admit it, sabah was a good team. they had this amazing synchronization and uniformity we have never seen before. went back straight after the finals, and again we terrorized klia. we were pushing the trolley with putra on it. we were young and bored, thats all i got in my defence.
i'll do 2008 on the next post. ciao
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