Reported by:
Khoo Xin Yi Sr2ScA

2nd September, 9:00a.m. Members from the English faction of the Kuen Cheng Debate Club competed in the Senior Category of the Intertext World Scholar’s Cup Debate Open 2023. It was held online via Zoom, but two of the three teams gathered together in order to ease the discussion process between each round.

The competing members from Kuen Cheng Debate Club were mostly junior debaters with one senior per team to guide them, aiming to gain experience from debating in a formal and competitive setting.

Participants from Kuen Cheng Debate Club:

  • Team “KCHS A”

    – Cayden Chan Wei Han Jr1Z(2)

    – Hwang Victoria Jr3S(3)

    – Ku Min Tzi Sr2ScC

  • Team “Team B”

    – Leong Jia Liang Jr3D(3)

    – Ethan Lee Cheng Hao Jr3M(3)

    – Khoo Xin Yi Sr2ScA

  • Team “KCH C”

    – Gaby Seow Jing Yi Jr2Z(5)

    – Tan Ying Ern Sr1ScD

    – Lim Zhi Yin Sr2ScC

Briefing Session

There were a total of 24 teams with three speakers per team. After a quick briefing on the rules and regulations of the competition, teams were split to compete in different breakout rooms and went on for a total of four rounds. Each round lasted for two hours with a lunch break after the first round. Debate motions were announced on the spot and the teams were given 15 minutes to prepare before debating.

Motion for Round 2

Winners were announced for each round and given feedback from the judges too. For each consecutive round, the teams were matched based on speaker scores and win rates.

In the end, though none of the three teams from Kuen Cheng Debate Club got into the semi-finals, they still scored quite well in speaker scores and one of the debaters, Khoo Xin Yi, won the Top 10 Best Speaker Award.

Either way, all participants got a better grasp of competitive debating, particularly for juniors who were competing for the first time. As for the seniors, it was a fruitful experience guiding juniors, especially knowing it would be the last debate competition in high school for some of them.

Group Photo of Team “KCHS A” and Team “Team B”