A CELEBRATION FOR THE SCHOOL'S DEBATE TEAM WHICH HAD BEEN LONG OVERDUE

This was a lunch gathering to celebrate the success of SMK Dato' Jaafar's English Debate Team for the year 2019. Yes, it had been one year - too long an overdue but as the saying goes: better late then never. The decision was made to have it after school on Sunday afternoon as this should be the only time when everyone was available. One of the hardest things in planning is to get a suitable slot when everybody could turn up. 

SMK Dato' Jaafar won the district's level of the English Debating Competition and was chosen to represent Johor Bahru to the state level. We unfortunately went through only to the quarter final but that to me and Puan Suhaida, the other teacher adviser, was already a huge achievement. This year it seems there is not going to be any debate competition as the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled all the school co-curriculum activities in schools. On a brighter note, we are still the district's reigning champion until a new winner emerges. 😁 But for one thing, how long do we have to wait for the same thing to happen again.

I hope the lunch treat at Seoul Garden, Plaza Angsana, would be a memorable event for them, especially to Mr. Amirul and Mr. Azmeel who will be going for their matriculation/foundation courses real soon. We would also have thank Mr. Faizal, who is Mr. Azmeel's father, who had given his support for the team throughout the debating competitions, right till the very end which had assisted us in many ways to go this far.

For one thing I am sure the time the boys spent together as a team will be something they will treasure in their hearts.

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FOOTNOTE: Seoul Garden in Plaza Angsana has sized down its seating capacity for its in dine in customers. The buffet spread has also lessened so people have less choices of food on the counter. We were there on a weekend (for the private sector) so lamb was available. You could no longer pick your own food from the fresh meat/seafood/vegetables section. The person in charge has to serve you by putting all your selections in your plate so not like last time, you will have to make a return trip to the food counter to get more things to grill and boil. I already miss the old normal in Seoul Garden.

JOHOR STATE LEVEL DEBATE COMPETITION 2019 - PART TWO

23rd JUNE 2019 ~ The second preliminary round started at 2:00 p.m. and this time it was the impromptu session where debaters were given the motion one hour prior to the competition. which was very challenging. The motion of the day was: This house will ban badly behaved tourists from traveling.

This time SMK Dato Jaafar acted as the opposition against the government team from Muar district.

The boys won and made their way to the quarter final round the next day.

If you think going away with the debate team was a holiday that you were wrong. Everybody had to work hard and we had to stay up late until 1 a.m. on both nights when we were there.

We continued with our endeavour in the quarter finals on Monday, 24th June. Another impromptu session and the participants had to debate on the topic: This house believes that politicians have a right to privacy. Unfortunately, the boys were on the opposition this time and their opponent was Kluang district.

When the result was announced, we lost this round and it was not an easy decision to be accepted. However, life is like that - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Even though our mission to do better in the state level competition was not accomplished, I must first congratulate all the boys for all the hard work that they had put into the competition that had enabled them to go this far. To me, it was already a great achievement - especially to win at district level. I would also had to congratulate the teacher in charge, Puan Suhaida, who was with the team at the earlier stage and continued to the state level. I always believe what is important is the process and not the product and I know that everyone in the team has benefited throughout the journey.

Lastly, the person who should get the credit for the team's success would be Mr. Faizal, Mr. Azmeel's father, who had been assisting and guiding the team members from the very beginning, and also for financially aiding the school debate team from the beginning until the end.

I do not know when we would have the chance to go to the state level again. I just hope the form four students would still stay in the debate team next year and see what we can do. It had been a fun time and I must say I had learned a lot from the opportunity to be with the team.

"HIDUP JAAFARIAN. GO SDJ."

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"You are not defeated when you lose,
but you are defeated when you quit."

~ Paulo Coelho ~

JOHOR STATE LEVEL DEBATE COMPETITION 2019 - PART ONE

mock session in progress

When an all-boy school debate team marched into the state level competition in another district, I had no choice but to accompany them for the 3-day event. SMK Dato Jaafar won the Johor Bahru district level competition this year and the team which comprised of two form 5 students and three form 4 students were given the responsibility to go on another huge endeavour at a higher stage.

having the most important meal of the day

The competition was held in Segamat which was about three hours' drive away so we started our journey a day earlier on Saturday, the 22nd of June and put up in a hotel in town. We were lucky as one of the students' father, Mr. Faizal, was there with us throughout the event, not just to drive the team but also to assist us during the preparation as well as to support during the debate sessions. We arrived quite late in the evening as there was a very bad traffic jam on the way to get out of Johor Bahru as well as on the highway to Segamat.

The competition was held at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, Johor Branch. The place looked new and conducive for this debating activity.

The first round was between Johor Bahru against Ledang, or was it Tangkak? It was the prepared session where the motion was given earlier but the debaters had to draw lots to choose to be either the government or opposition. The motion for the first round was: This house believes that the benefits of affirmative action in college admissions outweigh the costs.

The verdict: SDJ as the government won and hence the motion should stand.

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At the same time, I managed to see a few familiar faces at the venue but the one whom I had not met for a long time was Mr. Soh Swee Hock from Batu Pahat, my team leader for SPM marking.

to be continued...

A FAREWELL GATHERING AND A DEBATE

FAREWELL GATHERING

This was a farewell gathering for three non-academic staff who would be going away to other school. As it was held in the morning, I had to go to school earlier. We had the usual programme of speeches, prize-giving ceremony and then, last but not least, the feast.

DEBATE

I was appointed as one of the judges of the quarter-final round of the inter-school English debate of Johor Bahru district. I am no longer involved in this debate thing but past experience did help a bit to judge. The competition I had to observe was between SMK Sultan Ismail and SMK Sri Rahmat, and luckily it was not difficult to choose the winner. I hope that I would not be chosen as a judge for debate again as it was a bit stressful to listen and then deliberate on your verdict.