The Semi-Finals for the 7th Kap Yan Inter-House Debating Competition were held in May. This was much to the delight of the participating debaters from Blue, Purple, Red and Yellow Houses, since lasts year’s event had to be cancelled. The competition is divided into Senior and Junior Divisions, so there were four Semi-Finals overall.
Featured Match
In the 1st Senior Division match, Red House (affirmative) played Purple House (negative) on the motion “All sandwiches at our school tuckshop should contain a leaf of lettuce”.
The affirmative side ran the team line “School must do what it preaches. The reform must start and go on.” Their first speaker, Tracy Lau, argued that it is unreasonable not to have vegetables in our sandwiches and that it contradicts things that we learn at school. Second speaker Mavis Leung highlighted the importance of “visibility”, arguing that the “leaf of lettuce is a starting point for reform.”
The negative team made the case “A leaf of lettuce is useless: no healthy body, only food waste.” First speaker Christy Chiu began with a rebuttal saying lettuce is of very little nutritional value. Christy challenged the effectiveness of the policy, which was ostensibly to improve student health, pointing out the extra expense, extra time and logistical constraints would bring no remarkable results. She then argued that the policy would fail because it doesn’t include education, which would be a more effective action. The second negative speaker, Bobo Yip, followed through claiming the policy isn’t enough to bring behavioural change. Bobo argued that teenagers would simply not buy the sandwich or would take out the lettuce and throw it away.
The third affirmative, Candy Leung, countered claiming that we have already done the theoretical learning through our textbooks and what we lack now is application. Candy said that students do not hate lettuce and that similar shops manage to store lettuce. Candy pointed to the need to “start taking action to serve a better meal for students” as the meaning of the motion, rather than it being an examination of the health benefits of lettuce.
Third negative speaker River Yan reiterated that a leaf of lettuce is tiny, thus ineffective and that our tuckshop lacks the facilities to keep lettuce. River reminded us of the impact of increased cost and the need to focus on education instead.
The Adjudicator, Ms Heather Watson, congratulated both teams on a strong effort and described the match as “a cliffhanger” due to the initiative moving between the two sides. The central tension was between the disputed effectiveness of the lettuce and the understanding that the change was the starting point for health reform.
The match was awarded to the affirmative side, Red House, because of strong speech, good teamwork and more effective summing up overall.
Other Results
In the 2nd Senior Semi-Final Blue House (affirmative) defeated Yellow House (negative) on the motion “Term 2 Tests should be permanently abolished at KYD”. The affirmative side ran the team line “It’s unnecessary harm” while the negative made the case that it is “beneficial for students, teachers and parents”.
In the Junior Division, Yellow House (affirmative) went against Red House (negative) on the motion “Rules are not the solution to behaviour problems in schools”. Yellow House presented the case “Rules may be a way of limitation, but it doesn’t work as a solution” while Red House ran the line “Rules guide, rules protect”. The match was awarded to the negative side Red House.
In the final match, Purple House (affirmative) and Blue House (negative) contested the motion “Most Hong Kongers should wait for more reliable data before vaccinating against Covid.” The affirmative argued that Hong Kongers have enough time to wait compared with other regions and claimed possible danger in vaccinating immediately without data. The negative side countered with the team line “Vaccinate now to stop the pandemic”. The match was awarded to the negative side, Blue House.
Grand Finals
The Grand Finals will be held on July 8th. In the Senior Division Red House (affirmative) challenges Blue House (negative) on the motion “Nuclear power is the way of the future”. In the Junior Division Red House (affirmative) is against Blue House (negative) on the motion “Our school’s curriculum should become more practical and less academic”.