The following is a slightly modified version of a letter sent to debaters across Hong Kong on the 27th of January, 2021. The original document has been attached to this post for reference.
Dear Debating Community of Hong Kong,
We are excited to announce that the HK regional rounds for the prestigious Oxford Schools tournament, hosted by the Oxford Debating Union, will be held on Saturday the 27th of February from 5 to 10pm. As a limited number of teams are sent each year from Hong Kong, these trials will be highly competitive.
Unlike in previous years, this year’s rendition of Oxford Schools will take place online. Fortunately, this means that participants will not be required to self-fund the trip to Oxford that would be necessary otherwise. However, please note the team chosen will still need to pay the tournament fee of £40 per team independently. As this is a schools-based tournament, team members must be from the same secondary school.
This year, the selections process will be held online. The trials will be judged by members of the Hong Kong debating circuit as well as members of the Oxford Union. Verdicts will not be given, although extensive feedback will be provided by adjudicators to participants. The format will be BP with 5-minute speeches, and results will be announced on the 28th of February.
In the event you are chosen to compete at Oxford Schools, you will not be allowed to change partners under any circumstances. Withdrawal will result in the next team on the tab being invited to represent Hong Kong instead. Although no team is guaranteed participation in the trials, we will prioritize so that each school will be able to have at least one team participate.
The timetable can be found below:
We hope to see as many teams as possible on the 27th! Please sign up here: https://forms.gle/C8Hb951FJVMuA1kz5.
Sincerely,
Ms. Joan Cho, Chair of the HKDSC Board of Executive Directors