Hong Kong Debate & Speech CommunityFlashpoint 2022 has come to a close!
In the two weeks spanning from July 18th-29th, the annual summer debating workshop was held to much success. The event saw a turnout of 90 participants across six different skill groups, where experienced trainers provided catered lesson plans and personalized training.
A huge thank you to all our trainers, exco members, and participants for joining us, and we hope to see you again next year!
For WIDPSC 2022 (World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship), which was held online by The Country Day School, Hong Kong sent a delegation of 12 students. At the Grand Finals held on April 17 (Sun), Nicholas Chung made a speech that outlines how we face death and terminal patient care; in the end, this heartfelt piece won Hong Kong the Champion in the Persuasive Speaking category, for the first time since Heather Pickerell in 2011.
GRAND FINALS VIDEO LINK: https://youtu.be/LXgx7e7EebQ?t=1135
Among 115 contestants from 13 countries, we had 9 students ranking in Top 35:
33rd – Charlie Lam (Island School)
33rd – Nicholas Chung (Diocesan Boys’ School)
31st – Hilary Lau (Diocesan Girls’ School)
25th – Peony Sham (Sha Tin College)
16th – Maria Katrina Flauta (Renaissance College Hong Kong)
10th – Lauren Ing (Chinese International School)
7th – Christine Lam (Hong Kong International School)
5th – Megan Chan (Renaissance College Hong Kong)
4th – Mark Lee (Diocesan Boys’ School)
The rank of 4th overall was also the highest rank achieved by a Hong Kong student since Madhav Menon in 2013. During Finals rounds on April 9-10, the team broke into 15 positions across all five categories, representing our city in public speaking — speeches both humorous and serious, dramatic prose reading and vigorous debating.
This has been the first year when EVERYTHING from the Trials to the competition had been held online without a single offline training, yet this team braved these circumstances to create the best results in recent years. Besides applauding their diligence in training every Sunday between the January trials and April competitions, we must also extend our thanks to the larger coaching team this year – Joan Cho, Lilian Chow, My Thanh Mac, Leo Zen, Kenneth Chan and our alumni Markandeya Karthik and Chloe Yeung.
In researching for this blurb, one looks back at the heydays of the early 2010s, when Hong Kong students were displaying their talent and verve at WIDPSC in similar capacity. Without the foundation built by the stalwart coaches and members back then, we would not be here. We take the results of today humbly and will continue to provide opportunities for youngsters of our city to speak on the international stage.
Much thanks must finally go to the gracious hosts at CDS, Ms Kerstin Wyndham West and Ms Tracey Scott, for making this tournament possible.
Sincerely,
Coaches of WIDPSC Hong Kong team
Dear All,
We are excited to announce that the annual Junior Individual Public Speaking Championships is scheduled to be a remote event on 30 April (Saturday). Please read on for further details of the format and registration logistics.
As in past years, there are three compulsory categories, namely Persuasive Speaking, Interpretive Reading and Impromptu Speaking. Persuasive Speaking and Interpretive Reading will be done and submitted as taped videos uploaded — as unlisted videos — onto YouTube from 15 to 17 April 2022 (Sunday), whereas the last category will be conducted live on Zoom on 30 April 2022 (Saturday). Please refer to the attached slides for the exact time limits and rules of each category. More details about the video submission process and a technical guide will be released in due course.
Each school can enrol six junior students maximum. Students up to current Secondary 3/ Year 10/Grade 9 are eligible for Junior competitions. Each school is also expected to supply one adjudicator for every three nominated students (in other words, two adjudicators for sending four, five or six students) to judge the taped videos and the live impromptu rounds. Please note that for junior competitions, senior students can be registered to judge. More guidelines on the judging criteria and approaches will be sent out after the registration period ends. A registration fee of HKD50 per student is applicable to facilitate the running of the tournament.
Please fill in the Google Form by 1 April, 2022 (Friday) for registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFadSCVPfUHbzHFOvFWxcESe-nI0YBHCBLOHQHhdzzCcCw2A/viewform?usp=sf_link
The important dates are as follows:
1 April 2022 (Fri): Registration deadline
15 April – 17 April: Submission of taped videos of Persuasive Speaking and Interpretive Reading on YouTube
20 April – 27 April: Judging period
27 April (Wed): Return of the ballots from judges through google form
30 April (Sat): Live Impromptu Speaking preliminary rounds + Finals
The following is the tentative schedule of the competition day on 30 April (Saturday).
9:00 – 9:30 – Registration
9:30 – 11:00 – Live Impromptu Speaking Preliminary Rounds on Zoom
11:00 – 11:30 – Break
11:30 – 14:00 – Finals (Top three in all three categories will perform live)
14:00 – 15:00 – Announcement of Results
Thank you for your attention. We highly look forward to your participation so we can continue to nurture young public speaking talent in Hong Kong.
Best regards,
Coaches for WIDPSC Team Hong Kong
Junior WIDPSC Pamphlet 2022: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yxq4ekq6BhiudZXCp9RuYayO7E_j5sL7-OTJ9jYdlnE/edit?usp=sharing
Registration for SDC 2021 is now open, kicking off a school year filled with some amazing debating and public speaking events. Here are the key details of the tournament and registration.
Team Registration Form: https://forms.gle/4XUSDpRDhMraLPVX7
Independent Judge Registration Form: https://forms.gle/JUqSVp6fdSf1swDa9
Date: 16 October 8am-6:30pm (preliminary rounds); 17 October 9am-4pm (break rounds).
Venue: Online.
Cost: HKD400 per team.
Eligibility: 3-5 members per team; Forms 4-6 / Years 10-13 / Grades 10-12.
Adjudicators: Each team must provide at least one adjudicator. A second team must be accompanied by a second adjudicator.
Team cap: 24 teams.
Format: WSDC – 8-minute main speech with points of information, 4-minute replies.
Draw: R1 random; R2-4 power-paired; QF-GF folded knockout draw.
Awards: Top Ten Speaker awards (debaters contesting 3 or more prelim debates are eligible); Top 8 teams break to quarter-final. Priority for second teams will go to previously underrepresented schools.
Schedule:
Day 1
| 08:00 – 08:15 | Registration and roll-call |
| 08:15 – 08:45 | Tournament briefing |
| 08:45 – 10:25 | Round 1 prepared debate + feedback |
| 10:25 – 10:40 | Break |
| 10:40 – 10:55 | Prep time for round 2 semi-prepared debate |
| 10:55 – 12:35 | Round 2 semi-prepared debate + feedback |
| 12:35 – 13:15 | Lunch break |
| 13:15 – 13:30 | Prep time for round 3 semi-prepared debate |
| 13:30 – 15:10 | Round 3 semi-prepared debate + feedback |
| 15:10 – 15:25 | Break |
| 15:25 – 16:10 | Prep time for round 4 impromptu debate |
| 16:10 – 17:40 | Round 4 impromptu debate (silent round) |
| 17:40 – 18:00 | Tabulation of results |
| 18:00 – 18:30 | Break announcement, prizes for top speakers |
Day 2
| 09:15 – 09:30 | Registration and roll-call |
| 09:30 – 11:00 | Quarter-final prepared debate |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Announcement of QF results and feedback |
| 11:30 – 12:15 | Prep time for Semi-final impromptu debate |
| 12:15 – 13:45 | Semi-final impromptu debate |
| 13:45 – 14:15 | Announcement of SF results and feedback |
| 14:15 – 14:30 | Prep time for grand-final semi-prepared debate |
| 14:30 – 16:00 | Grand-final semi-prepared debate |
| 16:00 – 16:30 | Announcement of GF result and prize presentation |
For more information and any enquiries, please contact us at info@hkdsc.org. We look forward to seeing your teams and judges at SDC 2021!
Dear Speech & Debate Community of Hong Kong,
We are excited to announce that applications have opened for our new HKDSC Student Working Group! This is intended to provide structure for the young people who have generously stepped up to help us so far in the last six months, but also an enthusiastic invitation towards the larger debating community, so sign up if you want to help out!
This will be an exciting opportunity for 10-12 secondary school students to work with other members of the Group, as well as our Executive Board of Directors, in organising any of the 6 flagship events run by HKDSC every year. These include our yearly tournaments such as SDC and JSDC, and our WSDC and WIDPSC National Team Trials.
We are looking for responsible, keen, adaptable and organised individuals to help HKDSC further its goals of creating high-quality debating and public speaking opportunities for students across Hong Kong.The deadline for applications is 22 August 2021, 11:59pm HKT. We look forward to receiving your applications through the link below.
Over the past three days, Team Hong Kong has been debating tirelessly in the out rounds of World Schools Debating Championship, after breaking at the top of the tab. Facing Team Australia in the Octo Finals for a debate about data monetisation, then Team Pakistan in the Quarter Finals for a debate about international military aid and finally, Team Philippines in the Semi Finals on the topic of carbon credits.
With the announcement of their victory, Hong Kong has advanced to the Grand Finals at WSDC for the first time. Massive respect to all the teams in the competition and the team looks forward to their last match in what has been an amazing run thus far. 
After four days and eight rounds of vigorous debate with friends all across the world, Team Hong Kong has broken first in the Panda Division of WSDC, with 20 ballots and speaks of 254.50! A massive hand to our team — Chloe Tse, Dhruv Leekha, Jenna Hong, Madeleine Wu, and Yui Kurosawa.
This continues Hong Kong’s streak from last year where they also broke first on the tab. Hearty congratulations to team coaches Harish Natarajan and Thomas Simpson for their tireless grind with the young debaters over the last eight months since the trials, the work has not gone unrewarded and we wish the team the best of luck as they move onto the outrounds starting tomorrow! 
Dear all,
The 2021 Flashpoint workshops ended last week, stretching over the 5th, 6th and 8th of July. As in previous years, the programme was delivered by some of the most skilled and passionate high school debaters in Hong Kong, braving numerous challenges in the process of initiating, preparing and executing the programme. This year, there was the addition of practice debates held on the final day to help the students consolidate their skills. All in all, the programme successfully provided debate training to more than 40 high school students across Hong Kong, especially to those who might not have consistent access to debate training at their schools.
As the pandemic last year prevented the workshops from being run, we are tremendously glad that this year’s Flashpoint was able to take place. Above all, we hope this signals our commitment to providing quality debate and speaking education to all students in Hong Kong.
To the Executive Committee and Trainers, thank you for lending us your valuable time and giving back to this community. When we began the preparation process in April, there was doubt if we could put together the programme in time but the programme was executed with dedication and quick responses to challenges. First, thanks must go to Mr Stan Dyer, Ms Joan Cho, Xiao-ke Lu and Timothy Lo for taking the task up and constructing the syllabus. Then, a special shout-out to Angus, Markandeya and Audrey for bringing together and heading our ExCo Team, listed here in their respective roles.
Lead Coordinators: Angus Li, Markandeya Karthik, Audrey Chow
Design and Promotion: Anston Yu, Megan Chan, Chloe Lam
Event Organisation: Arthur NG, Ella Chau, Isaac Lo, Justin Kim
But where would our programmer be without our Student Trainers training four groups of students at different levels, as listed below:
Group 4: Jenna Hong
Group 3: Davis Cheng and Justin Cheng
Group 2: Alan Fan and Yui Kurosawa
Group 1: Angus Li and Chloe Lam
It has been a pleasure to observe the trainers teach younger debaters with such passion and tailoring your material to each class, across a spectrum of skills. We hope the many words of gratitude you received from your students and the improvement they have shown have been recompense enough for your hard work.
To our students, thank you for being such great participants — Flashpoint would not be possible if not for your enthusiastic support. Thank you for giving your all at the drills, exercises and debates, and we hope to see you grow as a confident individual in the community in the future.
What a way to kick off the summer and wrap up the six events brought by HKDSC this year! We wish everyone a vibrant summer and are eagerly preparing for the new year.
Best Regards,
Flashpoint 2021 Executive Committee
Dear all,
Two Hong Kong teams participated at the Singapore Pre World Schools Debating Championship over the weekend. The team Chloe Tse, Dhruv Leekha, Jenna Hong, and Madeleine Wu were the top team after the preliminary rounds, and reached the final. Davis Cheng, Markandeya Karthik, Navia Zhang, and Yui Kurosawa finished 17th overall. Chloe was the sixth overall speaker, Madeleine third, and Jenna finished top.
Flashpoint ‘21: Interactive Workshops for Debaters
Got a keen interest in debate but unsure of where to go? Flashpoint is back, and it’s here to make your debating that much better.
Flashpoint is an annual debate workshop for novice debaters to learn from some of the most skilled and passionate debaters in Hong Kong. After several successful years, we are hosting Flashpoint again over Zoom on July 5th, 6th and 8th from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m, concluding with an internal competition where students can put new skills to use. It is an excellent opportunity to develop English argumentative skills through a wide range of strategies and, most importantly, fun!
Are you looking to warm up again after a long break from debating? Or looking for a good introduction to debate? Questions on the registration form are designed to place debaters in the best ability group to make the experience for YOU. The Flashpoint registration form (one form per student) is HERE.
Once participants have registered, they can expect to receive an email on Wednesday 30 June to confirm their attendance and send out important details and the Zoom link.
Google form: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLScsFP2vHaeXvo…/viewform
