Dear members of the Hong Kong public speaking community,
Following on from our previous post, please also find here the winners of the Grand Finals of each category at Junior Indivs 2023. A special congratulations to the follow four speakers:
Regina Uy-Tioco (Hong Kong International School) – Overall Champion
Max Lee (Diocesan Boys’ School) – Persuasive Speaking Champion
Kaitlyn Liu (Hong Kong International School) – Interpretive Reading Champion
Congratulations again to all the competitors at the Grand Finals as listed below — your amazing speeches stood out from the 60 competitors and it was a pleasure to hear them on May 6. We cannot wait to see what you get up to next.
Trophies and medals for the finalists and Top 10 Speakers are being arranged via post. We hope to see you at our future events soon!
On May 6, 60 students participated in the live Impromptu Speaking round and Final Rounds of the 2023 Junior Individual Public Speaking Championships. This was preceded by video rounds for the Persuasive Speaking and Interpretive Reading categories in the weeks before. Many outstanding performances were delivered, and we were delighted to see the passion speakers put into every speech they gave.
Please find the top 10 speakers overall, and of each category, in the pictures below. A hearty congratulations to the winners and the top speakers of the tournament!
Before we sign off, we also would like to extend a special thank you to every judge who helped make this event a special and rewarding learning experience for every participant, tirelessly assessing recorded speeches and readings, and taking the time to write encouraging and constructive feedback. We look forward to seeing more budding public speakers at our future events, furthering their talents or even representing Hong Kong!
The non-profit 19th HKPDS Summer Workshop and Tournament 2023 is back as an in-person event at the Hong Kong Baptist University Affiliated School Wong Kam Fai Secondary from 13th to 19th August 2023. This event prioritises Hong Kong high school and university students and up to 40% of the estimated 120 places will be allotted at a discounted registration fee of HKD2350.
Besides being an established event founded in 2005 known for its educational value and efficiency, this year’s Trainers will include the first Asian World Champion of the Madrid World Universities Debating Championships 2023.
Team Hong Kong has just returned from the World Individuals Debating and Public Speaking Championship (WIDPSC) 2023, following a week of intense competition in Durban, South Africa. A hearty congratulations to the competitors for valiantly and eloquently representing Hong Kong through eight rounds of preliminaries, two flights of finals and a Grand Finals, and below are the results:
Adele Li (HK01) – Chinese International School
Tingting Zhang (HK02) – Chinese International School
– Finalist — Parliamentary Debating
Andrea Chow (HK03) – Renaissance College Hong Kong
Evan Chow (HK04) – Diocesan Boys’ School
Mark Jin-kang Lee (HK05) – Diocesan Boys’ School
– 8th Overall Best Speaker
– Finalist — After Dinner Speaking
– Finalist — Interpretive Reading
Christine Lam (HK06) – Hong Kong International School
– Grand Finalist and 1st Runner Up — After Dinner Speaking
– Finalist — After Dinner Speaking
– Finalist — Parliamentary Debating
Peony Sham (HK07) – Harrow International School Hong Kong
– 7th Overall Best Speaker
– Finalist — Persuasive Speaking
– Finalist — Interpretive Reading
– Finalist — Impromptu Speaking
Cynthia Huang (HK08) – Hong Kong International School
– Finalist — Interpretive Reading
Nandini Tatiwala (HK09) – Hong Kong International School
Hilary Yeuk-Hey Tam (HK10) – Diocesan Girls’ School
– 12th Overall Best Speaker
– Finalist — Impromptu Speaking
Lily Haylett (HK11) – South Island School
Vijay Narayanan (HK12) – Island School
Transitioning to our first offline tournament was challenging, compounded by the 26-hour flight it took for us to travel to Durban and land the night before Day 1. Not only did the team soldier on, but they quickly adapted and forged great friendships with their fellow speakers on the world stage.
Thanks must be given to the Hong Kong Debate and Speech Community (HKDSC) for logistics support with the Open Trials, and to the coaches who held weekly trainings – Ms Joan Cho, Ms Lilian Chow, Mr Leo Zen, Mr Kenneth Chan, Ms My-Thanh Mac, Markandeya Karthik, Jason Wong, Maki Flauta, Megan Chan, Nicholas Chung, Chloe Yeung. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the two parent chaperones, Thomas and April, for their endless support for our students in the past few weeks.
Finally, and most importantly, thanks must go to Mr Shaun McCabe and the Clifton School, for hosting this first offline tournament since 2019, allowing the 12 students from Hong Kong to have the experience of a lifetime. We can’t wait to be back again next year.
We are excited to announce that the annual Junior Individual Public Speaking Championships is scheduled to be a remote event on 6 May (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 21 to 23 April 2023 (Sunday), whereas the last category will be conducted live on Zoom on 6, May (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 enroll 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.
The WIDPSC Hong Kong Team Trials 2023 was held earlier today, with more than 40 participants from 19 schools. Thank you again to all participants your enthusiastic participation. We are beyond excited to begin a new chapter with the new team members, and would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to all competitors for their hard work over the past months! We hope that your time polishing speeches, choosing readings and preparing impromptus have been more than rewarding.
The new Hong Kong Team members are:
Tingting Zhang (Chinese International School)
Christine Lam (Hong Kong International School)
Mark Jin-Kang Lee (Diocesan Boys’ School)
Peony Sham (Harrow International School)
Vijay Narayanan (Island School)
Nandini Tatiwala (Hong Kong International School)
Adele Li (Chinese International School)
Lily Haylett (South Island School)
Hilary Tam (Diocesan Girls’ School)
Cynthia Huang (Hong Kong International School)
Reserve 1: Evan Chow (Diocesan Boys’ School) Reserve 2: Eric Wu (Chinese International School)
We once again thank all judges and coaches who have given up their time selflessly and tirelessly such that this competition could be run smoothly and to such a high standard, to all the student helpers who helped us transition back to in-person competing so effectively, and Diocesan Boys’ School for lending us their school campus for the day. We are grateful for your kind cooperation with us throughout the competition process and hope it was gratifying for you all. These trials – and the continued success of public speaking in Hong Kong – could not be possible without you.
Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you at our future events!
Dear members of the Hong Kong public speaking community,
We are pleased to announce that Trials for the Hong Kong WIDPSC Team will be taking place on January 7, 2023. After the success of last year, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our WIDPSC Team!
In light of the updated covid regulations in Hong Kong, this year’s open selection trials will be held in-person, at Diocesan Boys’ School. Students and teachers attending the selection trial will need to comply with the Vaccine Pass requirements as mandated by the government.
For all the information about the Trials, WIDPSC speaking categories and more, please refer to the PDF leaflet attached. Please pay particular attention to speech times, which have been modified to best facilitate the schedule and effectiveness of the Trials.
The registration link is below. Given the time it takes for the students to prepare, we have allowed for nearly a month for registration to be completed before December 12: https://forms.gle/CyrBAr7psMvTAEM99
In order to facilitate the Trials, a registration fee of $50 will be collected from each competitor. Further details about payment will be forwarded after your registration is confirmed. Please keep an eye out for updates with further information about logistics on the competition day.
As with previous years, the top 10 speakers from the Trials will secure spots in the Hong Kong Team. This year, there will also be a new opportunity for students to qualify for the Team. Pending availability, students who have participated in the Trials can also apply to compete in Australasians 2023, against students from Korea, China and Australia, held between Jan 27-29, 2023. The top two Hong Kong students from Australasians will also join the Hong Kong Team.
We look forward to seeing competitors sign up and finally experiencing in-person speeches. Building on the excellent results last year, we are ready to showcase the best of Hong Kong public speaking!
We are delighted to open applications for the 2023 Hong Kong’s World Schools Debating team. The team will participate at the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) held in person from 18th to 28th July in Hanoi, Vietnam 2023.
Selections
The Hong Kong Debate & Speech Community will select an initial 8 student team, with the final five that will compete at WSDC decided in 2023.
In addition, we will select a development squad of between 12-16 students. Those eligible for the development squad will have at least one additional year of high school after the current school year (graduating in 2024 or later).
In order to apply you must be no younger than 14 on 18th July 2023, and no older than 19.You must be attending a High School in Hong Kong.
The decision on the selection of both the squads and the final team will be made by the current head coaches of the HK WSDC team and the coaches of the Hong Kong development team.
HKSDC is a non-profit organization. No one who is paid to coach any trialist will judge the trials. The coaches of HK WSDC will not consider the comments or recommendations from such sources either.
Trials
Trials will be held via Zoom on weekday evenings from 17-20 October via Zoom. (From 7pm HKT onwards), with the schedule depending on the trialists’ availability.
Prospective trialists will be required to submit their details and debating experiences by 23.59HKT on 10 Oct. All applicants will be informed whether they are called for a trial by 12 Oct.
Those called to selections will be determined on the basis of their previous debating and speaking experience.
If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Harish Natarajan at hknatarajan@gmail.com or info@hkdsc.org
