the Last Words.

Im sorry for the delayness of this post (2 weeks delay to be exact), n im not sure when will he get to read this. This post was specially dedicated to Ahmad Arifuddin, our brother who left Maahad for his better future just recently. I do hope that i wont be writing this again for another family member when the second intake comes.

Its the Memory that we all hold together.

The first time i met him as far as i could remember was when we debated against the motion THW shorten school hours. i remembered it clearly, it was at kelas 6 Rendah, with the boys against the girls. To be honest, it was the first timer for my speech too. He was sitting rite beside Azizul Hakim. I noticed him, for he reminded me of some chinese boy i used to recognise. And yes, i have to admit that i thought we were in the same boat at that time. He wasnt talking as fluently as he is rite now. In fact, he was stammering even when he has strong points to be delivered. and i thought; hey we could be friends, since i couldnt talk as fluent as Iman or Fakhry too. we could get out of this and learn together... yes, together.

As time passed, i couldnt help but noticed that he struggled for the fluency, and yet he never gave up. He was much into science subject, and having a tuned in brain was a blast for him. Even though he might be strugling for the fluency at first, no one did ever deny that he is strategy-wise in terms of building up the case. Before iiu came along, i might have guessed that he thought he was going there just to be an anlyser, the 4th speaker, or whatever they call us who do not speak. But in the end, Allah just knew better of what He has for all of us.

Tasnim was sick, and there was no time to call out for another Iman or someone to replace her. it was up to us, to use everything and whatever it is that we have right now. so Arifuddin had to replace Tasnim, n he was brainwashed by Fakhry to become a 3rd speaker just 2 days before going to iiu. I wasnt really in the picture and i didnt know the whole story, since i was quite packed with my own MTQ. but as i stepped my foot in iiu, i could see another whole different team hoping with every hope to do their best, never giving up when they had a loss with surprisingly a margin of ridiculous number 11... n they were Amira, Raihan, Arifuddin and Tasnim as a team. i wondered at that time to myself, where has gone the inferior lack-of-fluency Arifuddin before? it was as if no one could stop them from having one step closer towards the iiu trophy.

After iiu ended, none of us actually got hold of the iiu trophy. but we gained more than that, we gained a family. we had to sit for our mid term exams, but i could still hear them talking about the greatness they all felt in iiu. i could still hear how Arifuddin depicture the team going against Kisas, and other schools. And the best part, i could no longer see the old Arifuddin. The one who thinks he cant do it, the one who thinks he cant talk fluently, or the one who thinks he is just some 4th speaker and not part of the team. The old one had become a shadow, and now the new one has the stage shining upon him.

It was still a loss for me, that i didnt get to repeat the glory with my brother Arifuddin for the next upcoming iiu. instead, i promised him to beat his school whenever i get the chance to do so. Everyone in the team wishes u all the best, but never did we forget to ask u not to forget us. as for me, i could never looked at 4 ibs the same way i looked at it when this little brother is still there. the nagging k.wani would always call for Arifuddin and Azizul to tell them the recent news of debate, the sarcasm that we all feel as debaters in the school, or simply to inform them the next debate meeting we are going to do. Thank you for being there to be nagged Arifuddin =). most of all, Thank you for being there for this very sister of you.

Now, when i have finally let go of the grief, and accept the reality of losing a family, i could now laugh and say that we have more something in common than we have ever thought. Once upon a time we cant talk fluently, we have the same inferior feeling, and we used to stand in side by side as the 3rd Speakers of SMKA Maahad Hamidiah. Im proud to say to ur new school, that i have seen this kid growiing up more than the new school could ever see. Im proud to say that we grew up, learn the world, and see the outcome together. and that not the longest distance could ever part him from being there with us. Because He Is a Part of Us.....

What's The Greatest Thing thats Ever Happened to Me?

A Family.

Reasons why school debating is fun

This is just something to cheer everyone up. Hope you enjoy and get back that debating spirit of yours. (And I dont mean that you never had a spirit or else you'll be dead. LOL)

No exaggeration, No lies, just plain truth.

Caution : May induce constant forehead-slapping.
THW allow the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports.
Govt : “This debate is about whether or not we would allow athletes to take aspirin the night before a tournament to cure headache.” (headache only? fever?? period pain?? genital herpes?!)

THW ban zoos.
Govt : “We should ban zoos because humans think. Animals don’t!” (and…..?)
Govt : “We would only ban BAD zoos.” (What makes a zoo bad? The price? The smell? The cage? Too many monkeys?? WHAT….?)

THW include the 3rd-world countries in the fight against Global Warming.
Opp : “We want to preserve Global Warming!” (We do??”)

THW allow the use of torture on terrorists.
Opp: “Why would you want to torture terrorists? Do you want them to go crazy?”
Govt : “How can you say that all the crazy people are terrorists? Have you SEEN any crazy terrorists?” (This is exactly the point where ADJUDICATORS go crazy.)
Opp : “We would not torture terrorists, but we would put them in counselling and advise them. Also, we would show them the pictures of their families, and ask if they really love them….” (Hmmm…Terrorist Anonymous….very original, indeed!)
Govt : “We would use the truth serum on terrorists. What exactly is the truth serum? It is a substance that will make the terrorists subconsciously confess.” (Oh, we usually call it booze.)

THW abolish all race-based affirmative action in Malaysia.
Opp : “There is very limited rights to be given out. If we give the rights to the Indians, what about the Malays?” (Basic economic principle, guys)
Opp : “When your parents fall in love, they get married and go on a honeymoon. There, they will have sex. In the process, the sperms will race to get the ovum. But only one sperm will succeed, which is the strongest sperm. So it deserves the ovum.”
(Translation : Only certain groups of society are entitled to affirmative action… Thanks for the details, though!)
Opp : “The Chinese and the Tamil must understand the priviliges that the Malays enjoy.” (uhh…Tamil is a LANGUAGE, Aerie…Opps, no names, my bad!)

…Randomest TM Statements…

Govt : “The Government of Malaysia is stupid.”
Opp : “How can you say the Government is stupid? You ARE the Government!!” (Yeah, like DUH!)
Govt : “Nothing in the world is free. You even have to pay 20 cents to pee..” (The most logical analogy…and hey, it rhymes too..)

Qayser : POI!
Opp : Sit down, sir. I know you’re good looking.
Aerie : POI!
Opp : You too, sir. I know you’re good looking, too.
Fareez Shah : POI!
Opp : Please sit down.
Fareez Shah : Mr speaker, let me state how disappointed i am that the opposition failed to recognize the other good looking man in this room.

Opp : “We as the opposition today will ACTUALLY oppose the motion.” (REALLY…??)
Opp : POI!
Govt : Sit down.
Opp : Shame!
Govt : Shame on you too cuz you are like a child who’s mumbling through his POI! (oooh…personal)

National Novice Debating Championships 2009

Parent-child

`We would allow abortion for babies who are conjoined.’
P.O.I: For which trimester?
`What?’
P.O.I : Is there a time limit for when the mom is
allowed to abort?
`Of course. Two years!’

(Well I guess as long as it doesn’t eat solid food, it’s still a fetus??)

`If a dwarf mom has a baby, we will kill it.’
(Dwarf?? Kill?? Wow…political correctness is indeed a skill.)

`How can you say you want to abort deformed fetuses? Look
at Karpal Singh! He’s deformed and he’s in Parliament!’
(Ugh, firstly he’s handicapped not deformed. And secondly,
it’s a bit too late to abort him now, innit?)

`Deformed babies will cause bleeding to their mothers’ womb.
It’s true…’

`We want to include parents inside the children.’
(Eww.)

Environment

`The govt says they want to use cow dung as fertilizer. But
how are we going to do it? Who’s going to pick up the cow
dung? No one even wants to touch it!’
(Wow… talk about feasibility! )

Entertainment

`Chris Brown is not a violent man. You can tell from his
songs like when he says : With you i dont need money, i dont
need car, Girl you’re my all! See?’
(The logic of the MTV generation.)

`It’s normal for couples to fight like Katy Perry says, we
fight we break up,we kiss we make up.’

(Yes Katy Perry is indeed the love guru.)

It (reality tv) is real enough to make us cry when they cry, laugh when they laugh, heartbroken when they’re heartbroken.
Guys it’s real”

`In Joe Millionaire, the couple had a perfect date and kissed under the full moon. How can that NOT be fake?’

(Someone’s a cynic!)

`Britney is not even talented. She can’t sing and dance at the same time!’

And the rest (including some classic ones from the previous tourney.)

`We believe that the end meets the meet!’

`Why make the UN do it? Why not PBB?’

Govt : The Sultans don’t need our money! They are rich by birth!
Opp : Where do they get this money? From a treasure hunt?

The Leaders' everyday use point

Wanna know a little secret?

If you pay attention closely in any debate, it's like as if your rewinding the same arguments over and over again, just in different words or something synonym with the base word.

So why is it like that? well to make things simple for you actually in this world there is only one sure road to solving everything. For We Muslims our solution would only be words from Allah (the Qur'an and the Sunnah), while other people would use a simple everyday phrase that could win any debate: Logics.

Ever heard the phrase:

"What's so many people think that Islam is an illogical religion is because it is build on the basis of logics"

But that's not what we will be discussing in this post, rather I will be telling the very frequent points you could use in any debate, no matter how dumb or how high class they are, because to put in a nutshell you always use it weather you realize it or not. (Ok, so maybe there are some debates you can't use this, but the majority stays with these 4 points)

For Peacemakers/First Speakers the simple point you could use in any debate is the point under the keyword : Objective.

Objective, Mission, Vision, Goal, Significance call it anything you want, the reality is that (great) first speakers use this phrase (or something synonym with it) in their substantive arguments.

And here's the backlash:
If you don't give a point like this such, then your not doing your role as a first speaker i.e to introduce your side of the debate. Because points like this introduce your case without much talk.

Why in the world would you as a first speaker (FYI your role is to introduce your case) and then you go on and jump into an "extension type point" (I'll tell this later on) and somehow tell a whole different point then your main case. (No wonder the judges are always laughing, LOL)

But don't get confused, this is not just the only argument a first speaker could give out. You can use more than one point, this is even encourage or maybe even a win loose situation if you don't give out this other second point: Significance.

Ok maybe I just repeated that, but just to explain that when you give out a point like "Objective" then this the introduction of your side of the motion (How you look at the motion), whilst the point about the "Significance" is more towards you burden of proof (How you are going to win the motion). Don't get it? Ok so here's a simple example:

"THBT academic qualification ensures success in life"

A simple stand alone motion. Now firstly about the " Objective" point. When introducing the motion, both Government and Opposition first speakers can give this point, but in a different way.

Our PM might say that the "objective" of an academic qualification is so that the students can learn first, learn as much as they want, then test them on the theoretical knowledge so it could become practical. The higher the theoretical knowledge of someone shows that he will eventually know how to do it practically. That's the government side of "Objective"

Now the OL will also say something about "objective", but in a different perspective. First and for most, the OL will surely say that the PM's "objective" isn't actually plausible or is just not happening. and in some way that"s their point about "objective". They say that if this is the objective of academic qualification, then that's just not happening simply because it's only theoretical and not practical, as many people learn they just can't practice it because they are stuck with a book on their heads (Ouch).

Lets try something else:
"THBT Donald Duck should put on a pair of pants"

Now the key is to be creative, you've gotta think outside the box. So the objective or in a better keyword "the reason" of the designers didn't put a pair of trousers for Donald Duck is so he could be "famous" (or in other words, if your not wearing a pair of pants people will think back of Donald Duck). So if you were the PM then you would say that the reason you want Donald to put on some pants is because he would be famous, like mickey (FYI he's wearing pants).

And if you were the OL then you would say that Donald's already famous in his own character (have you never seen Donald having his own TV show or base on him?).
So eventually that becomes the basis of the your arguments and most important: the Debate.

Now I'm really sorry because about the significance point I'm not able to post it right now as it goes under the "burden of proof" topic, which I'll post as soon as possible.

I'm back

I opened my eyes

smelled the fresh air.....

and I saw what needed to be done.

We have a job, an obligation to ourselves

To never quit

nor to turn back

nor to give up.

Because it's either we give up, or we keep on fighting.

And if we fight

What is there to loose????

When somebody like me has just lost everything before

yet wont loose it again

I'm BACK