Renaissance College Debating Society

Prepping for SILVER FINALS!

Thanks Christy for the fantastic photos!

RCHK BREAKS INTO HKSDC SILVER DIVISION GRAND FINALS!

2 RCHK teams debated at the 9th Junior HKSDC today and did extremely well. RCHK 1, made up of Jimmy Chu, Ryan Leung, Sum Chuen Li and Anushka Purohit, broke 1st- a fantastic achievement considering that this was the first debate tournament for the majority of the team! Unfortunately they were defeated by DGS 1 in the Gold division quarter finals after a gallant fight.

RCHK 2, made up of Dora Cheung, Bryan Huang, Clarisa Huang and Eugene Park, earned a place in the Silver division Grand Final after prevailing over Po Leung K*k Laws Foundation College and Australian International School in the quarter and semi finals respectively.

Congratulations also to Clarisa for ranking 6th, Ryan for ranking 3rd and Jimmy for ranking 2nd!

Thanks also to Alex Soo, Sarika Mahbubani, Dexter Leung, Jeremy Huang, Gregory Lloyd, Kevin Chung, Ike Jin Park and Hazel Leung for giving up their Saturday to assist the junior debaters and for putting in time over the week to help them prepare.

RCHK 2 will be facing DBS on finals night (date TBC), debating the motion 'THBT penalties for animal abuse should equal those of child abuse'. Good luck to the team as they embark on their preparations for this final round!

Despite looming exams and horrible weather, Dora Cheung, Jessica Lau, Ryan Yu, Eugene Park and Bryan Huang competed in the St Joseph's College Junior Debate Tournament today! The team, guided by Bryan Huang, faced MCS, DGS and SIS today. Although they only won their friendly debate, it was a great educational experience and the entire team learnt a lot from going against such worthy opponents.

Considering that this was the first tournament for Dora, Jessica, Ryan and Eugene, they did extremely well and we are immensely proud of them for participating and giving it their all. We also commend Bryan on the guidance and initiative he provided today to the less experienced members of the team; it has been an absolute privilege seeing him develop over the past few months.

Special thanks to Ike Jin Park and Hazel Leung for accompanying the team and adjudicating debates today. Thanks also to Mr Yu for providing moral support. Last but not least, thank you to St Joseph's for hosting a quality tournament! We look forward to the continued improvement and development of our junior debaters and hope that this tournament marks the first of many :)

RCHK sent 2 teams today to the LPCUWC Debating Tournament and both teams managed to do extremely well. Both RCHK 1 and 2 managed to break 2nd and 3rd respectively and faced off against each other in the semi-finals, with RCHK 2 earning a place in the grand finals. RCHK 2 debated against HKIS as opposition on the motion 'THW prefer an enlightened dictatorship over a democracy'. They ultimately emerged victorious after a strenuous day of debating! Well done to Bryan Huang, Audrey Foo and Sarika Mahbubani for their excellent performance in the grand finals!

Congratulations also to Joshua Ng for ranking 5th, Hazel Leung for ranking 3rd and Sarika Mahbubani for ranking 1st! It was one of the most successful tournaments that we've participated in this year so well done to all the debaters involved! Many thanks also to Gregory Lloyd who came along and adjudicated the debates.

(The debaters involved were: Clarisa Huang, Ike Jin Park, Sarika Mahbubani, Audrey Foo, Dewey Lee, Alex Soo, Bryan Huang, Hazel Leung and Joshua Ng)

Thank you to the Island School debaters for two entertaining debates! Special thanks to Lisbeth Blomkvist Sapientia for accommodating us at IS; we hope to pay back the favour in the near future!

RC 1, made up of Jeremy Huang and Hazel Leung, managed to break into the Grand Finals of the Hong Kong British Parliamentary Debating Championships 2014. They were OG, debating the motion 'THBT Edward Snowden deserves the Nobel Peace Prize'. Although they did not win, the tournament was a great introduction to a new style of debating and they hope to further develop their skills in the BP format

Team RCHK debated the motion: 'The individual visitor scheme for mainland visitors should not be expanded' as side opposition at City University on December 7th. The team of Claudia Leung, Joshua Ng and Ike Jin Park emerged victorious over CCC Heep Woh College.

8 grand final teams were back in the PAC on Tuesday November 19th to battle it out in the Crystal, Bronze, Silver and Gold divisions. Congratulations to all teams for making it this far!

Renaissance College went against Diocesan Girls School in the Gold Finals, debating the motion 'THBT the USA should cease its drone programme'. The team, consisting of Audrey Foo, Sarika Mahbubani and Alex Soo went against Diocesan Girls' School in an extremely challenging and close debate. Sarika was awarded best speaker and Renaissance College ultimately emerged victorious!

Well done to Audrey, Sarika, Alex, Dexter Leung and Jimmy Chu for being the only undefeated team in the 8th Junior HKSDC! Thanks also to Joshua Wang, formerly of Yew Chung International School for spending the time and effort to coach the RCHK junior team. Thanks also to all the spectators, parents and audience members for supporting the RCHK team throughout the evening-we could not have done it without your support and help!

After 72 gruelling debates in 5 rounds, from 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, with 32 school teams and over 200 debaters, 8 finalists in 4 leagues (gold, silver, bronze and crystal) have emerged.

AT THE TOP OF THE PACK, as the only team with an unbeaten 5 win record, and an unanimously strong 3-0 victory at the semi-finals, is team RCHK! We were faced with very tough opposition including the traditional powerhouse schools of Chinese International, German Swiss, and South Island. These schools have all fielded teams to international tournaments and students to the HK team for world level championships since the 1980s... so we are doing very well as the new kid on the block.

Our talented and proud ladies and gentlemen are: Audrey Foo (Twice best speaker cup winner of this tournament), Sarika Mahbubani (HK national squad), Alex Soo, Dexter Leung, and Jimmy Chu.

So we hope to see you back in the PAC, on the evening of Tuesday Nov 19 for the gold divisions final. We are opposing the motion "This house believes that the USA should cease its drone program" against Diocesan Girls School. We should be able to keep the momentum going, bring along a big crowd, and maximise our home advantage to gain the cup!

Photo credits: Shirley Foo

Our junior team fiercely prepping for the 8th Jr HKSDC to be held at Renaissance College with their coach Joshua Wang!