Humanitarian Law against ME?! No Way!

12-14 June 2009
UiTM Shah Alam

A debate i was very eager to participate but don't have any clue actually bout it, i mean,

WHAT DA HECK IS INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW (IHL)??!!
AND WHAT IS ICRC?!

The answers came shortly after that.

Friday after breakfast, i drove my Kancil to Shah Alam and arrived at the scene in an hour's time.
All is well. My teammates, as usual;

Nafeesa, and my newly known friend, Ulya from RMC.
Our team's name is INTEC 1

At first, my intuition told me its gonna be an inter varsity debate between Malaysian's Unis, but i was wrong.

NUS (National University of Singapore), Ateneo from Phillipines, Somalia, and a team from Thailand!!

THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIP!!

Good thing there's a team from RMC (2 form5 n 1 form4 students), or else we'll be the only youngest participant there.

So after our Friday prayers, began the first round.

INTEC 1 vs IIUM 2
Its a dream come true! ive always dreamt of debating against them, and now i got the chance to debate against
bro Faiz, bro Zamir and sis Zaimah

But we lost and it was a clear debate, which means the gap score is really far.
Second debate that afternoon against UiTM 4.
This round was really interesting, coz there were many giggles and excitement in our speeches.
But we lost anyway. Still, i saw myself altering there and it boosted my motivation BIG TIME.

That night, i checked-in at INTECMA Resort (Naf n Ulya stays in INTEC). i was told i will be sharing a room with an adjudecator from UTP, Kong.

As i got into the lift (my room is 4th floor), a woman got in as well and we got off at the 4th floor. As i turned to my room's direction, she made a quizzical face.

Me : sumthing wrong, miss? Saphira: what is ur room number? Me : 542A. wats ur room number? Saphira: 542B. Me : huh?! we cant b in the same room are we? Saphira: i dunno. lets see. Checking... Saphira: uh-oh. same room, i guess. Me : oh (fidgetting nervously). ok. Then, Kong opened the door and showed us there is two separate rooms, A n B. "And we're supposed to share the house with HER?!" heart-speaking. That was really my first and i will say my last time staying in a house with a woman! What an experience! But, we seldom meet in the house, so we didnt actually felt it.

Next day, another debate awaits.
i waited for my teammates to arrive.
when it was 8.15am, i was worried. And i was so perplexed to find out that Ulya got stuck in his room! That delayed them!

3rd round

INTEC1 vs UiTM Tganu1

It got more fun and i actually became soOO animated coz i could actually synchronize with the rush of euphoria coursing through my veins!!!
And we WON!! Alhamdulillah!!!

4th round

INTEC1 vs UiTM 2

Over my 3 years in debating, this is the FIRST time ever i got blank. 4min 56sec, that's short! All bcoz i dunno wat the H**L the motion was about:

THBT Mahendra Rajapaksa and General Sarrath Fonseka should be Charged for Crime of Genocide

Do you know what the adjudecator adviced me to? Just put crap into my speech, keep speaking!

And in this final prelim round, i was abit demotivated but i did my best.

INTEC1 vs UiTM Tganu1 (again!)

Here, we lost to them coz we obviously lack information.

With 1win n 4lost, we definitely wont break for the quarterfinals. So, no need to come next day, Naf n Ulya concluded.
After that 5th round, both of them got back to INTEC, leaving me alone.... (But, so did the RMC students, leaving only 1 of them,Syed Sadiq to hang out with me)

That night, there was a BBQ dinner. We were supposed to socialize, but since i was the youngest around, i felt alienated. Syed was there for awhile and then he disappeared. Then i was really alone. i chatted with the HELP team i knew for awhile, and sat by myself. Suddenly, Ikmal, the UiTM Tganu debater approached me, pulled me into his group, and boy! was i socializing! Credits to Ikmal for that. i made new friends, Farah (uitm mlaka), Azrul (iium), Afiq (iium), Arun, Kong (UTP), Sofea (iium), Serphy (Bangladesh), Sarah, Saphira (uitm penang) and afew i forgot to get their names. Since i was the youngest and they noticed my Lego on my KISAS ELS bag, i quickly got into the spotlight. Hahaha! (Mcm budak kecik rasanya, tp ana xbape kisah) After the dinner, all of us are invited to a party at the resort. But, you all can imagine a party beside the pool at 11.00pm. i didnt go. No way! That night, i chatted a bit with my housemates before turning in on the cozy bed in my chilly room. It was 12.00am when i closed my eyes.
Next day, i stayed for the quarterfinals. Must watch NUS (Singapore) coz for your information, Singaporeans are involved in debates since primary schools. So, you can predict just how advanced they are.
Anyway, on that day, i was alone again coz my teammates dont wanna come and Syed was nowhere.

Got home after 12.00pm coz im going to my auntie's house with my family.
Before closing, here's the breaking team for the finals (u dont wanna know who're the quarterfinalists im sure):

King George V (KGV) vs IIUM 1
KGV is a secondary school (sekolah menengah)

Lessons that ive learnt throughout the competition are:
1. U'll never get anywhere if u lack of knowledge. Keep updated and reading!
2. Wanna know what's the use of socializing? It prevents u from being alone!
3. Now i know how lonely it is to drive in a car. I rather ride a bike and now i really appreciate it.
4. If you had to be under one roof with a woman but u dont want to, keep urself to urself!
5. Synchronizing ur thoughts with ur teammates is a crucial element in teamwork. Takes time.
6. Ever question the time when ur ready for sumthing? U gotta b saying "BRING IT ON!" no matter what it is.
7. Never underestimate or overestimate others.
8. 'Tipu sunat' exists in certain circumstances.
9. Have faith in everything and everyone.

DEBATE
[D=Decisive,E=Evaluation,B=Bring it on,A=Attractive,T=Teamwork,E=Engaging}