Singapore has come out tops in an annual international debating
competition which featured participants from 53 nations this
year.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced the win and congratulated
the Singapore team on their victory in a statement on Thursday.
The World Schools Debating Championships, which is the largest
international tournament for debaters aged 14 to 19, was held here
over 10 days from July 27. It ended on Thursday.
The five-member Singapore team consisted of Arthur Lee ,17, from
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Bryan Yan, 17, from Hwa Chong
Institution, and Chong Ee Hsiun,18, Ernest Goh,18, and Samuel
Loh,17 from Raffles Institution.
They were led by their coach, Mrs Geetha Creffield, Head of
Department for Arts at Anglo-Chinese Junior College, and team
manager Miss Evelyn Woels, senior curriculum specialist at MOE.
Bryan and Ernest also garnered top accolades for their overall
performance in the competition by ranking 4th and 8th respectively
out of 250 competing debaters.
Mrs Creffield said: " I am very proud of the students, who have
shown extreme grit and determination, made full use of their skills
and knowledge, as well worked hand-in-hand as a team despite the
challenging process."
The team from Canada was at the second spot, while Pakistan came in
third.
This is the second time time that Singapore has won the
competition, which is in its 27th year. Singapore scored its first
victory in 2011 when the competition was held in Scotland. The
Republic has been a regular participant in the competition since
1995.
Each participating nation submits a team of five students to debate
social, moral and political issues.
ST