Bulletin Spring 1990

Eight Wins and No Defeats The CUHK Debating Team Over the last two years the CUHK Debating Team (Cantonese team) has remained undefeated. The 15- member team won eight out of nine debating contests with other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and Macao and the ninth one ended in a draw. In those nine contests, moreover, five different CUHK students were separately selected best speaker for a total of eight times. Their most recent victory was achieved in the Seventh Inter-postsecondary Debate held on 11th March 1990. The team beat its Hong Kong Polytechnic counterpart in the finals and captured the champion trophy. The Inter-postsecondary Debate is organized annually by Radio Television Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Federation of Students to encourage students to use their analytical power and think independently. Eleven postsecondary institutions, including the two universities and the two polytechnics, took part in this year's competition. The motion for the finals was The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China Should Disband'. The CUHK team was speaking against the motion and there were seven adjudicators. The CUHK team won by a margin of 5:2, and Mr. Alex Siu was selected best speaker in the contest. That was the team's second victory in the same contest in two years. Dr. Chan Wing Ming, lecturer in Chinese Language and Literature and chief coach of the debating team since 1988, attributes the team's overall success to the high calibre of the team members, the support they obtain from the University through the Office of Student Affairs, and the encouragement they receive from many CUHK alumni. ‘All of the team members are eloquent and intelligent young men and women genuinely interested in the art of debate. I am impressed by the enthusiasm, dedication and sense of responsibility they exhibit in the training sessions. It makes my coaching duty such a pleasure,' Dr. Chan says. According to Dr. Chan, members joi n the team on a voluntary basis, and they have regular weekly training sessions. When the team has to prepare for a certain contest, the number of training sessions may go up to three per week, each time from about 7.00 p.m. to midnight. 'What is most touching is that some alumni make a special effort to STUDENTS 21