4th Overall Best Speaker.

I’ve left this blog for nearly a year. But last night I decided to continue writing. Anyway, who cares?

Before that, this 2^nd block of first year is relatively as tough as the 1^st block, but I don’t see any increment in my frequency of study, yet I leave my room more often and I made my weekends more busy. Err.

Debate.

From left: Sarah, Jannah, Syazwan, Kareem, Hafiz, Hasna. I tell you, they are awesome!

My very first tournament in University level just ended last 29^th January 2012; it’s the 1^st East Coast Debating Cup 2012. And IIUM team did perform very well.

IIUM 1 broke as Semi-finalist

IIUM 2 broke as Quarter-finalist

IIUM overall speakers ranking:

1^st – Sarah

3^rd – Kareem

4^th – Jannah

6^th – Hafiz

10^th – Hasna

11^th – Syazwan

I’m very proud to be in a team with you guys but sadly, most of them are reaching their final years. We have just a very little time more to spend together as debaters.

This is indeed my very first achievement in debate. I’m not very much happy, but I’m grateful that it marked my improvement since I left my debating career for almost 3 years. I’m not sure what I really felt though my heart beat very fast and my hands were cold when I went on the stage to get the prize. I was like, is this for real?

When I first joined the debate club here, I only knew Kareem. Accidentally he was invited to adjudicate in MUSLEH ISDC and we met there when I was one of the runners. Then I knew Sarah who is very much helpful to fetch me at Tabari and go for training together. There is also Raheela and Fatimah, Hafiz and Syazwan, Hannan and Abid. The only debater in my batch is Kamal whom I knew since in CFS but we never talked. I just realized that I am very blessed to get to know these people when we went out for dinner together the night the debate ended to celebrate ourselves. I really am looking forward to more precious time we’ll be spending together as IIUM team.

Coming up next: NOVICE 2012. Go Raheela and Fatimah! J

Debaters, I just hope that when God POI-ed us on The Day when our feet, hands, legs, eyes, ears and hairs are giving speech on our best arguments to defend the case of all the things we did in this world, we could answer it as smooth as we did in any of our best-est debate tournament. Then I’m sure, we’ll be granted the best prize than any of the world-class tournaments have to offer. But yeah, on that day, we couldn’t be a team anymore, and couldn’t help each other L

When I started to wonder why I need to continue debating, then I’ll remember Ustazah Hawanis’s speech in one of SMIH Debate camps: The real urge that man needs to have critical thinking is from Al-Quran itself. Why do other people take the challenge more than we do?

True. Go and see any debating scenes. How many of them are real Muslims who claim to have been taught by the best Way-of-Life Guidance Book and obey the Almighty that controls the Universe?

The numbers are not more than you counting your fingers.

And I never think Ustazah Kamaliah wants us to debate only for the school. So I'm moving on.