Singapore Bid Document for WSDC 2015

7/29/2019 Singapore Bid Document for WSDC 2015

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Photo courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board

Introducon ..

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Why Singapore? . 3

Why 2015? . 3

Provisional metable . 4

Accommodaon . 5

Key members of the bid commiee . 6

Advisers to the bid commiee . 10

Financial maers 11

Debang and educaon in Singapore . 13

Singapores involvement in WSDC 14

Memories of the last WSDC in Singapore . 16

General informaon about Singapore .17

Endorsements .. 21

Fun facts .. 26


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Greengs to the members of the World Schools Debang Championships community!

This document outlines the details of Singapores bid to host the championship in 2015.

Singapore rst parcipated in WSDC in 1995 and has sent a team to the compeon every year since then so 2015

will mark the 20th anniversary of Singapores entry into the championships.

Even more signicantly, 2015 will also be the 50th anniversary of Singapores independence. It will be a year of cele-braons in our small island naon, and hence a great year for us to welcome the WSDC community to our country.

We have hosted the championship once before, back in 2002, so we have the experience of having organised the

event. Our bid commiee includes a few individuals who were key members of the organising commiee back in

2002 along with a number of new people, and we would love the opportunity to deliver a great event for the WSDC

community in 2015.

We have a large and very enthusiasc pool of schools in Singapore who are involved in our local debang circuit

who will relish the opportunity to host WSDC debates. Warm welcomes and large audiences for debates can be

guaranteed at all the host schools.

Singapore is also a cultural melng pot with many excing things for visitors to see and do. We hope to be able toshare all of this with the WSDC community in our naons golden jubilee year.

Details of our bid can also be found at our Facebook page www.facebook.com/SingaporeBidWSDC2015. If you

have any quesons about our bid, please feel free to e -mail the bid commiee at [email protected].

Several members of our bid commiee will also be at the 2013 championship in Antalya and will be happy to talk to

anyone who is there and answer any quesons. So if theres anything youd like to know, please ask.

Thanks for reading our bid document. We hope to be welcoming you in Singapore in 2015.


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A convenient travel desnaon

Located right at the centre of Southeast Asia and boasng one of the worlds best airports, Singapore will be a conven-

ient desnaon for vising delegaons to travel to with direct ights from most of the worlds major airports.

An easy place to get around

As a small city state with excellent transport facilies, the venues for virtually all debates and social events will be within

half an hours travelling distance of each other.

Strong debang tradions

Singapore has a very well established school debang circuit with over 100 schools taking part in WSDC -format inter-

school debang compeons every year. Singapore can oer:

- A large number of schools with excellent facilies and enthusiasc students and sta who will be delighted to

host rounds of the championships. Singapores schools are well known for being eciently organised and ex-

tremely welcoming to visitors.

-

A wide network of experienced local debate judges who are very familiar with the WSDC debate format to com-plement the internaonal judging pool and help ensure good quality judging panels for every debate.

A city well prepared for big events

Singapore is used to hosng major events. For example, the country hosted the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010.

With modern, well equipped schools and excellent infrastructure and conferencing facilies, Singapore has everything

needed to host a world-class educaonal event.

A cultural experience

As a diverse and mul-cultural island naon, we can assure parcipants an outstanding cultural as well as educaonal

experience.

A great place to visit

Numerous places of interest and places to shop will be within easy reach of the championship hotel.

A strong organising team

Singapore has hosted WSDC once before back in 2002. Our bid commiee includes some people who were key mem-

bers of the 2002 organising commiee who know exactly what it takes to run this event, along with other individuals who

will bring new ideas, energy and enthusiasm. The bid commiee includes a mix of people who work for the Ministry of

Educaon, other areas of the civil service and the private sector who have the experience and the connecons and, most

importantly, a passionate desire to put together a great WSDC event.

A signicant year for Singapore

2015 is the 50th anniversary of Singapores independence. We look forward to sharing this occasion with the internaon-

al debang community.

A signicant year for our debang community

2015 is also the 20th anniversary of Singapores rst parcipaon in WSDC a signicant milestone for the Singapore

debang community which we would love mark by hosng the event.

An organising team in placeOur bid commiee is made up of people who are commied to pung in the me necessary over the next 2 years to

organise an outstanding championship.

Why Singapore?

Why 2015?

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Day 1 Monday, 20th July 2015

Arrivals

Registraon

Day 2 Tuesday, 21st July 2015

Opening day acvies for teams

Training workshop for adjudicators

Opening ceremony

Day 3 Wednesday, 22nd July 2015

Debate rounds 1 & 2

Day 4 Thursday, 23rd July 2015

Debate rounds 3 & 4

Day 5 Friday, 24th July 2015

Debate rounds 5 & 6

Day 6 Saturday, 25th July 2015

Bye-round (if necessary)

Tours and acvies

Day 7 Sunday, 26th July 2015

Debate rounds 7 & 8

Break night party

Day 8 Monday, 27th July 2015

Octo-nals

Tournament Commiee meeng part 1

Oponal tours/acvies for teams in the aernoon

Day 9 Tuesday, 28th July 2015

Quarter-nals

Semi-nals

Day 10 Wednesday, 29th July 2015

Tournament Commiee meeng part 2

Grand Final

Closing dinner

Day 11 Thursday, 30th July 2015

Departures

Note:

Social events will be added to the schedule

on a number of the evenings

Provisional schedule

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The parcipants will be accommodated

at 2 hotels close Singapores city centre

the Copthorne Kings Hotel and the

Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel

both of which are located across the

street from each other on opposite sides

of Havelock Road (with a footbridge go-

ing over the road to make moving be-

tween the 2 hotels easy).

Delegaons will be kept together, with

each naons delegaon being assigned

to stay in either the Copthorne Kings or

the Grand Copthorne Waterfront. Most

parcipants will stay in twin rooms,

though single and triple rooms will also

be available. All rooms will have private

en-suite bathrooms and free wireless

internet access. The facilies of both ho-

tels will be available to WSDC parci-

pants, and all parcipants will come to-

gether every morning in one of the ho-

tels ballrooms for breakfast and a daily

brieng session.

Both hotels have their own restaurants,

swimming pools, jacuzzis, gymnasiums,

gi shops and business centres. The

Grand Copthorne also has tennis courts

and the Copthorne Kings also has a mini

golf-pung green.

The hotels are located by the banks of

the Singapore River. The Great World City

shopping complex (one of Singapore larg-

est shopping malls with numerous shops

and restaurants and a mul-screen cine-

ma) is less than 5 minutes walk away.

Clarke Quay, Robertson Quay and China

Town are about 10 minutes walk from

the hotels, and Singapores main shop-

ping street, Orchard Road, is a short bus

ride away (with regular shule buses

from Great World City).

The central locaon of the hotels will

mean that virtually all the debate and

social event venues for the champion-

ships will be within half an hours travel-

ling distance by coach.

www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/

copthornekingssingapore

www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/

grandcopthornewaterfront

Accommodaon

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Proposed Co-Convenor Mark Gabriel

Mark Gabriel served on the organising commiee of WSDC 2002 in Singapore as the Tourna-

ment Director, and was the Co-Chief Adjudicator of WSDC 2007 in Seoul. He has been a

judge at 9 WSDCs since 2000 and has served on the World Schools Debang Council Execu-ve Commiee (the commiee now know as the Tournament Execuve) as the Vice-

Chairman (2007-08) and Secretary (2002-07).

Within Singapore, Mark is currently the Tournament Director of the Singapore Secondary

Schools Debang Championships (the naonal championship for students aged 12 -16) and

the Chief Adjudicator of the Ministry of Educaon-ACJC Intercollegiate Debang Champion-

ships (the naonal championship for students aged 16-18), and is a former Vice-President

and Treasurer of Debate Associaon Singapore. He is currently a teacher and director of an

educaonal business and regularly conducts debang, public speaking and communicaon

skills courses in schools throughout Singapore.

Mark was an acve compeve debater for the University of London as an undergraduate

and Cambridge University as a postgraduate, and was a Grand Finalist at the European Uni-

versies Debang Championships in 1999 in Roerdam.

E-mail: [email protected]

Proposed Co-Convenor Evelyn Woels

Evelyn Woels is a Senior Curriculum Specialist in the English Language Unit at Singapores

Ministry of Educaon, and currently oversees key aspects of the Ministrys involvement in

debang.

Evelyn has been the Team Manager of Singapores WSDC team since 2006, and has aended

WSDC 7 mes in this capacity. Singapore has enjoyed considerable success at WSDC during

Evelyns me as Team Manager, winning the championship in 2011, nishing runners-up in

2007, reaching the semi-nals on 3 further occasions, and producing the tournaments top-

ranked individual speaker in 2011 and 2012.

Evelyn is also currently one of the ocers at the ministry responsible for running the Minis-

try of Educaon-ACJC Intercollegiate Debang Championships (Singapores naonal champi-

onship for students aged 16-18).


Key members of the bid commiee

Image courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board

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Proposed Co-Chief Adjudicator Aaron Maniam

Aaron Maniam previously served as the Chief Adjudicator of WSDC in 2008 in Washington

DC, and will be one of the Co -Chief Adjudicators at WSDC 2013 in Antalya.

Aaron rst aended WSDC as a debater in 1997 in Bermuda, where he was a member of the

Singapore team which reached the semi-nals. He was the co-coach of Singapores WSDC

team in 2003 in Lima, where the team reached the Grand Final.

Within Singapore, Aaron is a former Chief Adjudicator of the Singapore Secondary Schools

Debang Championships and a former President of Debate Associaon Singapore. He cur-

rently works as the Director of the Instute for Policy Development at Singapores Civil Ser-

vice College. He has previously served as Deputy Director of Singapores Strategic Policy

Oce, and as First Secretary (Polical) at the Singapore Embassy in Washington DC. He was

a recipient of the Singapore Youth Award in 2012 for his volunteer work as a youth mentor.

He is also a published poet, and his debut collecon of poetry, Morning at Memorys Border,

was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize in 2007.

As an undergraduate student at Oxford University, Aaron served as the Chairman of the Ox-

ford Unions Debates Selecon Commiee and was a member of the team which won the

European Universies Debang Championships in 2000 in Aberdeen.


Note:

If the bid is successful,

Aaron will serve as

one of two Chief Adju-

dicators.

A second Chief Adju-dicator from outside

Singapore will be

nominated at a later

date.

Proposed Organising Commiee Secretary Dr Vernie Oliveiro

Vernie Oliveiro was the Co-Chief Adjudicator of WSDC 2002 in Singapore. She was a debater

on Singapores team at WSDC in 1996 in Canberra and in 1997 in Bermuda, reaching the

semi-nals on both occasions. Since then, she has since aended WSDC as a judge on 7 oc-

casions.

Vernie completed a PhD in the Department of History at Harvard University in 2011. She

now works as a researcher at Singapores Civil Service College. She is a former Secretary of

Debate Associaon Singapore and a regular judge at schools debang compeons in Singa-

pore.


Proposed Organising Commiee Treasurer Anil Singh

Anil Singh currently works as a Business Development Manager in Singapore. His interest in

debang was ignited through his daughters, both of whom were very acve debaters on the

inter-school circuit in Singapore. His elder daughter Rohini was a member of Singapores

WSDC team in 2001 and 2002 (and was ranked the number 2 speaker of the tournament in

2002).

Anil served as the Treasurer of Debate Associaon Singapore for 4 years, and has strongly

supported the development of school-level debang in Singapore over the past several

years.


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Proposed Communicaons & Registraon Ocer

Samuel Myat San

Samuel Myat San debated at WSDC 2000 in Pisburgh as the captain of the Singapore team

which reached the quarter-nals. He subsequently went on to Harvard University, where he

was the Vice-President of the Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society and won

mulple tournaments on the parliamentary debate circuit in the US, including the 2006 Unit-

ed States Universies Debang Championships (the US naonal tournament for Brish Par-

liamentary debang). He has also returned to WSDC as a judge.

Sam is currently a professional debate coach in Singapore. He previously served as the Assis-

tant Director of the Intellectual Property Division at Singapores Ministry of Law, and as First

Secretary at the Singapore High Commission in New Delhi. He is a former Secretary of De-

bate Associaon Singapore.


Proposed Logiscs Ocer Lucas Li

Lucas Li was a debater on the Singapore team at WSDC 2005 in Calgary, reaching the octo -

nals. He subsequently went on to debate for Brown University in the United States as an

undergraduate and Cambridge University in England as a postgraduate, winning mulple

debate tles. He has also judged at numerous school- and university-level debang tourna-

ments.

Lucas is currently a manager in the Natural Resources Division of Internaonal Enterprise

Singapore (a statutory board of Singapores Ministry of Trade and Industry). He is also exten-

sively involved in coaching debang teams, judging at tournaments, and organising schoolsdebate events and debate training workshops in Singapore.


Proposed Organising Commiee Member Geetha Creeld

Geetha Creeld was the coach of the very rst Singapore team to compete at WSDC in

1995. Since then, she has coached Singapores team on 11 further occasions including the

2011 tournament in Dundee where Singapore won the championships, and the 2003 compe-

on in Lima where Singapore nished runners-up. Members of her teams have also n-

ished as the top-ranked speaker at WSDC 3 mes (in 2001, 2011 and 2012).

Geetha has also aended 3 WSDCs as a judge. She was the Vice -Chairman of World Schools

Debang Council Execuve Commiee from 2008-09, and is currently on the Board of Direc-

tors of WSDC Ltd.

Geetha was the founding President of Debate Associaon Singapore and is a former Chief

Adjudicator of the Singapore Secondary Schools Debang Championships. She is currently

the Head of Arts at Anglo-Chinese Junior College in Singapore. She was a recipient of Singa-

pores Presidents Award for Teachers in 1998.


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Proposed Organising Commiee Member Teoh Teik Kee

Teoh Teik Kee is currently a director of 3 listed companies in Singapore and Hong Kong. He is

a London-trained Chartered Accountant, and has held senior management roles in banking

and stock-broking rms in Singapore and Malaysia.

Teik Kees son, Teoh Ren Jie, was a member of Singapores WSDC team for 5 years from

2008-12. (Ren Jie was the captain of the Singapore team which won the 2011 championships

in Dundee, and was the tournaments top -ranked speaker in both 2011 and 2012.) Teik Kee

aended WSDC as an observer in all 5 of the years in which Ren Jie debated at the compe-

on, and is now very excited about helping to bring the event in Singapore.


If the bid is successful, the individuals listed here will form the core of the organising commiee.Further members will then be added to the organising commiee during the coming months.


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Adviser Loke Wing Fa

Loke Wing Fa is a Singaporean debate trainer who has been the coach of Chinas WSDC

team since 2010. He is currently the President of the Society for Associated Inter -Terary

Debaters (SAID), a Singapore-based non-prot organisaon which organises training events

and tournaments for school and university debaters across Asia. A former secondary school

teacher in Singapore, he has conducted debang workshops in over a dozen dierent coun-

tries over the past 2 decades and has established debang compeons in various naons,

including the China Naonal High School Debang Championships. He has been made an

Honorary Professor at both North-Eastern University and the Beijing University of Technolo-

gy for his signicant contribuons to developing debate educaon in China. He is also a Fel-

low of the World Debate Instute at the University of Vermont.

Adviser Li Shengwu

Li Shengwu was a debater on the Singapore team which reached the Grand Final of WSDC

2003 in Lima. He has since returned to WSDC as a judge on 2 occasions.

Shengwu was a member of the Oxford University team which won the European Universies

Debang Championships in 2009 in Newcastle. He was also a Grand Finalist at World Univer-

sies Debang Championships in 2010 in Antalya, where he was ranked the Best Speaker of

the Tournament. He was a Deputy Chief Adjudicator at the European Universies Debang

Championships in 2011 Galway, and is due to be the Chief Adjudicator of that compeon in

2013 in Manchester.

Shengwu is currently a student at Stanford University, where he is working towards a PhD in

Economics.

Adviser Jonathan Yuen

Jonathan Yuen is a lawyer who is currently a Partner in the Commercial Ligaon Pracce

Group and the Head of the Intellectual Property and Technology Group at Harry Elias Part-nership LLP, one of Singapores largest law rms.

Jonathan was a debater on the very rst Singapore team to compete at WSDC back in 1995

in Cardi, where his team reached the quarter-nals. He went on to debate at university

level for the Naonal University of Singapore, where he was the captain of the universitys

debang team.

Jonathan remains very acvely involved with schools debang in Singapore today. He is cur-

rently the co-ordinator of the annual Harry Elias Partnership LLP Naonal Law Debates (a

tournament with a focus on legal issues which is organised and sponsored by his law rm) as

well as serving as an adjudicator at other compeons.

Advisers to the bid commieewho will connue advising the organising commiee if the bid is successful

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At this point in me, we can conrm that the registraon fee in Singapore dollars for debaters, coaches, adjudicators and

team managers in Singapore Dollars will be no more than S$1,150 per person (which is approximately US$940, 700 or

580 at current exchange rates). If sponsorship allows us to reduce this fee, we will do so.

Observers will pay a higher registraon fee which will be conrmed in due course.

The registraon fee will cover 10 nights of accommodaon in twin - or triple-sharing hotel rooms, transport to all debate

and social event venues, airport transfers on the arrival and departure days, several social events and most meals.

(Breakfast will be provided at the hotel every morning during the championships. Lunch will be provided on at least 7 of

the days, and dinner will be provided on at least 4-5 of the evenings.)

The bid commiee is currently in the process of securing sponsorship for the championships. So far we have received

pledges from private benefactors, as well as indicaons of support from public agencies. A number of other potenal

sponsors have also indicated that they will be willing to come on board once the bid is secured. The organising commiee

will be focusing on raising as much sponsorship as possible in order to keep registraon fees as low as we can.

Financial maers

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Dra budget

Accommodaon S$ 700,000

Transport S$ 20,000

Meals, social events & tours S$ 280,000

Venue hire S$ 40,000

Prizes & souvenirs S$ 10,000

General operaons & admin S$ 50,000

Underwring & conngency S$ 50,000

Total S$ 1,150,000

Expenses Income

Registraon fees S$ 575,000

Sponsorship S$ 575,000

Total S$ 1,150,000

Note: All gures are in Singapore dollars


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Debang has been a popular compeve acvity between

educaonal instuons in Singapore for several decades.

Aer Singapore began compeng in the World Schools De-bang Championships in 1995, most of the school-level de-

bang tournaments switched to using the WSDC debate

format. Consequently Singapore has a large pool of judges,

coaches and debaters who are very familiar with the rules

and expectaons of WSDC-format debates.

The largest debang tournament in Singapore is the annual

Singapore Secondary Schools Debang Championships. Over

80 schools enter teams in this event every year, which in-

volves debaters aged 12-16. The compeon, which is run

by Julia Gabriel Centre and co-organised by Debate Associa-

on Singapore, is held over a series of Friday evenings in

February to April, with dierent schools hosng each round.

Students complete their secondary school-level educaon

in Singapore at age 16, when they take their O-Level exam-

inaons. Aer that, students go on to a junior college or

centralised instute (academically-focused instuons

where students planning to go on to university take A-

Level examinaons), or to a polytechnic or a branch of the

Instute of Technical Educaon (which oer more vocaon-

ally-based educaonal programmes). All of these instu-

ons are acvely involved in debang, and their naonal

debang championship is run by the Ministry of Educaon.

For the past few years, this highly-compeve event has

been hosted in late-May/early-June by Anglo-Chinese Junior

College (ACJC) and has been known as the Ministry of Edu-

caon-ACJC Intercollegiate Debates.

Many other smaller debang tournaments involving second-

ary school and pre-university instuons also take place

throughout the year.

In recent years, primary school-level debang events involv-

ing students aged 12 and below have also begun to develop

the largest of which is the annual Wits and Words compe-

on which is jointly organised by the Ministry of Educaonand Debate Associaon Singapore.

The university debang scene in Singapore is also very ac-

ve, with several tournaments being held in Singapore eve-

ry year. Singapore universies regularly parcipate in inter-

naonal events such as the World Universies Debang

Championships and the Australasian Intervarsity Debang

Championships.

With well over 100 dierent educaonal instuons taking

part in debang compeons every year in the small island

naon, there will be no shortage of potenal host venuesfor the World Schools Debang Championships in Singa-

pore.

Debang and educaon in Singapore

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As the host naon

Singapore has hosted the World

Schools Debang Championships

on one previous occasion in

2002.

The organising body for the 2002

championships was Debate Asso-

ciaon Singapore (a non-prot

organisaon established in 1999 to support schools de-bang in Singapore). The principal sponsor and host was the

Singapore Internaonal Foundaon, with further support

and sponsorship coming from 8 dierent public and private

organisaons.

19 schools hosted rounds of the championships (8 second-

ary schools, 8 junior colleges, 2 internaonal schools and 1

university). In the years which have followed, many people

who aended the compeon have told us that the warm

and enthusiasc welcome they received at every schoolremains their most outstanding memory of the event, and

Singapores involvement in WSDC

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Singapore rst entered a team in the World Schools De-bang Championships in 1995 in Cardi, and a Singapore

team has competed in every WSDC since then.

Over the 18 WSDC tournaments from 1995 to 2012, Singa-

pore has a complied very strong record. Singapores team

has reached the knock-out stages of every WSDC it has en-

tered having nished as champions once, runners-up

twice, semi-nalists 6 mes, quarter-nalists 7 mes and

octo-nalists twice.

Singapore reached the Grand Final of WSDC for the rst

me in 2003 in Lima, when the team was defeated by Aus-

tralia. Singapores second Grand Final was in 2007 in Seoul,which ended in a loss to Scotland.

In 2011 in Dundee, Singapore became the rst Asian naon

to win WSDC, defeang Australia in the Grand Final.

Singapore debaters have also been ranked the best individu-

al speaker at WSDC on 3 occasions. The rst me was in

2001 in Johannesburg, when Singapores Jonathan Pug

topped the individual speaker tab. Teoh Ren Jie then n-

ished as the number 1 speaker at both the 2011 compe-

on in Dundee and the 2012 tournament in Cape Town.

As a compeng team

The Singapore team which won the World Schools Debang Championships in 2011 in Dundee,

(from le to right) Ashish Kumar, Teoh Ren Jie, coach Geetha Creeld, team manager Evelyn Woels,

Benjamin Mak, Adil Hakeem and Ng Li Ki


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Singapores Minister for Educaon, Teo Chee Hean (who

is now the countrys Deputy Prime Minister), meets the

teams at a recepon

Debaters sample tradional Asian delicacies during the

WSDC 2002 opening dinner

Team members try their hand at playing Southeast Asian

musical instruments during Asia Nite!

this is something which we are very condent will be re-

peated should the championships return to Singapore.

The semi-nals in 2002 were held in Singapores City Hall

and Parliament House. At the Grand Final, which took place

in Singapores famous Kallang Theatre, an audience of over

1,000 watched Ireland defeat Australia to emerge as cham-

pions.

On top of the debang, other highlights of WSDC 2002 in-

cluded opening day acvies on Sentosa island, an Asia

Nite! at the Singapore Khalsa Associaon, a recepon with

members of the diplomac community at Fort Canning Cen-

tre, a Singapore heritage trail and a break night party at

Hard Rock Caf.

For 2015, a bid commiee has been established which in-

cludes some key members of organising commiee from

the last WSDC in Singapore (including Mark Gabriel, who

was the Tournament Director in 2002, and Vernie Oliveiro,who was Co-Chief Adjudicator), along with several other

individuals who have become heavily involved in the de-

bang scene in Singapore over the past decade.

With the experience of having hosted the championships

over a decade ago and the vibrancy of a large debang com-

munity which has grown and ourished since the last me

we hosted the event, Singapore looks forward to the oppor-

tunity to welcome naonal schools debang teams from

across the globe to our small city state once again.

Noel McGrath of Ireland speaking in the Grand

Final against Australia at Singapores Kallang

Theatre

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I have many fond memories of WSDC 2002. Not least of them is the spectacular opening ceremony. We

were entertained with Indian dancing, Malay bell ringing and a spectacular Chinese lion dance while we alltucked into a splendid tradional Chinese banquet! The audiences at all the Singaporean schools we visited

were enthusiasc and extremely welcoming. Spending me in a sunny, vibrant, mul -cultural city was an

experience I shall never forget!

Alex Just (Scotland) aended WSDC 2002 in Singapore as a debater

Looking back to the WSDC in Singapore aer 10 years, there is no queson about it the organisers man-

aged to put together one of the most memorable championships ever. It was not only the awless organisa-

on, great venues, capvang city or fascinang debates that made it a great success. WSDC 2002 stands

out for the very special feeling among everybody involved the true spirit of debang.

Ragnar Siil (Estonia) aended WSDC 2002 in Singapore as an adjudicator

I have great memories from WSDC 2002 in Singapore. It was my second year parcipang as a debater and

I remember being amazed not only by the impressive organisaon and eciency in how everything was run,

but also for the great opportunies to socialise and to get to know the country and the culture. It was de-

nitely one of those dening moments in my life by the impact it had on me, both from a debang perspec-

ve and also from an inter-cultural and internaonal point of view.

Dana Scholaender (Argenna) aended WSDC 2002 in Singapore as a debater

I remember that every school we visited in Singapore greeted us not just with amazing hospitality, but with

full auditoriums of excited students. I had never debated in front of so many people and it was very mo-

vang to have this many people hear what you have to say.

Irena Kokov (Czech Republic) aended WSDC 2002 in Singapore as a debater

I remember Singapore 2002 for very high levels of hospitality and organisaon. The host schools made us

feel exceponally welcome and there were notably large and aenve audiences, even for preliminary

round contests. The compact nature of the city made transport quick and easy, and the food was great!

Ian MacMullen (England) aended WSDC 2002 in Singapore as an adjudicator

WSDC Singapore was awlessly organised and an outstanding experience. I especially appreciated the large

audiences and warm welcomes at schools during preliminary rounds, including a string orchestra perfor-

mance. There was an unforgeable dance performance at the break night party, ending with a human pyra-

mid! Those are just a few examples of the aenon the organisaon paid to details that made a dierence

to me as a young debater and hopefully inspired other students in Singapore not to menon the inter-

esng sights of such a mulcultural place.

Eva Spoor (Netherlands) aended WSDC 2002 in Singapore as a debater

Memories of the last WSDC in Singapore

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Once a humble shing village, Singapore today is a bustling cosmo-

politan city lled with a mix of high-rise buildings and landscaped

gardens. Located at the heart of Southeast Asia, the island naon has

a land area of about 710 square kilometres.

At present, Singapores populaon stands at about 5 million people

consisng primarily of the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian com-

munies. Each community has brought its own mix of culture, reli-

gion, food and language to the city state, giving Singapore a reputa-

on a cultural melng pot.

Singapore has four ocial languages: English, Mandarin, Malay and

Tamil. English is the common language spoken by almost everyone in

the country and is the language of business and government and the

medium of instrucon in schools. Most Singaporeans are bilingual,

speaking both English and another language.

2015 will mark Singapores 50th anniversary as an independent na-

on. In half a century, Singapores society has undergone many

transformaons. Accompanying rapid economic development, over

the past couple of decades there has been an increasing emphasis on

arsc and cultural development and the growth of a more acve

cizenry. In recent years, Singapore has witnessed a growing interest

in and encouragement of public discourse, as well as an increasing

awareness among Singapores cizens of developments which aect

the country and the region. The privilege of hosng the World School

Debang Championships will undoubtedly help to enhance these

areas of development in Singapores golden jubilee year.

Travel

Internaonal ights to Singapore come into Singapore Changi Air-

port. One of the main aviaon hubs in Asia, there are direct ights

into the airport available from most of the worlds major travel hubs.

Changi Airport is widely considered to be one of the best airports in

the world and has won numerous internaonal awards. It has been

ranked in the top 3 in the Skytrax Worlds Best Airport Awards every

year since 2001. Located on the east coast of Singapore, the airport is

about 25 minutes drive from the city centre.

Visas

Most foreign visitors to Singapore do not require visas for visits of 30

days or less. Cizens of the following countries are currently required

to obtain visas before travelling to Singapore: Afghanistan, Algeria,

Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Iran,

Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Mo-

rocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia,

Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

and Yemen.

.

General informaon about Singapore

Photos courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board

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Weather

Singapore is located about 85 miles from the equator and has a trop-

ical climate all year round. Temperatures generally range from 23-

32C (73-90F). Relave humidity averages around 75%. While its

generally bright and sunny throughout the year, short but heavy rain

showers are also common

Currency

The currency used in Singapore is the Singapore Dollar (S$). At the

beginning of 2013, approximate exchange rates were as follows:

US Dollar US$1.00 = S$1.20

Euro 1.00 = S$1.60

Pound Sterling 1.00 = S$2.00

Food

Singapore is famous for its food. From chilli crab, to Hainanese chick-

en rice, to Malay sambal dishes, Indian ro prata and much, much

more, those with adventurous taste buds will not be disappointed.

Those who are pathologically addicted to hamburgers, pizza and

Coke, will also nd that Singapore is not lacking in major internaon-

al chains like McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut to stop

those withdrawal syndromes from aacking. The island has plenty of

restaurants and food centres to suit all tastes and budgets. Meals at

local food courts or fast food restaurants can easily be found for

S$6.00 or less.

Religion

Singapores populaon encompasses people of many dierent

faiths, including Buddhism, Chrisanity, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism,

Sikhism and Judaism. Visitors will be able to nd places of worship

for numerous dierent faiths during their stay in Singapore.

Places of Interest

The bid commiee plans to include visits to at least a few of the

places listed below in the WSDC 2015 inerary, either as oponal

tours or as venues for opening day acvies or social events. Other

places listed will be within easy reach for parcipants who wish to

explore them.

Sentosa IslandWe held the opening day acvies of the 2002 championships on

this oshore island which is connected to Singapore by a bridge, a

monorail train and cable cars. As well as several beaches, the island

is also home to the Universal Studios amusement park, the MegaZip

Adventure Park, the Sentosa Luge, a Buery Park, the Dolphin


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Lagoon, Underwater World and Marine Life Park aquac features,

the famous Sentosa Musical Fountain, and the historic Fort Siloso.

Wildlife experiencesLocated within 40 hectares of forest by the Upper Seletar Reservoir,

the Singapore Zoo is world famous not only for its range of over 300

animal species displayed in naturalisc landscaped enclosures, but

also for its Rainforest Walk aracon, its animal shows and for oer-ing visitors that chance to enjoy Breakfast with the Orangutans. Singa-

pore also has 3 other major wildlife aracons. The Night Safari is the

worlds rst nocturnal zoo, oering the chance to see over 1000 ani-

mals in an environment in which they are rarely witnessed. The re-

cently-opened River Safari gives visitors the chance to travel around a

wildlife park by boat and view animals in the lush jungle around the

banks of Mandai Lake. The Jurong Bird Park oers the chance to view

over 350 bird species in dierent environments, including the worlds

largest walk-in aviary.

Nature experiences

The newly-opened 101

-acre Gardens by the Bay oers visitors the

chance to relax in a 2 kilometre waterfront promenade on the edge of

the city, view over 250,000 rare plants in huge domed conservatories,

and climb spectacular 16-storey eco-friendly manmade Supertrees

around the Marina Reservoir. The Singapore Botanic Gardens boasts

the worlds largest display of orchids amidst sprawling landscaped

gardens in the heart of the city. If youre looking for a more rusc ex-

perience, the natural environments of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve,

MacRitchie Reservoir Park, Labrador Nature Reserve or the Sungei

Buloh Wetland Reserve oer the chance to experience this part of the

world in a more natural state.

Taking in the sights

If youre looking for a birds eye view of Singapore, the worlds tallest

Ferris wheel, the Singapore Flyer, oers the opportunity to take in the

city from a vantage point 165 metres o the ground. Another great

way to view Singapore is from the Skydeck at the Marina Bay Sands

hotel, overlooking the Marina Bay Street Circuit where the annual

Formula One motor race takes place.

MuseumsFrom the historical displays at the Naonal Museum, the Asian Civili-

saons Museum and the Changi Museum, to cung-edge innova-

ons at the ArtScience Museum and the Singapore Science Centre, to

quirkier places of interest like the MINT Museum of Toys and theMarime Experienal Museum, Singapore has no lack of exhibions

and displays to suit all tastes.

ShoppingSingapore is well known as a shopping desnaon. The main retail

and entertainment hub in the centre of town is Orchard Road, a 2

kilometre-long stretch packed with shopping malls and other places of

interest which is among the worlds best-know shopping streets. If

youre looking for more uniquely Asian shopping and cultural experi-

ences, youll discover pockets of Old World charm tradions all over

the island in places like China Town, Lile India and Kampong Glam.


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Endorsements

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23

15 December 2012

The Members of the Tournament Committee

World Schools Debating Championships

Dear Delegates,

Support for Singapores bid to host the World Schools Debating Championships in 2015

Debate Association (Singapore) would like to express its warm and enthusiastic support for

Singapores bid to host the World Schools Debating Championships in 2015.

Debate Association (Singapore) was founded in 1999 to support the development of school-level

debating in Singapore. To that end we brought the World Schools Debating Championships to

Singapore as the organising body for the 2002 WSDC championships, with the support of the

Singapore International Foundation who were the principal sponsors and hosts.

The current bid committee includes our associations founding President, Geetha Creffield,

another of our former Presidents, Aaron Maniam, our former Vice-President, Mark Gabriel, our

former Treasurer, Anil Singh, and two of our former Secretaries, Vernie Oliveiro and Samuel

Myat San. All of these people still maintain close connections with our association and have made

very considerable contributions to the development of schools debating in Singapore. Togetherwith the other members of the bid committee, we have no doubt that they will make an excellent

organising team.

We are very excited about the prospect of the World Schools Debating Championships returning

to Singapore in 2015. If the bid is successful, Debate Association (Singapore) as well as the wider

schools debating community will give our full support to the organising committee, and providewhatever organisational assistance we can to help make the event a success.

We look forward to a successful bid.

Yours Sincerely,

Emmanuel Paul NgPresident

Debate Association (Singapore)

http://www.debates.org.sg/


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17th December 2012

The Tournament Committee

World Schools Debating Championships

Dear Delegates,

Letter of Support for the Bid for Singapore WSDC 2015

My name is Loke Wing Fatt, President of the Society for Associated Inter-Tertiary Debaters

(SAID) in Singapore.SAIDis a non-profit debate education organisation established in 2003

in Singapore to promote the benefits of debate as a personal growth and self-development

activity among the youths of the world. More information about SAID could be found at this

website: saidsg.wordpress.com

I wish to state very clearly that SAID fully supports Singapores bid to host the World

Schools Debating Championships in 2015.SAID will work closely with the Bid Committee

for Singapore WSDC 2015 and provide all the necessary help to make the Tournament a

resounding success and one for all the participants to remember for a long time to come.

My best wishes to the Bid Committee for Singapore WSDC 2015 and we look forward to

seeing the WSDC debating community in our sunny island-state very soon!

Thank you.

Best regards,

Loke Wing Fatt

President

Society for Associated Inter-Tertiary Debaters (SAID)

SingaporeWebsite: saidsg.wordpress.com

104 Lengkong Tiga, #04-365, Singapore 410104


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There has been at least one member of Singapores WSDC 2015 bid commiee at every WSDC since 1995.

If you add together the number of mes that each member of Singapores bid commiee has aended WSDC,the total number is 53.

3 members of Singapores bid commiee have served as Chief Adjudicator of WSDC.

4 members of Singapores bid commiee have judged the WSDC Grand Final a total of 9 mes between them.

4 members of Singapores bid commiee have aended WSDC as a debater (3 of them once and 1 of them

twice).

At WSDC 2002 in Singapore, Ireland became the 7th naon to win the championships (joining Australia, Cana-

da, England, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States as championship-winning countries). Since then,

only one further naon has won WSDC Singapore in 2011.

The largest delegaon of debaters, coaches, adjudicators and observers Singapore sent to a WSDC outside

Singapore was 19 (in Lima in 2003).

The record number of mes a debater from Singapore has competed at WSDC is 5 (and his parents also

aended all 5 of those WSDCs as observers).

Singapore is the only Asian naon to have won WSDC, and one of only 2 Asian naons to have reached the

Grand Final (the other being Pakistan).

2 members of Singapores bid commiee have competed against each other in the Grand Final of the Europe-

an Universies Debang Championships.

2 members of Singapores bid commiee have (literally) entered a lions den while aending a WSDC.

Fun facts

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Bid to host the 2015 World Schools Debang

Championships in Singapore

www.facebook.com/SingaporeBidWSDC2015

Singapore Bid Document for WSDC 2015

Documents

Transcript of Singapore Bid Document for WSDC 2015