An inter-house debating competition was held last week. The Intellect House was head to head against the Virtue House, tackling the motion “The government should build columbaria in all 18 districts.” The line-up of the adjudicators were Miss Ng and Mrs Chan, the heads of English Language Department, and Ken Leung, the alumni of our school English debating team.
The Intellect House, as the affirmative side, clearly defined that a columbarium is a place for showing respect to the ancestors and usually public storage of cinerary urns. It stated that building the columbaria in all 18 districts in Hong Kong is necessary due to the unfairness among 18 districts citizens and the limited number of columbaria.
“It is totally unfair that the columbaria were built at Wo Hop Shek or other districts in the New Territories only. Much smoke is produced from the incinerators, which causes serious air pollution and is harmful to the respiratory system of the residents nearby.” The Intellect House Captain Gloria Wu, the first speaker for the affirmative, stated firmly.
The Virtue House took the opposite stance. The Virtue House Captain Darren Lo claimed that the columbaria should not be built across the territory definitely. He mentioned that Hong Kong’s property prices were sky-high, especially in central business districts such as Central. If columbaria were built in all 18 districts, it would cause a waste of public land. The saying “building columbaria in all districts” was simply unrealistic and impossible.
Besides, both sides argued over whether the supply of columbaria is enough to cope with the growing demand. Julia Chan, the second speaker from the affirmative side, pointed out that about 36000 people who died each year in Hong Kong were cremated. However, only 57000 new niches for urns will recently be ready for the coming decades. It revealed that the columbaria were scarce in Hong Kong.
On the other hand, the second speaker of the negative team, Daniel Lee, rebutted according to the speech given by the Secretary for Food and Health Bureau Dr. York Chow Yat-ngok – more than 40000 places would be offered at Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery next year. Therfore, there would be sufficient supply of columbaria for Hong Kong citizens apparently and it was not necessary to construct more of them.
After the fierce debate, it was time for the adjudicators to give comments to the debaters. Miss Ng appreciated both teams for their thorough research. Also, the debating competition could clearly show that the speakers put great effort ino practising the speeches.
Finally, the adjudicators decided that the Virtue House had the edge and was awarded the champion in this year’s inter-house debating competition. “The Virtue House, the negative side, could give a clear team line and develop the arguments very well.” said Mrs Chan. Moreover, the second speaker of Virtue House, Daniel Lee was awarded the best speaker. “He could richly develop the counter arguments with updated evidence.” Ken Leung concluded.
The inter-house debating competition was successfully organised by the English Ambassadors Team.