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Friday, December 18, 2009

The King, The Royal Court and The Monkey


They say, if you want something bad enough, it will eventually be yours. But lesson learnt. Merely wanting something is not even close to obtaining it. It is never enough. You need to give enough as well.

And this, concluded Debat Di Raja 2009.

Now, the details.

The tournament's name speak for itself. But for those who are unfamiliar with it, the Royal Debating Championship is the largest inter-varsity debating tournament in Malaysia. Well, at least technically it is for it pulls together all IPTAs in one single tournament in three category; Bahasa Melayu, English and Arabic. However this year the royal court has opened its doors and invited three IPTSs to join in.

The question is whether Royals 2009 really lived up to its stature as the biggest and most prestigious event in the local debating scene?

With all due respect, credits need to be given to the host, Universiti Malaya for every single effort put forward in organizing this event albeit the fact that they are plenty and spacious room for improvements that urgently need to be made on areas such as the quality of adjudication, hospitality and efficiency in running the whole tournament. Nevertheless, thank you for hosting 'Debat Piala Di Raja'- the new name of the sacred tournament as the organizer accidentally modified.

I believe the more important question is whether we have lived up to the standard of the tournament, to our own standard? Have I?

My battle throughout this Royal begin on day one, against a monkey which was casually lounging outside my room right in front of the door, picking up trash from the waste bin. No joke. I was both appalled and amused at the same time by the fact that UM students in Kolej Ketiga specifically have been co-inhabiting with monkeys harmoniously for years and years. That is quite an achievement.

With only ten days of intensive training which started right after our final examination, the tension was visible within the thick air. Ten days of preparation in the debating dictionary means picnic in the park as compared to cross-country. Ten days as opposed to months and months of preparation done by other varsities.

So with only ten days of blade-sharpening rituals, four teams marched to the royal court. On the night before the first day of preliminary debate started, team captains were called by the Chief Adjudicator pertaining to a newly imposed regulations. The effect; both junior teams had to be reshuffled. But the sudden change did not deter the fighting spirit.

Two days of preliminary debate. Six rounds of babbles on economy, sociopolitical affairs and humor. The third day saw only team Senior A and team Junior B pursuing the fight in the knockout stage. My team, Junior A and Senior B had to change hats from speakers to cheerleaders. minus pompoms. But their fight was put to a stop at the semi-finals. And with that, we all sat together and grieved and ponder and wonder, what went wrong?

Really, what went wrong?

The easiest and simplest way out is to give this as an answer; It was fated. It was not our rizq.

Truth is, there must be an essential piece missing somewhere in bridging efforts and achievements. Passion. Hard work. Focus. Talent. Dedication. Intelligence. Name it. Name 3758962 nouns or verbs. Include forks and spoons if you wish. Excuses can be creatively made up. At the end of the day, if we did not get what we merely wanted and wished for, it is either we are not good enough, or we did not give enough. That is just it.

But losing is not the Armageddon. The trophy is not everything. The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occurred. It is the journey that counts, the lessons learnt from the ups and downs. To look back and to regret is to conform to mediocrity and surrender to the trap of reality. If reality does not please us, leap out of it. Proliferation of effort, is undoubtedly an urgent need.

The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and faith to believe it is possible. Lets try again, harder. Lets believe again, stronger and deeper. Lets give again, give more than ever.

To yearn and to strive for more, to not yield and to not give up.

World, don't blink. Watch! We are reviving. The King is on his way to claim back the throne.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

try again yeah..good luck!

Radzi Tajuddin said...

Its now how good you are but its how good you want to be- Paul Arden

debat diraja di mata radzi---nantikan..hehe

btw, posting kau ni membuatkan aku rasa macam lepas dgr speech anwar.penuh retorik dan impact.. :)

Afifah said...

It feels good to win but nothing feels as good as knowing you did your best. To hell with what people say, its what you think. Take it from me, or maybe you shouldnt ;p

Anonymous said...

forever the 'mahirah'. haha. mabruk.

Mahirah M said...

Dino: Thanks bro! :)

Radzi: Is that a compliment? I take it is :D Cepat la update, jangan sekadar retorik haha

Peeps: Words from a Royal champ :) Thanks hun! Tapi Paul Arden juga berkata, whatever you think, think the opposite haha

Kina: Hey young lady! 'Mahirah', is that good or bad ;p

arcane said...

i like. this post. a lot.

all of u will be able to win the throne back. :) . i'Allah.

Mahirah M said...

Thanks sweetheart :) ameen