In a second round of the 12th Nesta-SCMP Debating Competition, SKH Chan Young Secondary School and CCC Kei Yuen College debated the motion that 'Hong Kong is taking care of mainland immigrants arriving here since 2006'.
The debate took place on April 15 at SKH Chan Young Secondary School, with Chan Young taking the negative stance and Kei Yuen the affirmative.
The debate was adjudicated by three English teachers: Roula Andreadakis from HKTA Tang Hin Memorial Secondary School, Calvin Foo from SKH Lam Kau Mow Secondary School and Ian Sanderson from TWGHs Kap Yan Directors' College.
The adjudicators decided to give the edge to Chan Young because they were better able to relate their speeches to the team line.
'The first speakers of both teams were able to present the team line, which was good,' said Foo. 'The negative team's line was that the government actively discriminated against new immigrants, and they were able to focus on telling the audience the problems faced by new immigrants and how they encountered this discrimination.'
On the other hand, the adjudicators felt that the affirmative team was not able to follow through on what was stated as the team line. 'The affirmative mentioned that the government had several policies to help new immigrants, but could not produce figures to back up their case when the negative team asked for them,' Foo said. 'If they had mentioned things like the government supporting 97 per cent of new immigrants' medical expenses, or the reduction in the waiting time for public housing, they would have been much stronger.'