The Arena (Singapore TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Arena is a debate
-style television
show produced by MediaCorp Channel 5 in Singapore
. Season 1 of the show was broadcast from January-March 2007. A second season, known as The Arena II, was aired from March-May 2008. The show involves teams of students from secondary school
s in Singapore debating against each other on issues of topical interest.
Season 1 of the show was won by the team from the United World College of South East Asia
, who defeated Hwa Chong Institution
in the final. The season was hosted by the popular Singapore TV personality Adrian Pang
.
For The Arena II, Jason Chan
replaced Adrian Pang as the show's host. The season was won by Raffles Institution
, who defeated Nanyang Girls' High School
in the final.
The Arena was one of the four nominees for the 2007 International Emmy Award in the 'Children and Young People' category, alongside shows from Australia
, Brazil
and Poland
.http://ch5.mediacorptv.com/wassup/ch5announcements/view/938/1/.html (The winning show in the category was The Magic Tree from Poland.http://www.iemmys.tv/awards_nominees.aspx)
The Arena was also one of six nominees for the 'Best Game or Quiz Programme' at the 2008 Asian Television Awards
.http://www.asiantvawards.com/ATA2007nominees.htm
Note: In both Round One and the Quarter-Finals, the highest-scoring losing team also advanced to the next round as a 'Wildcard'.
Each team had three speakers. The first speaker on each team spoke for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the second speaker for 4 minutes, and the third speaker for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Each set of two speeches was considered to be one 'Round' within the debate, and each 'Round' was judged separately. Speakers stood in the middle of the room, and spoke directly to one opponent from the other team (rather than facing to the audience and the judges as in most other debate formats). This opponent was allowed interrupt the speech with points of information
(POIs – a feature of both the World Schools style and British Parliamentary style
of debating). However unlike other debate formats which use POIs, the speaker was not allowed to decline to hear a point when it was offered. Each team had a 1 minute and 30 second POI 'Rebuttal Bank', which they could use over the course of the three speeches by the other team. In between the second and third speeches of the two teams, there was an additional 3 minute 'Group Rebuttal Round' involving all 6 debaters in a series of short arguments and immediate responses on the topic.
Each episode was judged by four judges. Each judge decided which team they thought has won each 'Round' within the debate, and the team with the most points at the end was declared the winner.
Guest judges for the show included Singapore celebrities like Tan Kheng Hua
and Daisy Irani
. The guest judge for the final (and the only guest judge to appear on the show twice) was Viswa Sadasivan
, the Chairman of the Political Development Feedback Group of Singapore's Feedback Unit, who is also the Chairman of the Right Angle Group and a former TV presenter.
For the preliminary selection rounds of the show (which were not televised), the teams were also judged by Geetha Creffield (ex-President of Debate Association Singapore and former coach of the Singapore national schools debating team) and Mark Gabriel (Secretary of the World Schools Debating Council and Tournament Director of the Singapore Secondary Schools Debating Championships).
The team was coached by their teacher supervisor Megan Coskinas, and by former Singapore national debater Jonathan Pflug (who was ranked the best speaker of the tournament at the 2001 World Schools Debating Championships
).
One area of the show that came in for criticism was the debate topics, some of which were thought to be too one-sided. Shortly after the show began airing, 8 Days
magazine criticised the topic used for the preliminary round match-up between Methodist Girls' School and CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School ('Selfish? Yes We Are! – Today's youth are motivated by self-centeredness alone'), saying that it was significantly easier for the team arguing against the topic (MGS – who won by a 72-28 scoreline).
The scoring system, which required judges to allocate all their points for each round to one team, even if they felt that team was only slightly better, also came in for criticism. The scoreline of the semi-final between the United World College of South East Asia and Raffles Institution, which ended in a 94-6 victory for UWC, was particularly highlighted as being an unfair reflection on the closeness of the match-up.
The show concluded around the same time as a series of letters from members of the public were published in the Forum section of The Straits Times
, discussing the relative merits of Singapore's education system and that of international schools in Singapore. A number of these letters made reference to UWC's success in the competition, some of them arguing that this was an indication that the school was better at producing students with stronger thinking skills and presentation ability than local schools, and others disputing this.
(Australia) and Nutty Boy (Brazil).
The lengths of all speeches was also standardised at 4 minutes per speaker. The 'Group Rebuttal Round' was renamed the 'Quick-Fire Round', and remained 3 minutes long.
At the end of each episode, the judges selected one of the debaters as the Best Speaker of the debate.
Note: The highest-scoring losing team in the Quarter-Finals advanced to the Semi-Finals as a 'Wildcard'.
. The third judge for each episode was a guest judge. Guest judges included Mark Gabriel and Adrian Tan
. Viswa Sadasivan
was again the guest judge for the Grand Final.
The preliminary selection rounds (which were not televised), were judged by Mark Gabriel, Geetha Creffield, Ashraf Safdar and Gaurav Keerthi.
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
-style television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show produced by MediaCorp Channel 5 in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Season 1 of the show was broadcast from January-March 2007. A second season, known as The Arena II, was aired from March-May 2008. The show involves teams of students from secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s in Singapore debating against each other on issues of topical interest.
Season 1 of the show was won by the team from the United World College of South East Asia
United World College of South East Asia
The United World College of South East Asia is an independent, international school in Singapore. The school's main campus is in Dover Road. A second campus was opened in 2008 in Ang Mo Kio...
, who defeated Hwa Chong Institution
Hwa Chong Institution
Hwa Chong Institution is an independent school in Singapore for students aged 12 to 18 covering both secondary and pre-university levels. A Ministry of Education-designated FutureSchool, it operates under the Special Assistance Plan for bilingualism, and offers the Integrated Programme and also...
in the final. The season was hosted by the popular Singapore TV personality Adrian Pang
Adrian Pang
Adrian Pang is a Singaporean Chinese actor who trained at the ARTTS International in Bubwith, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Born in Malacca, Malaysia, he was educated at Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore, and in the United Kingdom. Although he studied law at Keele University, he has not...
.
For The Arena II, Jason Chan
Jason Chan
Jason Keng-Kwin Chan starred on Power Rangers: Ninja Storm in 2003 as Cameron Watanabe, the Green Samurai Ranger. He was born in Malaysia and moved to Perth with his family when he was only 5...
replaced Adrian Pang as the show's host. The season was won by Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution , founded in 1823, is the oldest centre for pre-tertiary learning in Singapore. It is an independent school in Singapore providing secondary and pre-university education. RI consists of a boys-only secondary section , and a coeducational pre-university section...
, who defeated Nanyang Girls' High School
Nanyang Girls' High School
Nanyang Girls' High School is an all-girls secondary school in Singapore. It participates in the Integrated Programme with Hwa Chong Institution under the Hwa Chong Affiliate Programme...
in the final.
The Arena was one of the four nominees for the 2007 International Emmy Award in the 'Children and Young People' category, alongside shows from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.http://ch5.mediacorptv.com/wassup/ch5announcements/view/938/1/.html (The winning show in the category was The Magic Tree from Poland.http://www.iemmys.tv/awards_nominees.aspx)
The Arena was also one of six nominees for the 'Best Game or Quiz Programme' at the 2008 Asian Television Awards
Asian Television Awards
The Asian Television Awards is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards draws about 1,400 entries each year from a wide range of broadcasters, including free-to-air TV stations and pay-TV...
.http://www.asiantvawards.com/ATA2007nominees.htm
The Arena Season 1
Season 1 of The Arena was broadcast from January-March 2007, and ran for 11 episodes. In each episode, teams from two secondary schools in Singapore debated against each other. The topic for debate was different for each episode. Ten schools competed in the first round, from which the five winning teams and the best-scoring losing team progressed to the quarter-finals. The semi-finals were contested by the three winners and the best-scoring losing team from the quarter-finals. In the Grand Final, telecast on 27 March 2007, the team from the United World College of South East Asia defeated the team from Hwa Chong Institution to win the competition. Each episode was hosted by Adrian Pang.Progress of teams
Ten schools qualified for the televised rounds of The Arena Season 1.| School | Round One | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Grand Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United World College of South East Asia United World College of South East Asia The United World College of South East Asia is an independent, international school in Singapore. The school's main campus is in Dover Road. A second campus was opened in 2008 in Ang Mo Kio... |
Won | Won | Won | Won |
| Hwa Chong Institution Hwa Chong Institution Hwa Chong Institution is an independent school in Singapore for students aged 12 to 18 covering both secondary and pre-university levels. A Ministry of Education-designated FutureSchool, it operates under the Special Assistance Plan for bilingualism, and offers the Integrated Programme and also... |
Won | Wildcard | Won | Lost |
| Loyang Secondary School Loyang Secondary School Loyang Secondary School is a government Secondary School located in Pasir Ris, Singapore.-Campus SuperStar :... |
Won | Won | Lost | --- |
| Raffles Institution Raffles Institution Raffles Institution , founded in 1823, is the oldest centre for pre-tertiary learning in Singapore. It is an independent school in Singapore providing secondary and pre-university education. RI consists of a boys-only secondary section , and a coeducational pre-university section... |
Wildcard | Won | Lost | --- |
| Methodist Girls' School Methodist Girls' School Methodist Girls' School is a girls' independent school, consisting of two sections - the Primary School and Secondary School, located in Bukit Timah, Singapore. It is affiliated to the Anglo-Chinese School family and the Methodist Church in Singapore... |
Won | Lost | --- | --- |
| Xinmin Secondary School Xinmin Secondary School Xinmin Secondary School is an autonomous secondary school in Hougang, Singapore. It offers classes taught in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.... |
Won | Lost | --- | --- |
| CHIJ Katong Convent CHIJ Katong Convent CHIJ Katong Convent is an autonomous all-girls Catholic secondary school in Singapore. The school is one of 11 Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus schools in Singapore. Katong Convent is known for its niche area, speech and drama... |
Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School is an all-girls' Catholic primary and secondary school in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. The school is one of 11 Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus schools in Singapore. SNGS has led the group of IJ schools with excellent results in sporting and academic achievements... |
Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School is a co-educational government-aided secondary school located in Bishan St 13, Singapore.-Brief history:* 1924 - Two Christian Ministers founded Katong Girls' School... |
Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| Nanyang Girls' High School Nanyang Girls' High School Nanyang Girls' High School is an all-girls secondary school in Singapore. It participates in the Integrated Programme with Hwa Chong Institution under the Hwa Chong Affiliate Programme... |
Lost | --- | --- | --- |
Note: In both Round One and the Quarter-Finals, the highest-scoring losing team also advanced to the next round as a 'Wildcard'.
Topics and results for each episode
| # | Airdate | Topic | Competing Schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 January 2007 | Hey Good Looking, You're a Winner! – Good looks triumph over effort. | Loyang Secondary School vs Raffles Institution (Loyang won 51-49) |
| 2 | 16 January 2007 | Selfish? Yes We Are! – Today's youth are motivated by self-centeredness alone. | Methodist Girls' School vs CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School (MGS won 72-28) |
| 3 | 30 January 2007 | Don't Try to be Funny! – Our society does not encourage a sense of humour. | Xinmin Secondary School vs Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School (Xinmin won 57-43) |
| 4 | 6 February 2007 | Singapore, a Self-Service Nation! – Local service standards have a long way to go. | United World College of South East Asia vs Nanyang Girls' High School (UWC won 74-26) |
| 5 | 13 February 2007 | Teach First Sex Later! – Protecting our youth from sex now causes social problems later. | Hwa Chong Institution vs CHIJ Katong Convent (HCI won 78-22) |
| 6 | 20 February 2007 | To Hide or Not to Hide? – Internet anonymity is bad for us all. | Xinmin Secondary School vs Loyang Secondary School (Loyang won 55-45) |
| 7 | 27 February 2007 | Where Do We Stand? – Singapore's youth are politically apathetic. | Raffles Institution vs Hwa Chong Institution (RI won 54-46) |
| 8 | 6 March 2007 | Mother Knows Best – Mothers should stay at home to raise children. | United World College of South East Asia vs Methodist Girls' School (UWC won 80-20) |
| 9 | 13 March 2007 | The Pressing Issue – Bloggers are becoming more influential than journalists. | Loyang Secondary School vs Hwa Chong Institution (HCI won 89-11) |
| 10 | 20 March 2007 | First Among Equals – Singapore's education system breeds elitism. | Raffles Institution vs United World College of South East Asia (UWC won 94-6) |
| 11 | 27 March 2007 | Modern Softies – Youth today are less prepared for future challenges than their parents' generation. | Hwa Chong Institution vs United World College of South East Asia (UWC won 78-22) |
Debate format
The format of debates for The Arena Season 1 was created specially for the show and differed from other competitive debate formats.Each team had three speakers. The first speaker on each team spoke for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the second speaker for 4 minutes, and the third speaker for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Each set of two speeches was considered to be one 'Round' within the debate, and each 'Round' was judged separately. Speakers stood in the middle of the room, and spoke directly to one opponent from the other team (rather than facing to the audience and the judges as in most other debate formats). This opponent was allowed interrupt the speech with points of information
Point of information
Points of Information are a feature of Parliamentary debate, allowing an opposing team member to offer a brief point during the current speech. As in some debating styles, such as World Schools Style, they often may not be offered in the first or last minute of any speech , or during Reply Speeches...
(POIs – a feature of both the World Schools style and British Parliamentary style
British Parliamentary Style
British Parliamentary style debate is a common form of academic debate. It has gained support in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Europe, Africa, Philippines and United States, and has also been adopted as the official style of the World Universities Debating Championship and European...
of debating). However unlike other debate formats which use POIs, the speaker was not allowed to decline to hear a point when it was offered. Each team had a 1 minute and 30 second POI 'Rebuttal Bank', which they could use over the course of the three speeches by the other team. In between the second and third speeches of the two teams, there was an additional 3 minute 'Group Rebuttal Round' involving all 6 debaters in a series of short arguments and immediate responses on the topic.
Each episode was judged by four judges. Each judge decided which team they thought has won each 'Round' within the debate, and the team with the most points at the end was declared the winner.
Judges
Each episode was judged by three regular judges and one guest judge. The regular judges on the show were:- K.K. Seet – Senior Lecturer at the National University of SingaporeNational University of SingaporeThe National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
- Eunice OlsenEunice OlsenEunice Olsen is known for having been the winner of the Miss Singapore Universe pageant in 2000.In November 2004, Olsen was appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore by President SR Nathan, making her the youngest ever at the age of 27...
– Nominated Member of ParliamentNominated Member of ParliamentA Nominated Member of Parliament is a Member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed instead of being elected into office by the people, and who does not belong to any political party or represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in Parliament...
and former Miss Singapore UniverseMiss Singapore UniverseMiss Singapore Universe is an annual beauty contest held in Singapore and organised by Derrol Stepenny Promotions to select the country's representative to the Miss Universe pageant. Between 2001 and 2007, the contest was telecast 'live' by the local television station Mediacorp's Channel 5... - Ashraf SafdarAshraf SafdarAshraf Safdar is a former television presenter and journalist from Singapore. He hosted the talk show Singapore Talking on MediaCorp Channel 5 in 2010, and served as a judge on the International Emmy Award-nominated first season of Channel 5's The Arena in 2007...
– Journalist from the TodayToday (Singapore newspaper)Today is a free English-language compact in Singapore published by government-owned MediaCorp print media arm. It is distributed from Monday to Sunday....
newspaper and member of the Debate Association Singapore Executive Committee
Guest judges for the show included Singapore celebrities like Tan Kheng Hua
Tan Kheng Hua
Tan Kheng Hua is a popular Singaporean actress best known for her role as Margaret Phua in Singapore-based MediaCorp TV Channel 5's longest-running hit television sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd...
and Daisy Irani
Daisy Irani
Daisy Irani is a television actress, director and producer from Singapore. Born in a Zoroastrian family in India, she is best known for appearing in the role of Daisy in the popular Singapore TV series Under One Roof. She became the executive producer for MediaCorp Studios English Entertainment...
. The guest judge for the final (and the only guest judge to appear on the show twice) was Viswa Sadasivan
Viswa Sadasivan
Viswaroopan Sadasivan is a Nominated Member of Parliament in the Parliament of Singapore.-Biography:Viswa had his secondary school education at Raffles Institution, before going on to do a degree in political science at the National University of Singapore...
, the Chairman of the Political Development Feedback Group of Singapore's Feedback Unit, who is also the Chairman of the Right Angle Group and a former TV presenter.
For the preliminary selection rounds of the show (which were not televised), the teams were also judged by Geetha Creffield (ex-President of Debate Association Singapore and former coach of the Singapore national schools debating team) and Mark Gabriel (Secretary of the World Schools Debating Council and Tournament Director of the Singapore Secondary Schools Debating Championships).
Winning team
The champions of the series were the team from the United World College of South East Asia, made up of first speaker Akib Khan, second speaker Maria Mateen, third speaker Madeleine Leamon and reserve member Siddhant Trivedi.The team was coached by their teacher supervisor Megan Coskinas, and by former Singapore national debater Jonathan Pflug (who was ranked the best speaker of the tournament at the 2001 World Schools Debating Championships
World Schools Debating Championships
The World Schools Debating Championships is an annual English-language debating tournament for high school-level teams representing different countries.In recent years, the championships have involved teams from over 40 nations each year.-History:...
).
Reaction and criticism
The show was generally well received by the public and the press, though some criticisms were also raised by the Singapore media.One area of the show that came in for criticism was the debate topics, some of which were thought to be too one-sided. Shortly after the show began airing, 8 Days
8 Days (magazine)
8 Days is a weekly Singaporean magazine published by MediaCorp's publishing arm MediaCorp Publishing, aimed mainly at the teenage and young people market. The magazine is predominantly about the latest celebrity gossip and television news as well as television synopsis for every episode, with small...
magazine criticised the topic used for the preliminary round match-up between Methodist Girls' School and CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School ('Selfish? Yes We Are! – Today's youth are motivated by self-centeredness alone'), saying that it was significantly easier for the team arguing against the topic (MGS – who won by a 72-28 scoreline).
The scoring system, which required judges to allocate all their points for each round to one team, even if they felt that team was only slightly better, also came in for criticism. The scoreline of the semi-final between the United World College of South East Asia and Raffles Institution, which ended in a 94-6 victory for UWC, was particularly highlighted as being an unfair reflection on the closeness of the match-up.
The show concluded around the same time as a series of letters from members of the public were published in the Forum section of The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
, discussing the relative merits of Singapore's education system and that of international schools in Singapore. A number of these letters made reference to UWC's success in the competition, some of them arguing that this was an indication that the school was better at producing students with stronger thinking skills and presentation ability than local schools, and others disputing this.
Emmy Award nomination
The Arena was one of the four nominees for the 2007 International Emmy Award in the 'Children and Young People' category. The award was won by the Polish show The Magic Tree. The other two nominees in the category were MortifiedMortified
Mortified was an Australian children's television series, co-produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation and Enjoy Entertainment for the Nine Network Australia, Disney Australia and the BBC. The series premiered on 30 June 2006 and ended on 11 April 2007 with two seasons and a total...
(Australia) and Nutty Boy (Brazil).
The Arena II
A second season of The Arena was broadcast from March-May 2008, and ran for 12 episodes. Jason Chan has replaced Adrian Pang as the host for season 2 of the show. The number of teams participating in the first round was increased to 12. There was no 'Wildcard' in the first round, but at the quarter-final stage the highest-scoring losing team gained a spot in the semi-finals. The Grand Final was telecast on 26 May 2008, and was won by Raffles Institution defeated who the team from Nanyang Girls' High School. An award was given for the Best Speaker of the Series, which went to Nicholas Quah of Raffles Institution.Changes to the debate and judging format
A new scoring system was introduced for The Arena II, with judges being able to allocate up to 20 points to each team for their performance in each round, plus an extra 'Team Strategy Score' of up to 20 points at the end of the debate. The number of judges was reduced to three judges per episode. The winning team was determined by the number of judges who awarded the win to each team (with the winning team claiming either a unanimous 3-0 decision or a 2-1 split decision).The lengths of all speeches was also standardised at 4 minutes per speaker. The 'Group Rebuttal Round' was renamed the 'Quick-Fire Round', and remained 3 minutes long.
At the end of each episode, the judges selected one of the debaters as the Best Speaker of the debate.
Progress of teams
12 schools were selected to participate in The Arena II following audition rounds in October-November 2007. (Defending-champions the United World College of South East Asia elected not to enter The Arena II as the planned recording dates coincided with their students' examinations.)| School | Round One | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Grand Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raffles Institution | Won | Won | Won | Won |
| Nanyang Girls' High School | Won | Won | Won | Lost |
| Hwa Chong Institution | Won | Won | Lost | --- |
| Singapore American School Singapore American School RedWebsiteThe Singapore American School is a private international school in Singapore. Established in 1956, the school offers an American-based curriculum from preschool through to Grade 12 for approximately 3,800 expatriate students, making it the largest international school in the world... |
Won | Wildcard | Lost | --- |
| Jurong Secondary School Jurong Secondary School Jurong Secondary School is a government secondary school in Taman Jurong, Singapore. On the request of community leaders, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew helped to establish the school in 1963 as Jurong Integrated Secondary School. It was then renamed to Jurong Secondary School in later... |
Won | Lost | --- | --- |
| Dunman Secondary School Dunman Secondary School Dunman Secondary School is an autonomous co-educational secondary school in Singapore. The school was founded in 1963, and is located in Tampines in the eastern part of Singapore.-Principals:... |
Won | Lost | --- | --- |
| CHIJ St Joseph's Convent | Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School | Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| Fairfield Methodist Secondary School Fairfield Methodist Secondary School Fairfield Methodist School is an autonomous co-educational Methodist secondary school in Dover, Singapore. It covers Secondary 1 to Secondary 5 inclusive .-History:... |
Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| Global Indian International School | Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah is an all-girls' Islamic school in Geylang, Singapore. It is one of six full-time Islamic madrasahs for students in Singapore. Madrasah Al-Maarif has students at primary, secondary and pre-university levels... |
Lost | --- | --- | --- |
| St Joseph's Institution | Lost | --- | --- | --- |
Note: The highest-scoring losing team in the Quarter-Finals advanced to the Semi-Finals as a 'Wildcard'.
Topics and results for each episode
| # | Airdate | Topic | Competing Schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 March 2008 | Going for gold, but on our steam only – Only native-born citizens should be allowed to represent Singapore in international sports | Raffles Institution vs CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School (RI won 2-1) |
| 2 | 17 March 2008 | Saving the environment, just a load of hot air! – Singapore should be playing a bigger part in the battle against global warming | Global Indian International School vs Jurong Secondary School (Jurong won 2-1) |
| 3 | 24 March 2008 | A First World city, but without social graciousness – Singaporeans lack the civic-mindedness of other modern societies | Hwa Chong Institution vs CHIJ St Joseph's Convent (HCI won 3-0) |
| 4 | 31 March 2008 | Intelligent clones, but not ready for the world – Singapore's education system does not prepare students for the challenges of the working world | Dunman Secondary School vs St Joseph's Institution (Dunman won 3-0) |
| 5 | 7 April 2008 | New media, new dangers! – The Internet has brought more harm than good to today's youth | Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah vs Singapore American School (SAS won 3-0) |
| 6 | 14 April 2008 | Blame the parents for delinquent children! – Parents should also be held responsible for crimes committed by their children | Fairfield Methodist Secondary School vs Nanyang Girls' High School (NYGH won 2-1) |
| 7 | 21 April 2008 | Just a little red dot with an identity crisis! – Singapore suffers from the lack of a clear national identity | Hwa Chong Institution vs Singapore American School (HCI won 2-1) |
| 8 | 28 April 2008 | With great exposure comes great responsibility! – The media should stop giving publicity to celebrities who have poor morals | Raffles Institution vs Dunman Secondary School (RI won 3-0) |
| 9 | 5 May 2008 | A shared security – Singapore should introduce National Service for women | Jurong Secondary School vs Nanyang Girls' High School (NYGH won 3-0) |
| 10 | 12 May 2008 | Break the glass ceiling! – Organisations should be forced to place more women in senior positions | Raffles Institution vs Hwa Chong Institution (RI won 2-1) |
| 11 | 19 May 2008 | The promise of science – Science is progressing too fast for the good of society | Nanyang Girls' High School vs Singapore American School (NYGH won 3-0) |
| 12 | 26 May 2008 | Too much of a good thing! – Freedom of speech has gone too far on the Web | Nanyang Girls' High School vs Raffles Institution (RI won 3-0) |
Judges
For season 2 of The Arena, the number of judges for each episode was reduced from four to three. K.K. Seet has returned from the first season as a permanent judge, joined by the President of Debate Association Singapore, Gaurav KeerthiGaurav Keerthi
Gaurav Keerthi is the former President of . He is probably best known to the public in Singapore as one of the permanent judges on Season 2 of the International Emmy Award-nominated TV show The Arena, which began broadcasting on Mediacorp Channel 5 in March 2008...
. The third judge for each episode was a guest judge. Guest judges included Mark Gabriel and Adrian Tan
Adrian Tan
Adrian Tan is a lawyer and author from Singapore. He is best known as the writer of the fiction novels The Teenage Textbook and The Teenage Workbook, which were bestsellers in Singapore in the late-1980s....
. Viswa Sadasivan
Viswa Sadasivan
Viswaroopan Sadasivan is a Nominated Member of Parliament in the Parliament of Singapore.-Biography:Viswa had his secondary school education at Raffles Institution, before going on to do a degree in political science at the National University of Singapore...
was again the guest judge for the Grand Final.
The preliminary selection rounds (which were not televised), were judged by Mark Gabriel, Geetha Creffield, Ashraf Safdar and Gaurav Keerthi.