below is the story seorang yg baru menang trophy ppm... eventhough ppm tak boleh bawak mati... tapi... mmm actually skarang nih tak dek la kesah sgt kalah... even dulu... sort of kesah la jugak...

Title: Speechless
Year: 1999
Author: Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad

Speechless...I really am. WE WON !

I mean...it's really unbelievable. Maybe for those who have won this trophy for the past two years, it ain't a big deal. But for us, for me, it's the perfect finale for something I had dreamt about six years ago.Yeah, that long.

Okay, okay, so you have no clue what I'm writing about. Well, this year, 1999, we won the PPM Malay Debate for the first time since our double in 1992-93. In between, we entered two Malay finals and one English final, only to lose in each of the finals. Tough luck, huh ? What more, last year, we advanced to the final, only to lose to SEMESTI-the team which we beat this year. Revenge is sweet, but the sweetest thing (for a debater) must be winning PPM.

So now, the story. It all began in 1994. .... (aku delete.. heheheh.. sorry la altered version)

As a reserve, I joined the PPM contingent to Penang for the North Zone PPM. In a replay of the PPM final in 1996, we went down to STAR. But we didn't lose hope. We prepared for 1998...

Although I was no longer in the PPM squad, I stayed with the team. Ego aside, I knew that I was with one of the most talented College team ever and that the PPM trophy was within reach. The rather young team dazzled the audience and opponents alike, making its' way to the final. Only God knew how devastated we were when our opponents got to retain the title. Silently I prayed that next year-my last year in koleq, we'd get this Holy Grail of Malaysian debate. Of course, in my dreams, I pictured myself up there-debating in the final. But you can't get everything that you want...

So with winning the PPM in mind, we geared ourselves. I got into the squad again, and if not for my poor performance, would've been proud to don the College colors for the first time, in a friendly. Nevertheless, we kept on winning and I got my chance to debate for quite a handful of times ( in my standards ). In the inaugural Dato' Shukor Trophy ( National Debate Competition ), we won the district level, followed by defeating an entirely new SEMESTI team in the state finals and finally, winning the national finals agaist SMAP Kajang.

But no way that made our determination to win PPM less. We excelled in MOZAC, setting a perfect finale against, yes, them again, SEMESTI. We sacrificed entirely our week-long holiday, preparing for the finals. The fith formers are going to seat for our SPM trials next week, but that did not deter us. Each and every one of the debaters struggled valiantly, sacrificing hours of sleep, ignoring the tiredness that were building inside us and worked hard for our objective-the Trophy.

And so we went to the BTP Auditorium nervously, asking each other, can our dreams be fulfilled ? Are we capable of becoming winners ? Before the debate, Ayahanda Alimuddin Hj Mohd Dom gave us a rousing speech, motivating us to do our best. We did our usual brotherhood of course. The stage was set...

I wasn't up there, on the stage. To accompany me, however were the rest of the spirited supporters who came all the way from Kuala Kangsar to watch whether 1999 would indeed be a glorious year for the College. The ruggers, footballers, hockey players and so many more had done exceptionally well, breaking records and such. Could we emulate them ? The debate was fiery, the atmosphere tensed. You could almost feel the tension. The debate ended...

We prayed to God that hopefully we would win. And may this victory make us better people... And, we won... I clapped and cheered loudly, as the other Collegians. I hugged Ajeez, who kept repeating "I can't believe it!" To touch the trophy, finally was one of the proudest moment in my life. After the euphoria sort of lessened, we prayed together, thanking Allah for this long awaited victory. The Victory.

I'm at home right now, barely 5 hours home after the historic moment. What I write here, are my thoughts during the journey home.

The whole PPM competition itself was an idea of a distinguished old boy-our second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak. He also donated the BM PPM trophy. It was first held at the College. The trophy was designed by another old boy, Dato' Baharuddin Kassim. And our victory this morning made College the team that had won the competiton for the most times, along with KISAS at four times. We had gone to the finals for a total of eight times, a record that is unequalled by no other team in it's 26-year history. In other words, the trophy has returned to the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, into the arms of its' supposedly rightful owner-the Malay College of Kuala Kangsar.

Thanks to Ayahanda Alimuddin, Cikgu Ejazi, Cikgu Jamaluddin and Cikgu Azizah, Abang Azli, the debating team, all the Collegians and everybody who made this dream come true. This dream of mine. Alhamdulillah. Without Allah's blessing, we wouldn't have gone this far, what more achieve this 'double'. And remind me to fulfill my nazar, will you?

The fourth speaker of the glorious team of the glorious year of 1999.