Fine Dining with the Candidates

An all new Veritas activity - Fine Dining with the Candidates - was launched today. Sadly, the only fine moments were supplied by the candidates. Audience participation was atrocious, leaving us to shake our collective heads in Veritas at the intellectual state of the school.

First candidates to arrive were Kenrick and Grace, last Nic-O and Achai. Note of course that the order of arrival of candidates does not reflect in any way their aptitude. Hosted by the beautiful Liz, questions began firing off at 12.35pm. Q1: What personal quality do you have that will relate to your role in the SC? Answers were typical, with a few standing out - Nic-O answering boldly that he would not need to state them for everyone knew how he had perfomed throughout the months, Kenrick's statement that his diligence would win the day, and Hizami's mention that his effort and persistence to shake up the relations between the admin and the students.

Answers to other questions bordered on the implausible at times. Kenrick's funding was questioned, with Liz asking him why he did not spend his huge poster budget on the tsunami victims. Kenrick retorted by mentioning he had already donated a substantial amount to the tsunami victims, but in line with economic theory, he has to save some money for his needs. Go Kenrick!

Also, we opened questions to the floor. As expected, faculty members were averse to the idea. Nicholas opened the grilling by impersonating a voter who did not want change and maintained that change was not required in this college as it was perfect. Achai had the most interesting answer when he began by saying he staunchly agreed the college was good, drawing a few disapproving glances...then turning the tables by proposing "What's good has to be better and what's better has to be best!" A work of mastery.

Regarding the issue of change, many candidates were in favour whereas a minority were insistent on the status quo to remain. Kenrick and Hizami especially were at odds with their differing definitions of "change" - Kenrick saying he wanted to "build bridges between teachers and the students, we should not regard the administration as evil" whereas Hizami maintaining that the Student Council should not merely fight for representation but also for action.

Nic-O had an interesting interpretation - the focus was not just on better administration-student relations but also on better relations between students. He exhorted students that "we are one batch, can't we graduate a united batch?" An audience members' remark that the Academic Committee would have to take action against the recent deterioration of academic results was taken on by Ben, who elaborated to the public that the Academic Exco is in no way responsible for student achievement, as stated in the SC job descriptions. Afida's reaction was to give students motivation but of course to remember that it ultimately boiled down to the student.

At 1.30pm, the talk show ended, leaving, perhaps, the bitter taste of dissatisfaction for all who participated. It in itself, in Faez's words, was a "good idea", but as an actual event it "bombed". Students in KYUEM are still generally unfamiliar with the concept of true democratic openness, but with Veritas Media's resurgence in recent years, we are confident our cause to bring the truth to the public will not waver. Veritas will persist in introducing and exposing KYUEMers to true free speech.