FT 2011: Key Results

Melanie Tedja and Sinta Satriana with
the EDS UI Founders' Trophy

Founders Trophy 2011 was a truly open tournament and used first names of the team members as calling codes. Affiliations after debater names in this result list are for identification purposes only.

Champions: Melanie Tedja - Sinta Satriana (Ex UI)
Finalists: Caessar Pronocitro - Novelisa Wirid (Ex UGM), Ahmad Naufal Dai - Rifan Ibnu Rahman (UI/ITB), Indra Kusuma - Irene Severina (UI)
Best Novice Team: Alif Satria - Revaldi Wirabuana (SMA 8 Yogyakarta/SMA 4 Denpasar)
Best Speaker: Melanie Tedja (Ex UI)
Best Novice Speaker: Revian Wirabuana (SMA 4 Denpasar) & Thoriq Murtadho (UGM)

Top Speakers
1. Melanie Tedja (Ex UI)
2. Satrio Adi Pratama (Undip)
2. Sony Lewi (Ex UI)
4. Kartika Anindya (Ex UI)
5. Rifan Ibnu Rahman (ITB)
6. Ahmad Naufal Dai (UI)
7. Bryan Gunawan (Binus)
7. Caessar Pronocitro (Ex UGM)
7. Roderick Sibarani (UI)
10. Adlini Ilma Ghaisany (UI)
10. Novelisa Wirid (Ex UGM)

Breaking Teams
(Adlini Ilma Ghaisany - Roderick Sibarani were second on the tab but pulled out right before the break)

1. Melanie Tedja - Sinta Satriana (ex UI)
2. Bryan Gunawan - Sabaruddin Adinugroho (Binus)
3. Ahmad Naufal Dai - Rifan Ibnu Rahman (UI/ITB)
4. Caessar Pronocitro - Novelisa Wirid (Ex UGM)
5. Ahdiat Permana - Dimas Hokka (UI)
6. Bernando Tampubolon - Engelbertus Panggalo (Ex UGM)
7. Karina Soedjatmiko - Melliza Putri (ITB)
8. Cindy Francisca - Darwin Tanzil (Atma Jaya)
9. Kartika Anindya - Sony Lewi (Ex UI)
10. Indra Kusuma - Irene Severina (UI)
11. Ridwan Kurniawan - Willy Limiady (Ex UI)
12. Jaran Walia - Rajkumar Narendra (Binus International)
13. Rizky Akita - Teddy Triatmojo (Undip/STAN)
14. Aryo Febrian - Jihad Akbar (Bakrie)
15. Alif Satria - Revaldi Wirabuana (SMA 8 Yogyakarta/SMA 4 Denpasar)
16. Mashita Kamilia - Satrio Adi Pratama (Undip)

Motions & Book Winners
R1 THW hold Wikileaks and its affliates criminally liable for espionage
Book Winner: Sony Lewi (Ex UI)
R2 THBT animals should be represented in the parliament
Book Winner: Satrio Adi Pratama (Undip)
R3 THBT the feminist movement should not celebrate slut walks
Book Winner: Melanie Tedja (Ex UI)
R4 TH supports China's plan to take over Europe's debt
Book Winner: Melanie Tedja (Ex UI)
R5 THBT UN aid to newly democratised Arab states should be linked to the promotion of secularism
Book Winner: Adlini Ilma Ghaisany (UI)
QF THW require HIV carriers to disclose their condition before marriage
Book Winner: Melanie Tedja (Ex UI)
SF THBT the Palestinian Authority should push on with its UN membership bid
Book Winner: Melanie Tedja (Ex UI)
GF THW let Papuans exercise their right to self-determination
Book Winner: Melanie Teja (Ex UI)

IVED 2012 Organizers Make U-Turn on Rego Date

The host of the 2012 Indonesian Varsities English Debate, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, took a bold step in addressing concerns over its sudden November 28 registration announcement. Organizers have called off the process and decided to restart it on December 3, the date they originally publicised. The abrupt change from the first date triggered a flurry of complaints from the debating community.

There will only be 59 slots open for the competition that will take place from February 7 to 11 in Malang. Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember has already earned a spot after winning a golden ticket at the UMM English Fiesta in May. Each institution can only register up to 3 teams from December 3 to 10. However, the third needs to wait until December 30 for a promotion to the main list.

IVED is the first nationwide English debating competition in Indonesia and considered as the de-facto national championship. Since its conception in 1998, it has used the 3-on-3 Australasian format -- the first internationally accepted style of debating that was adopted by Indonesian debaters. The Chief Adjudicator of IVED 2012 is Eldhianto Jusuf, champion of the last IVED from Universitas Gadjah Mada. His deputies are Dwita Aryani from Universitas Parahyangan, Sabarudin Adinugroho from Binus University and Satrio Adi Pratama from Universitas Diponegoro.

Sudden Change of IVED 2012 Rego Date Triggers Concern

Host Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang last night suddenly opened the online registration of the 2012 Indonesian Varsities English Debate, a week earlier than they first announced, triggering concerns on the running of the upcoming tournament. UMM first proclaimed via Indodebaters the registration for the February 7-11 event would start on December 3. With only 60 slots, those who happened to be online received advantage. This has prompted calls for the committee to stop the process and stick to its earlier promise.

After a long wait for the information on IVED 2012, the launch of the website dumbfounded many. On a single page, organisers had two versions on the number of preliminary rounds -- 5 and 6. (Rules on Format 2 and 4). The host also wrote two different systems for the elimination phase -- "break-and-slide" and "tournament power matching" (Rules on Format 2 and 5). Another confusion relates to the number of required adjudicators as the committee keep on saying on the website that the number should be one less than the number of teams sent (N-1 rule) while labelling it as "N1 rule". These may be innocent typos but they show sloppiness. On a less technical note, UMM has imposed a no T-shirt policy. While wearing formal attire or a university jacket in the grand final is common practice, enforcing a mandatory dresscode during the early rounds may be the least the host should worry in running the most prestigious tournament in the country.

IVED is the first nationwide debating tournament and since its conception in 1998 has been considered as the de-facto national championships although the government has created the National Universities English Debating Championships (NUEDC), which has geographical reach but lacks competition depth.

Melanie Tedja Finally Wins the Founders' Trophy

Melanie Tedja and Sinta Satriana

Former Universitas Indonesia and Monash debater Melanie Tedja finally won the Founders' Trophy, the one championship that had slipped away from her fingers since 2003. Before FT 2011, she had reached 6 FT grand finals, topped the speaker tab 3 times and brought home numerous book prizes.

This year, Melanie, who graduated from UI in 2005, partnered with fellow UI alumna Sinta Satriana and broke that jinx with dominating fashion. The pair emerged from all of their debates as the winning team while Melanie bagged her fourth FT best speaker award and won books from 5 of the 8 rounds of debate.

From the role of Opening Opposition in the grandfinal, the pair knocked down the motion "This House Would Let Papuans Exercise Their Right to Self-Determination", outdebating OG-Caessar Pronocitro & Novellisa Wirid (Ex-UGM), CG-Indra Kusuma & Irene Severina (UI) and CO-Ahmad Naufal Dai & Rifan Ibnu Rahman (UI/ITB). FT is Indonesia's oldest British Parliamentary competition and most competitive open tournament. It is annually hosted by the English Debating Society Universitas Indonesia.

Founders' Trophy 2011: Motions and Book Winners Day 1

Four preliminary rounds of the 2011 EDSUI Founders' Trophy finished on Saturday but the competition among potential breaking teams is still on. The fifth round on Sunday morning will decide the top 16 teams that can proceed into the knockouts. FT, the oldest British Parliamentary debate contest in Indonesia, is known as the most competitive tournament in the country but this year that reputation was reinforced. Among the 48 pairs that entered the ring, around two dozen debaters boast at least one debating trophy in each of their cabinets.

All teams this year compete under no affiliation and their call codes are their own names. Among the participants, there are alumni teams, composites, Indonesia's WSDC 2012 squad split into two, varsity teams prepping for Manila Worlds and novices.

As usual, each FT round has a motion linked to a book donated by an alumnus of the English Debating Society Universitas Indonesia and at the end of it the speaker with highest score in that particular debate gets the donation. The motions and book winners of FT 2011 are as follows :

R1 THW hold Wikileaks and its affiliates criminally liable for espionage
Best Speaker: Soni Lewi (Ex-UI/CMDC'08 Champ)

R2 THBT animals should be represented in the parliament
Best Speaker: Satrio Adi Pratama (Undip/JOVED'11 Champ)

R3 THBT the feminist movement should not celebrate slutwalks
Best Speaker: Melanie Tedja (Ex-UI/IVED'03 Champ)

R4 TH supports China's plan to take over Europe's debt
Best Speaker: Melanie Tedja (Ex-UI/IVED'03 Champ)

UMM Confirms February 7-11 as IVED 2012 Dates

Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, the host of the 2012 Indonesian Varsities English Debate, confirmed today that it would hold the event from February 7 to 11. Click here for the confirmation letter to Indodebaters. The team cap is settled at 60 and the registration will open on December 3. Prior to this announcement, there was a November 7 post on the school's website indicating the precise dates but organizers had to iron out internal issues before revealing the information to the Indonesian debating community. Potential participants had long waited for this disclosure. The 3-on-3 Australasian style IVED, first held in 1998, is the first debating competition that made the point since its conception to invite teams from all over Indonesia. It is considered as the most prestigious tournament in the country.  

UMM to Host IVED 2012 from February 7 to 11?

Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, the declared host of the 2012 Indonesian Varsities English Debate, may hold the de-facto national championships from February 7 to  11, according to a post on the school's website. Click here. This is not an official announcement as UMM has not sent anything about the IVED dates and registration details to the Indonesian debating community via the normal Indodebaters avenue. The vacuum of information on IVED dates from the host has affected the preparation of potential participants, triggering calls for transparency. This will be the first time for Malang, East Java province's varsity debating epicentre, to host IVED.

UMM Takes EJVED Crown, Best Speaker Award

Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (Hanif Falah, Bambang Trihadmodjo, Nawawi Saimima) beat cross-city rivals Politeknik Negeri Malang (Asdin Herzegovina, Fauzi Akbar, Adi Susanto) in the finals of the East Java Varsities English Debate, a competition that is exclusively for teams from East Java province. Hanif Falah also topped the speaker tab. The UMM team did not lose a single match in the tournament that had 60 participating squads.

Unhas Swamps Final of Makassar Open, Takes Trophy

Three teams from Universitas Hasanuddin reached the grand final of the 2011 Makassar Debate Open today, leaving only one spot for the host, Politeknik Negeri Ujung Pandang. At the end of the debate, Unhas A (Framita Rahman & Erwin Katunde) came out as the winner of this British Parliamentary competition's main category that had 52 teams from all over Sulawesi island. Framita also won the best speaker award. In the high school final, SMA 15 Makassar took the crown.

Indonesia is #29 on WSDC Pre-Tournament Rankings

Indonesia remains in the E group of the pre-tournament rankings ahead of the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships, at #29 of 48 contestants -- 2 notches below the placement on the pre-WSDC 2011 list. The WSDC seedings are calculated based on victories and judge votes in the past three championships.

The list serves as the key in matching teams in the coming tournament in Cape Town from January 17 to 27, 2012. A WSDC team will meet 8 different teams in the preliminary rounds, one from each of the 8 groupings. The predetermined draw will be announced in December. Four preliminaries use prepared motions while the rest will be impromptu. Only the top 16 can advanced into the knockout stage. While victory points are the ultimate decider like most tournaments, judge votes have more weight in WSDC than collective team scores.

Group A: 1) England, 2) Australia, 3) New Zealand, 4) Canada, 5) Greece, 6) Singapore
Group B: 7) Netherlands, 8) South Korea, 9) South Africa, 10) Wales, 11) Pakistan, 12) Ireland
Group C: 13) UAE, 14) Hong Kong, 15) Scotland, 16) Slovenia, 17) Philippines, 18) India
Group D: 19) Israel, 20) Mexico, 21) Sri Lanka, 22) Peru, 23) Estonia, 24) Bangladesh
Group E: 25) Botswana, 26) Malaysia, 27) USA, 28) China, 29) Indonesia, 30) Qatar
Group F: 31) Romania, 32) Argentina, 33) Germany, 34) Bermuda, 35) Thailand, 36) Czech
Group G: 37) Turkey, 38) Mongolia, 39) Kuwait, 40) Sweden, 41) Lithuania, 42) Slovakia
Group H: 43) Nigeria, 44) Japan, 45) Denmark, 46) Macau, 47) Swaziland, 48) Zimbabwe

UI Econ Students Champion the "Progressive" Medical Debate

An Universitas Indonesia team consisting of three economics students (Ahdiat Permana, Elghafikhy Bimardhika, Roderick Sibarani) overwhelmed the competition at the Progressive English Debate held by UI's Faculty of Medicine. Not only they took the trophy, the trio also populated the top end of the speaker tab. In the grandfinal yesterday, they beat Universitas Bakrie (Aryo Febrian, Mutiara Hapsari, Yudha Mustafa).

This is Roderick Sibarani's third silverware in 2011. The DOTY table leader also snatched Progressive's best speaker award, his second this year. For both of his partners, yesterday's victory was their second time becoming champions this year. All of their previous 2011 triumphs were achieved when they debated with different UI mates, showcasing the depth of their school's debating squad.    

WSDC 2012 Prepared Motions Announced

A day after the formation of Team Indonesia for the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships, organisers of the Cape Town event revealed the motions for the prepared rounds. Each WSDC team must undergo 8 preliminary rounds, half of them prepared while the other four will be announced an hour before the debates.

WSDC does not use a power matching system as the draw is predetermined using a scheme that gives each team reasonably equal chance to meet opponents from various levels. While the motions for WSDC Cape Town are out, the organizers did not disclose the timing of the motions. They may be revealed along with the role assignments and complete draw in December. The only motion with a clear designation is the one for the grand final.

The prepared motions for the 2012 WSDC that will take place from January 17 to 27 are:

Preliminaries:
THBT newly democraticised Arab nations should not allow religious parties to participate in elections
THBT the feminist movement should seek a ban on pornography
THBT developing nations should place limits on internal urban-rural migration
THBT states should enshrine legally actionable socio-economic rights

Grand Final:
TH regrets South Africa's decision to use the Truth and Reconciliation Commission rather than prosecuting perpetrators of crimes committed under Apartheid

Good luck to Team Indonesia 2012 (Alif Satria, Cheryl Nazik Cosslett, Revaldi Wirabuana, Revian Wirabuana) in prepping the motions.

Bryan Gunawan Tapped to Become DCA in Asian BP

Bryan Gunawan from Jakarta-based Binus University will serve as a deputy chief adjudicator in the 2011 Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championships that will take place at Dhaka's North-South University from December 7 to 11. He is among the two latest additions to the adjudication core that includes Sam Block and Lucinda David, the co-chief adjudicators of the upcoming World Universities Debating Championships. Bryan is no stranger in working with world-class judges. His experience in leading the adjudication in the 2011 Southeast Asian English Olympics that included Sam Block, a WUDC best speaker, will definitely be useful in Asian BP.

Team Indonesia for WSDC 2012 Revealed

Selectors last night picked 4 students to represent Indonesia in the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships, two of them are twins from Bali. The selected team emerged after 5 days of trials in which 24 debaters were invited. This is the first time a pair of siblings made the cut in the same year. Sisters have entered Team Indonesia before but in different years. Nobody who previously debated  for Indonesia in WSDC had a twin.

Members of Team Indonesia for WSDC 2012 are ( in alphabetical order):

• Alif Satria (SMA 8 Yogyakarta) 
• Cheryl Nazik Cosslett (SMA 1 Bogor) 
• Revaldi Wirabuana (SMA 4 Denpasar) 
• Revian Wirabuana (SMA 4 Denpasar) 

The upcoming WSDC will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from January 17-27, 2012, giving coach M. Subarkah Syafruddin less than two months to train a team that can put Indonesia back on the map. In the last WSDC, Indonesia ended at #37, the lowest rank since the first participation in 2001. Indonesia has broken twice into the WSDC octofinals, in 2003 and 2004.    

Padjadjaran Wins EU-IDC, Its First Trophy in 2011

EU ambassador Julian Wilson congratulating the Unpad team

Universitas Padjadjaran (Rendy Prahara, Mayang Puspita, Novryan Pahlawan) defeated Universitas Gadjah Mada (Erwina Salsabila, Ika Septihandayani, Irwan Ferdiansyah) in the final of the 2nd European Union Inter-varsity Debating Championships, grabbing the school's first debate trophy in 2011 and securing internships at the international body. Unpad's most previous victory was the 2010 Binus International Debate where Mayang was also part of the winning team.

Like last year, EU-IDC 2011 used an independently modified 3-on-3 format and employed political celebrities as judges. This year's event first received flak from the Indonesian debating community for its original ignorance to internationally accepted debating rules. The criticism subsided after EU agreed to recruit seasoned debaters as consultants.

Trials for Indonesia's WSDC Team Reach Final Stage

After 3 days of trials, 8 debaters from the 24 students who were invited to the Team Indonesia selection for the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships earned the right last night to progress into the next phase. They need to undergo more try outs until November 17 before securing the 4 seats in the Cape Town-bound team. The list of the advancing candidates is as follows, according to the alphabetical order of their first names.

Alif Satria (SMA 8 Yogyakarta)
Aulia Widya Putra (SMA 8 Pekanbaru)
Cheryl Nazik Cosslett (SMA 1 Bogor)
Cut Maghfirah Faisal (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh)
Gabriel Charlotte Wajong (SMA 81 Jakarta)
Revaldi Wirabuana (SMA 4 Denpasar)
Revian Wirabuana (SMA 4 Denpasar)
Zivana Sabili Chaniago (SMA 3 Medan)

PNUP to Hold BP-Style Makassar Open This Weekend

Politeknik Negeri Ujung Pandang will run a competition using the British Parliamentary format this weekend called the Makassar Open. The name spells out the location and nature of this tournament. However, while high school  teams and older debaters will clash with each other in the preliminaries, there will be parallel knockout rounds separating the high school students and the rest. In the end, there will be two champions -- high school and non-high school. Registration is still open until November 17 while debates start two days after.

Selections for Indonesia's WSDC 2012 Team Begins Today

The Ministry of Education has invited 24 high school students from all over the country to join the selection process to get 4 debaters who will represent Indonesia in the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships. The trials begin today at Jakarta's Wisma Subud and they are aimed at selecting Team Indonesia before the November 18 deadline. The next WSDC will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from January 17 to 27.

Indonesia has broken twice into the WSDC knockouts, in 2003 and 2004, with a nearly identical line-up. No other Indonesian team has advanced from the preliminaries. Debaters and coaches of those two successful teams will take part as judges in today's trials.

The coach for the upcoming Team Indonesia is M. Subarkah Syafruddin whose Universitas Indonesia team won the ESL category in the 2011 Australasian Inter-Varsities Debating Championships in Seoul. Sume, as he is affectionately known, has a tough task ahead. He needs to form a solid team from scratch while several nations have decided to use debaters who competed in the 2011 WSDC last August as the backbone of their Cape Town squads.

Three Back-to-back Varsity Debates in November

Three varsity debating competitions, each with a different style, will run in Greater Jakarta one after the other this month. Progressive, the 3-on-3 debate competition held by Universitas Indonesia's Faculty of Medicine will kick off on November 12 with its grand final on November 19. In between, the European Union-Intervarsity Debating Competition will take place on the 17th and 18th, using an independently modified format and celebrity judges. The last but definitely not the least is the country's most competitive British Parliamentary tournament -- the EDS UI Founders' Trophy that will run from November 25 to 27.

Founders Trophy Recruits First Non-UI DCAs

For the first time since its conception a decade ago, Founders' Trophy, the country's oldest and most competitive BP debating tournament, will have people unconnected to Universitas Indonesia in its adjudication core this year. FT is annually held by EDS UI with its fresh recruits as organizers, alumni corps as donors, and senior classmen as the top judges. This year's FT will take place from November 25 to 27.

FT 2011 CA Boby Andika and Ignes Priscillia, both UI debaters with strong adjudication records, have decided to pull in Invi Atmanegara from Binus International and Universitas Gadjah Mada's Eldhianto Jusuf to bolster the line-up as their deputies. Invi is no stranger to FT as she reached the grandfinals of the two most recent FTs. In the adjudicating department, she was CA at the 2011 English Fiesta and the 2010  eCom. Meanwhile, Eldhi won JOVED 2010 and led the adjudication core in this year's edition. He will also be CA of the next IVED, the national tournament that he championed last January.

Due to the close proximity of the WUDC venue this year in Manila, many top-notch Indonesian teams will compete in the most prestigious debating competition in the world and plan to use FT as their warm-up event. The participation list of this year's FT has more than 20 debaters with at least one varsity-level trophy or best speaker award in their respective cabinets.