NUDC 2014: All-Java Semifinal Again. Can Binus Win Four Titles in a Row?

The 8 teams in the semifinals of the 2014 National Universities Debating Championships are all from Java-based institutions, including Binus University Jakarta that has held the title for the last three years. The geographical hegemony has stood although the education ministry this year expanded the number of participation to 112 from 96 that gave 16 more slots to non-Java institutions. 

In the first semifinal, reigning champion #2 Binus University (Rivera Kathrin & Marchella Febriyanti) must overcome challenges from #7 Universitas Sanata Dharma (Sekartiyasa Kusumastuti & Tethy Pesoa), #3 Universitas Pelita Harapan (Saagar Teckchandani & Dharma Dwitama Harja) and #14 Universitas Padjadjaran (Erfan Supradhono & Omar Azfar) if they want to secure their fourth title in as many years. The two last teams eliminated one of the tournament's favourite, NUDC 2009 champion #6 Institut Teknologi Bandung.

In the second semifinal the country's two top powerhouses, #1 Universitas Indonesia (Aulia Anggita & Dennys Kapa) and #4 Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indriani Pratiwi & Wida Wahyuni), will clash along with #12 Universitas Brawijaya (Zelly Sidi Zamzami & Fahri Akbar) and #16 Universitas Ahmad Dahlan (Muhammad Iqwan & Karjongko). The semifinal motion reads "This House Believes That People Have the Right to be Forgotten".

UI debaters have secured the right to receive state financing for their participation in the 2015 World Universities Debating Championship after they broke first into the knockouts. More WUDC funding packages will go to three NUDC 2014 finalists. The ongoing national BP tournament is taking place at Universitas Batam in the Riau Islands.    

Non-Java squads Universitas Syiah Kuala from Aceh and Bali's Universitas Udayana gave spirited challenges in the quarterfinals but came short from becoming the first from outside of the main island to reach the top 8. Aceh and Bali, provinces that have won the national high school championship before, have strong squads at the pre-varsity level but their universities need to attract those talented debaters to stay home to extend success into varsity level. Some debaters from those provinces are now debating for UI.

However, it was also refreshing to see there was a team from far eastern Indonesia, Universitas Pattimura from Ambon, in the octofinal although they could not advance into the top 16. That shows serious training, including from organizations like On That Point that try to empower disadvantaged regions, can make a difference. This issue has nothing to do with race, ethnicity or any other personal background. The best Indonesian debaters are hard working individuals who come from all kinds of social groups. The matter is institutional. It is about how institutions and institutionalized training can provide the right exercise, materials and environment for eager debaters to enhance their skills and knowledge. Without them, even the most talented with the gift of the gab would never shine on the debating stage. 

WSDC 2014: Key Results & Motions

Here are the key results from the 2014 World Schools Debating Championships, the most prestigious high school debating tournament this year. The numbers in the brackets after a team name follow this order: post-tournament position, place after 8 preliminary rounds, pre-tournament rank and group. WSDC uses a 3-on-3 format but each team can have up to 5 members and rotate their turns. Only speakers who debated at least 4 times in the prelims can enter the top individual list.

Champions: England (#1/#3/#2/A) -- 4th trophy

(Will Cook, Louis Collier, Eleanor Shearer, Sam Feinburg)

Finalists: South Africa (#2/#1/#4/A) -- 2nd appearance in GF

(Josh Broomberg, Samuel Musker, Saadiyah Mayet, Kate Dewey, Rachel Gardiner)

Best ESL Team: Peru (#6/#9/#24/D)

Best EFL Team: Netherlands (#7/#10/#7/B)

Top 10 Speakers

1. Will Cook (England)
2. Jane Carroll (Australia)
3. James Stratton (Australia)
4. Chin Wee Lee (Singapore)
5. Josh Broomberg (South Africa)
6. Kuan Hian Tan (Singapore)
7. Samuel Musker (South Africa)
8. Louis Collier (England)
9. Eleanor Shearer (England)
10. Sam Feinburg (England)

Best English-as-Second Language Speaker: Nishanth Selvalingam (Malaysia)

Best English-as-Foreign Language Speaker: Regina Cara Riantoputra (Indonesia)

Motions:
R0: THW Ban Children from Becoming Professional Models
R1: THW Ban Unpaid Internships
R2: THBT Only Liberal Democracies Should Host International Sporting Events
R3: THW Allow Prisoners to Volunteer for Drug Trials in Exchange for a Lighter Sentence
R4: THBT Post-Revolution States Should Delegate Trials of Former Rulers and High Ranking Officials to the ICC
R5: THBT Slum Tourism Does More Than Good
R6: THW Disallow Unvaccinated Children from Attending Public Schools
R7: THW Lift Tax Exemptions from Religious Institutions that Refuse to Recognize Marriage Equality
R8: THW Remove All Patents on Green Technology
Octofinal: THW not Prosecute Defamation
Quarterfinal: THBT Labour Unions are Becoming Obsolete
Semifinal: THBT Drone Strikes are a Legitimate Tool of Foreign Policy
Final: THBT an ASEAN Political Union is an Impossible Dream  

WSDC 2014: Team Indonesia Return with Awesome Accolades, New Records

WSDC 2014 Best EFL Speaker Regina Cara with Thai host

 

#11 Indonesia came out of the 2014 World Schools Debating Championship  in Thailand with a trail of new national records and Regina Cara Riantoputra snatching the top EFL speaker title. The SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan debater, who has been winning awards for her school for years, was the team's star as she debated in all matches in WSDC Bangkok, making her presence widely known in the world's top high school debating event.

The 2014 team now hold almost all pf the Indonesian WSDC records, some without match. They are the Indonesian team with the most wins ever. The 2014 team won 6 out of 8 mandatory WSDC rounds, enabling Indonesia to break into the octofinal for the first time since 2004. They matched a 10-year record of breaking into the WSDC knockouts set by the 2003 and 2004 teams, which were made up by almost the same debaters.  Moreover, they bested the score of the 2003 and 2004 teams that also reached the octofinal but both 'only' had 5 preliminary wins. The 2014 team equaled the 2003's record #11 position. Only 16 teams can advance into the WSDC knockouts.

Reaching the quarterfinal stage is still an elusive feat for Team Indonesia. In the recent tournament's octofinal, WSDC 2013 champion Australia stopped Team Indonesia's amazing journey that included wins over Greece, Sweden, Romania Turkey, Estonia and 2012 finalist Wales. 

Cara, however, reached a place where no Indonesian has gone before. She entered the elite Top 20 club after she ranked 17th on the overall speaker list. That club is usually populated by debaters from countries that have won WSDC before. This year, only Cara and a Malaysian debater who broke into the party. She is now the Indonesian WSDC debater with the highest rank so far. Her team mate John Amadeo Daniswara from Raffles International School Jakarta also slipped into the Top 50 main speaker list and ended at #39. This is the first time two Indonesian speakers could enter that honourable group in the same year.

Individually, only two Indonesians had made it into the Top 50 list before WSDC 2014. Siti Astrid Kusumawardhani was the first one when she was ranked 49th in 2003. Two years later in WSDC Calgary, her sister Siti Soraya Cassandra ranked five notches higher at #44. Cara and John broke that record in Bangkok. Cara also became the first Indonesian to top the EFL speaker list with team mate Alif Azadi from SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh coming at 6th on that list. John could not enter the EFL list due to his international school background but ranked 6th on the English-as-Second-Language speaker list. The only record that still stands is Cassandra's speaker score of 72.47, which is only 0.1 higher than Cara's.           

The other members of Team Indonesia in WSDC 2014 were Marsa Harisa from SMA 9 Yogyakarta and Kevin Bonaparte from SMA 17 Makassar. Although they debated less than the previous trio, the duo played a vital role in the construction of the cases. All members of the team, which range from 3 to 5 debaters, can be involved in casebuilding although only three are allowed to debate in one match. Coaches have the chance to rotate the debating lineup throughout the tournament. This year's coaches were Australs 2011 ESL champions Subarkah Syafruddin and Riza Aryani, who have graduated from Universitas Indonesia. 

WSDC 2014: Title Goes to England, Indonesia Debater Best EFL Speaker

WSDC 2014 Champion - England

#3 England (Will Cook, Eleanor Shearer, Sam Feinburg, Louis Collier) won the 2014 World Schools Debating Championships in Bangkok, giving their country its fourth title from the most prestigious high school debate competition on the planet. Team Indonesia came home with the best EFL speaker award after an astonishing performance by a Banten high school debating star.

In the final that had England oppose the motion 'This House Believes That an ASEAN Political Union is an Impossible Dream', the eventual champion dashed the hope of  #1 South Africa (Saadiyah Mayet, Kate Dewey, Josh Broomberg, Rachel Gardiner, Samuel Musker) to become the first champion from the continent of Africa. England's Will Cook took home the best speaker award.

WSDC 2014 turned out to be a tournament of surprises. The teams that debated in the WSDC 2012 final, Scotland and Wales, failed to advance. In the top 16, there were 6 Asian teams - Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Singapore and the Philippines. Indonesia, which had never broken in the last decade, advanced with 6 wins, the most ever scored by a team from the country. China broke for the first time ever. South Africa, which has never won WSDC, topped the preliminary tab with 8 wins and 23 judge points, short one ballot from perfect. They continued to convince all judges in knockout rounds before the final. Triumphant England stopped that incredible run after a 7-2 split decision.  

#9 Peru ranked as the Best English-as-Second-Language Team with Nishant Selvalingam from Malaysia topping the ESL speaker list. #10 Netherlands exited the tournament as the Best English-as-Foreign-Language Team with SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan Regina Cara Riantoputra snatching the top EFL speaker title. She is the first Indonesian to officially win that title. Last year, another Indonesian debater was announced to get that award but the organizers had to give it to another speaker after the eventual winner's language status was corrected. The next tournament will take place in Singapore, the only Asian country with a WSDC title. 

WSDC 2014: Best Team Indonesia Ever with 6 Wins and 16 Judge Points

Team Indonesia in WSDC 2014 at Assumption University Bangkok (l to r) : Riza Aryani (coach), Kevin Bonaparte (SMA 17 Makassar), Alif Azadi (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), John Amadeo (Raffles International School Jakarta), Regina Cara Riantoputra (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan), Marsa Harisa (SMA 9 Yogyakarta), Subarkah Syafruddin (coach)

Team Indonesia advanced into the octofinals of the 2014 World Schools Debating Championships in Bangkok with 6 wins and 2 losses, the best ever record by the country's high school debaters. Indonesia had only broken twice before, in 2003 and 2004, both times with a 5-3 record in the 8-round mandatory stage. The 2010 team also won 5 times in the preliminaries but came short from breaking.

In the preliminaries, Team Indonesia defeated 6 European squads - Sweden, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Estonia and an English-as-first-language team Wales, which reached the final of WSDC in 2012. They only lost to WSDC 2010 champion Canada and United Arab Emirates. Team Indonesia broke as the 11th team on the list, equalling the rank of the WSDC 2003 squad. Indonesia's upset win over Wales made the latter fail to break in the end but it was not the only favourite that collapsed. Former champions Scotland and the United States also could not qualify into the Top 16.

Team Indonesia 2014 consist of Alif Azadi (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), Kevin Bonaparte (SMA 17 Makassar), Marsa Harisa (SMA 9 Yogyakarta), Regina Cara Riantoputra (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan) and John Amadeo (Raffles International Christian School Jakarta). Their overall speaker score was quite high, indicating some of them may enter the top 50 speaker list. Only two Indonesians have entered that illustrious list - sisters Siti Astrid Kusumawardhani and Siti Soraya Cassandra in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

Their coaches are Australs ESL champion Subarkah Syafruddin, an Universitas Indonesia alumnus who guided Team Indonesia to respectable 4-4 finishes in WSDC 2012 and 2013, and his Australs teammate and fellow UI graduate Riza Aryani. The coaches fought for the provision of the fifth seat in the team for a debater who comes from outside the education ministry system of selection.

That fifth member, John Amadeo who comes from an English-speaking school, was an integral part of the success. The two girls in the squad, Regina Cara Riantoputra and Marsa Harisa, are well-known high school debating stars with numerous best speaker awards. Team Indonesia 2014 also had two non-Java debaters, Kevin Bonaparte from South Sulawesi and Alif Azadi from Aceh, who showed there should be no barriers for debaters in Indonesia to excel if they work hard to enhance their skills through rigorous training.

But this is not new. Non-Java debaters have been a vital part of the WSDC squads since Indonesia first joined the competition in 2001. The first Team Indonesia was even captained by a student from West Kalimantan. Time and again, non-Java high school debaters have proven they can compete with the rest. However, almost all of the non-Java WSDC debaters ended up debating for Java-based universities. This is the Indonesian debating world's brain drain issue that should start from making non-Java educational institutions attractive for these high school stars.

In the octofinal, Team Indonesia had to end their amazing journey in the hands of defending champions Australia, which later fell in the quarterfinal. Although WSDC 2014 has become the tournament of upsets with favourites exiting early, the semifinal debates had four English-as-first-language teams. The final will be between undefeated #1 South Africa, which is bent on becoming Africa's first WSDC champion, and #3 England, the three-time winner.

WSDC 2014: Indonesia With 2 Wins So Far in Unpredictable Tourney

At the mid-way point of the 2014 World Schools Debating Championship, Team Indonesia has collected 2 wins from 4 rounds. There are 4 preliminaries to go with an open chance to break into the top 16. Our national squad defeated lowly ranked Sweden and  highly seeded Greece. They lost to the 2010 champion Canada and United Arab Emirates, which are among the top ten favorites. In the next 4 rounds, they will face opponents with more or less of the same quality. They need at least 5 wins out of 8 debates to be able to advance into the elimination stage.

The tournament itself has been full of surprises, showing the tight level of competition. Former WSDC champions Scotland and Singapore bowed to underdogs China and Germany, respectively in round 1. Barbados, a team with erratic participation and without a good track record in WSDC, is becoming a dark horse with 3 wins out of 4. All teams have lost at least one judge point.  

Team Indonesia 2014 consist of Alif Azadi (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), Kevin Bonaparte (SMA 17 Makassar), Marsa Harisa (SMA 9 Yogyakarta), Regina Cara Riantoputra (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan)
and John Amadeo (Raffles International Christian School Jakarta). Their coaches are Australs ESL champion Subarkah Syafruddin, an Universitas Indonesia alumnus who guided Team Indonesia to respectable 4-4 finishes in WSDC 2012 and 2013,  and his Australs teammate and fellow UI graduate Riza Aryani.

Indonesia has only broken twice into the WSDC out rounds, in 2003 and 2004, both times with a 5-3 record in the 8-round mandatory stage. The 2010 team also won 5 times in the preliminaries but came short from breaking. The 2013 team won the best EFL team award.

NUDC 2014: Biggest National Round to Take Place on Batam Island

Universitas Batam will host the final battles of the 2014 National Universities Debating Championship from August 19 to 24. This will be the biggest ever NUDC following the expansion from 96 teams to 112. This is due to the new education ministry policy that created two new regional offices, increasing the number to 14 from 12. Sticking to its geographical representation principles, the ministry still allows each regional office to send 8 teams each, regardless of skill level.

So, the expansion means a hike in quantity, not quality. The regional offices that were broken into smaller units all were among those that had the worst performing teams. There will be 8 teams from the remote West Papua/Papua region alone after they no longer need to compete with universities in Maluku. The same thing goes to Aceh province, which will have 8 teams, although it had difficulty to qualify more than one when it was still part of the northern Sumatra regional division. There will be a lot more teams with insufficient understanding about what a good competitive debate should be like. This will give extra pressure to adjudicators in reviewing debates with low clarity.  

While many of the participating teams are new, the main adjudication panel is not. Last year's chief adjudicator Boby Andika Ruitang from Universitas Indonesia returns to lead the judges along with three deputies who come from the three most successful state universities in debating. They are UI's Egalita Irfan, the best speaker of the 2012 Indonesia Varsities English Debate, Erwina Salsabila, the EFL champion of United Asian Debating Championship 2014 from Universitas Gadjah Mada, and Alris Alfharisi, the EFL Champion of UADC 2013 from Institut Teknologi Bandung. They will face the tough challenge to decide motions that can be understood and give added value to a pool of debaters who mainly may have limited insight into the most contemporary topics. They will also need to make sure all teams, including total greenhorns, get fair adjudication for their efforts.

The teams are as follows (alphabetical within their regions):

Region I (North Sumatra)
Akademi Sekretari Manajemen Cendana, Politeknik Ganesha, STBA Persahabtan Internasional Asia, STIE IT&B, STMIK Mikroskil, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara, Universitas Muhammadiyah Tapanuli Selatan, Universitas Sumatera Utara,   

Region II (South Sumatra, Lampung, Bengkulu, Bangka Belitung)
Politeknik Sriwijaya, STBA Teknokrat, STIE Musi Palembang, STKIP Muhammadiyah Pringsewu, Universitas Bengkulu, Universitas Bina Darma, Universitas Lampung, Universitas Sriwijaya,  

Region III (Greater Jakarta, Banten)
Institut Pertanian Bogor, Sekolah Tinggi Parawisata Trisakti, Universitas Bakrie, Universitas Bina Nusantara, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Kristen Indonesia, Universitas Paramadina, Universitas Pelita Harapan

Region IV (West Java)
Politeknik Negeri Bandung, Institut Teknologi Bandung, STKIP Siliwangi, Universitas Komputer Indonesia, Universitas Padjadjaran,  Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Universitas Telkom, Universitas Wiralodra 

Region V (Yogyakarta)
STBA LIA Yogyakarta, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Universitas Sanata Dharma

Region VI (Central Java)
Universitas Dian Nuswantoro, Universitas Diponegoro, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Universitas Katolik Soegijapranata, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Universitas Negeri Sebelas Maret, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Universitas PGRI Semarang 

Region VII (East Java)
Politeknik Negeri Malang, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Jember, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya, Universitas Negeri Malang, Universitas Surabaya 

Region VIII (Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara)
Politeknik Negeri Bali, STIBA Saraswati, STIKES Bali, Universitas Mahasaraswati, Universitas Mataram, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, Universitas Udayana, Universitas Warmadewa

Region IX (Sulawesi)
Politeknik Negeri Ujung Pandang, Universitas Hasanuddin, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, Universitas Muhammadiyah Pare-Pare, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, Universitas Negeri Makassar,  Universitas Sam Ratulangi

Region X (West Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, Riau Islands)
Politeknik Negeri Batam, Politeknik Negeri Bengkalis, Universitas Andalas, Universitas Batam, Universitas Jambi, Universitas Mahaputra Muhammad Yamin, Universitas Negeri Padang, Universitas Riau

Region XI (Kalimantan)
IKIP PGRI Pontianak, Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin, STKIP PGRI Banjarmasin, Universitas Balikpapan, Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, Universitas Mulawarman, Universitas Palangka Raya, Universitas Tanjungpura 

Region XII (Maluku, North Maluku)
STIKES Maluku Husada, STIKOM Ambon, STKIP Kie Raha Ternate, Universitas Iqra Buru, Universitas Khairun, Universitas Kristen Indonesia Maluku, Universitas Muhammadiyah Ternate, Universitas Pattimura

Region XIII (Aceh)
STKIP Bina Bangsa, STKIP Muhammadiyah Aceh Barat Daya, Universitas Abulyatama, Universitas Al Muslim, Universitas Jabal Ghafur, Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Universitas Ubudiyah

Region XIV (West Papua, Papua)
STKIP Muhammadiyah Sorong, Universitas Cenderawasih, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sorong, Universitas Musamus Merauke, Universitas Negeri Papua, Universitas Sains dan Teknologi Jayapura, Universitas Victory Sorong, Universitas Yapis Papua,  

The top teams in NUDC have always come from the same places. For the last three years, the title has been held by Jakarta-based Binus University. Non-Java teams have never reached the semifinal of NUDC. However, powerhouses are constrained by the regulation that a school can only send one team to NUDC. The fact is schools that have the chance to win still come from a very small circle, all of them are Java-based. Hence, for the top teams, real competition only starts at the top 16 stage.

The reality is still harsh for non-Java teams. Without better training and sustainable support for non-Java debaters, this divide has little likelihood to change. Simply sending debaters to competitions is not enough for non-Java institutions. The things good debaters do before a competition  -practicing, case-building, reading materials, watching debate videos- need to be done consistently by the non-Java debaters if they want to catch up. This does not mean a debater who comes from a remote place in Indonesia cannot excel on the national stage. In this year's NUDC, one of the debaters who have the chance to emerge as best speaker actually went to a high school in East Nusa Tenggara, one of the poorest provinces in the country. UI's Dennys Kapa is now part of the elite class of Indonesian debaters because he trained hard for years and had a supporting environment in his current university.  

WUDC 2015: 10 Indonesian Teams Secure Slots, ITB Missing

Ten teams from 7 Indonesian institutions are on the updated attendance list of the 2015 World Universities Debating Championship in Kuala Lumpur. Those who have been part of the original list should pay before July 31 while teams that got updated allocations have until August 29 to meet their payment obligations. The number of Indonesian participants may increase if other teams from Indonesia can get on the main list after the aforementioned deadlines. Institut Teknologi Bandung, which championed the 2014 WUDC's English-as-Foreign-Language category, was missing from the main list after its allocation was dropped. Click here to access the registration list. The 10 teams are as follows:
 
Universitas Indonesia - 3 teams
Universitas Gadjah Mada - 2 teams
Binus International - 1 teamBinus University - 1 team
Institut Pertanian Bogor - 1 team
Universitas Atma Jaya Jakarta - 1 team
Universitas Padjadjaran - 1 team