Students from Aceh, where schools were burnt down during three decades of separatist conflict that only ended six years ago and smashed by one of the world's most damaging tsunamis in 2004, showed they could rise from the ashes and win the top crown of high school debating in Indonesia. This is the first ever victory of any team from Aceh in a national English debating championship.
#6 Aceh (Cut Maghfirah Faisal, Rahmad Nugraha, Pocut Adila Nadiva) argued for the motion "This House Believes That Establishing Democracy Through Military Force is Justifiable" and convinced 5 out of 9 grand final adjudicators that the team should win the 2011 National Schools Debating Championships, giving hot favourites #1 Bali (Revaldi Wirabuana, Revian Wirabuana, Bika Alice Pidada) a heartbreaking loss.
Aceh last year also reached the NSDC final but had to bow to a team from West Java. The 2011 Aceh team came from SMA Modal Bangsa, the jewel of the province's school system, while Bali trusted a trio from SMA 4 Denpasar who won the recent ALSA UI E-Comp, the country's top school-based debating contest, to represent the tourism-driven province. NSDC is province-based. This year's final was the first time two non-Java teams met in the penultimate debate of a national high school debating competition.
CONGRATULATION FOR TEAM FROM ACEH WHICH BECOME THE WINNER
ReplyDelete