#4 Australia and #15 Singapore, two countries that border Indonesia, will battle it out in the grandfinal of the 2011 Worlds Schools Debating Championships in Dundee tomorrow. Australia will propose the motion "This House Believes That Autocracy is Doomed in the Age of Facebook" as revolutions in the Arab world show how citizens have been using social media in building resistance against their governments.
The finalists are perrenial favourites in WSDC. Australian teams have won 8 times, including in the 2003 final against Singapore. However, this year's tournament has been far from predictable. Australia lost a preliminary round against South Africa while Singapore felt defeat 3 times, including in the hands of an EFL nation - the Netherlands.
Darkhorses clearly stole the attention with strong performances in the prelims but their shine quickly faded like comets after the break. The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and South Korea, countries where English is not the main language, broke third, fifth and sixth, with impressive scorelines, into the octofinals where they all fizzled. In fact, all teams in the quarterfinals came from current or former parts of the British empire.
Team Indonesia missed the break after losing 6 out of 8 prelims and finishing at #37, a record low. Click the WSDC button on the navigation bar for details and stats of Indonesia's participation on the most prestigious high school debate competition on the planet.
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