FT 2012: UI-ITB Hybrid Dai-Rahman Wins in Second Attempt

Rifan Ibnu Rahman & Ahmad Naufal Dai

Ahmad Naufal Dai, a former Universitas Indonesia debater, and Institut Teknologi Bandung's Rifan Ibnu Rahman teamed up for  Founders Trophy in 2011 and reached the final. This year, Dai-Rahman tried again and took home the top prize -- the Papuan sculpture. For Dai, it was his second FT victory after winning Indonesia's toughest debate tournament in 2009. From that year on, he has always appeared in the final FT debate, sitting on the opposition bench. He is the only male debater who has won FT twice.

In the final, they spoke as Opening Opposition and knocked down the motion "This House condemns the push for an international protocol against blasphemy", which was proposed by #1 Muhammad Pandu/Luthfi Abdurrahman,  ITB graduates who championed NUEDC in 2009. The closing teams were #2 Ahdiat Permana/Roderick Sibarani, students of UI's economics faculty, and Dimas Hokka/Riza Aryani who grabbed the Australs ESL title for UI last year. It was the third time in a row that the FT champions were debaters from OO in the final.

The best speaker award went to Luthfi Abdurrahman who became the only male debater who has topped the FT individual tab twice. He also took home three books after getting the highest score in three separate rounds.  FT motions derive from books donated by UI alumni, which  will later go to the best performance in that round. The other books also went to speakers associated with Bandung universites. His partner Muhammad Pandu bagged two and so did Dwita Aryani from Universitas Parahyangan. The best speaker in the final was Rifan Ibnu Rahman who has topped the IndoDebate Debater of the Year list for almost the entire year.

FT also gives out prizes to novices without prior varsity BP debating experience. This year, the best novice speaker title went to Ibrahim Hanif from Universitas Gadjah Mada who reached all the way to the semifinal with his veteran partner. ITB freshmen pair Aulia Widyaputra & Muhammad Lutfi won the best novice team award.

FT is an annual tournament held by English Debating Society UI, the pioneer of competitive debating in Indonesia. FT organisers are always new EDSUI recruits with supervision from seniors and support from the alumni corps.             

FT 2012: Ex ITB Debaters Take First 3 Books

NUEDC 2009 champions Muhammad Pandu and Luthfi Abdurrahman, who recently graduated from Institut Teknologi Bandung, won the first three books up for grabs in the 2012 Founders Trophy today. The best speaker of each round in FT gets a book from which the motion is taken from. Uphie grabbed the R1 and R3 books while Pandu was top speaker in R2. The pair had the perfect score of 9 points entering R4. Four preliminary rounds took place today but R4 results were not announced. R5 will run tomorrow morning before three knockout rounds. 

R1: THBT there is no place for foreign language in the national elementary school curriculum
Book Winner: Luthfi Abdurrahman

R2: THBT the state should never regulate consensual sexual behaviour
Book Winner: Muhammad Pandu

R3: THW condone illegal direct actions in liberating animals used in labs
Book Winner: Luthfi Abdurrahman

FT 2012: Battle of Champions Begins Tomorrow

There will only be less than 40 teams that are going to compete in the 2012 Founders Trophy tomorrow but  more than 50 percent of those have at least one member with a championship title or best speaker award, living up to the tournament's reputation as Indonesia's toughest nationwide British Parliamentary debate competition. In most competitions, the share of champions is usually far below that. As a comparison, in the last NUEDC, the largest BP competition in Indonesia, only 6 out of 95 teams, or less than 7 per cent, could boast nationwide accolades when they entered the arena.

This does not mean FT is unfriendly to young, unforeseen debaters. It is still the only nationwide open competition in Indonesia that could be won by a full high school team - SMA Kanisius Jakarta championed FT 2004. It is also a graveyard for many past national champions. Last year, an IVED champion and an ALSA UI winner failed to break. With the intense level of competition, FT is far from predictable. It is still anyone's game with each preliminary round to be crucial because only 16 teams will advance to the knockouts, which means at least 4 past champions won't debate after round 5.

The 20 teams with national tournament champs/best speakers in FT 2012 in alphabetical order of the first member who has a title.

Ahdiat Permana/Roderick Sibarani - (1) JOVED 2009, Bawor 2010, 2011 champ/ (2) ALSA UI 2011, JOVED 2012, JM 2012 champ 
Ahmad Naufal Dai/Rifan Ibnu Rahman - (1) JOVED 2009, FT 2010, BIND 2011 champ/ (2) JFF 2011, ITS 2012, JM 2012 champ 
Alifia Firliani/Alfan Rezani - (1) NDC 2012 champ 
Alris Alfharisi/Fiski Aditya - (1) IPSDC 2012 champ
Astri Agustina/Ibrahim Hanif - (1) IVED 2009, SODE 2011 champ & best speaker/ (2) ALSA UI 2009 (HS) champ & best speaker  
Aulia Anggita/Elghafiky Bimardhika - (1) ALSA UI 2012, Bawor 2012 champ/ (2) BIND 2011, JOVED 2012 champ 
Boby Andika/Bramesada Prasastyoga - (1) ALSA UI 2008 (HS) champ, JM 2012 best speaker 
Bryan Gunawan/Rajkumar Narendra - (1) AUDC 2008 EFL champ/ (2) IPSDC 2010, ALSA Unpad 2011 champ 
Caessar Pronocitro/Novelisa Wirid - (1) ALSA UI 2007 champ/ (2) NUEDC 2008, AUDC 2007 EFL champ/ (1&2) SODE 2011 champs 
Cindy Fransisca/Davin Susanto - (1) E-Fest 2012 champ, IPSDC 2012, JFF 2012 best speaker 
Dimas Hokka/Riza Aryani - (1) Bawor 2010, 2011 champ/ (2) IVED 2010, NUEDC 2012 best speaker/(1&2) Australs 2011 ESL champs 
Dito Krista/Dwita Aryani - (1) IVED 2010, GO 2012 champ, NUEDC 2011 best speaker/ (2) Bawor 2012, GO 2012 best speaker 
Dungga Nur Prayogo/Nur Luthfi Hidayatullah - (1) IDC Ma Chung 2012 champ/ (2) IHL 2012 best speaker 
Erwina Salsabila/Thoriq Murtadho - (1) IHL 2012 champ/ (2) FT 2011 best novice speaker 
Invi Atmanegara/Jaran Walia - (1)JFF 2012 champ, EFest 2012 best speaker/(2)ALSA EC 2011 champ/(1&2)UADC 2012 EFL champs 
Leo Wibisono/Arbi Wienandar - (1) Asian BP 2011 EFL best speaker 
Muhammad Pandu/Luthfi Abdurahman - (1)ALSA UI2012 best speaker/(2)ALSA UI 2010, SEO2011 Champ/(1&2) NUEDC 2009 champs 
Nurbaniyara Muthmainnah/Rendi Prahara - (1) Newbies 2010 best speaker/ (2) EU-IDC 2011, ALSA EC 2012 champ  
Reggy Hasibuan/Erico Himawan - (1) JOVED 1999 champ
Wilson Salim/Melisa Irene - (1) JFF 2012 champ  

UGM Wins ACDC, Still King of Yogyakarta

Debating powerhouse Universitas Gadjah Mada yesterday proved currently the school has no rival in the Yogyakarta-Solo territory after championing the local ALSA UGM Crushbone Debating Competition and sweeping the top three spots on the speaker tab. #1 UGM A (Thoriq Murtadho, Erwina Salsabila, Nabila Aghniarizqa) defeated the cross-city rivals #2 Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta A (Gratsia Kancanamaya, Sydney Samba, Nursantia Indriarty) in the grand final. 

Unsoed Wins First Nationwide Trophy in Makassar Open

Universitas Jenderal Soedirman has been involved in Indonesian competitive debating since the very start, including as the finalist of the first ever Indonesian Varsities English Debate in 1998, but it had come short from winning a nationwide tournament until yesterday when its debaters defeated three Universitas Hasanuddin teams in the 2012 Makassar Debate Open. The champions, Unsoed A (Algi Rahmat Alfianto & Riswanto Jusuf), were among the handful of teams who crossed the time zone to debate in Makassar after organizers at Politeknik Negeri Ujung Pandang could expand this previously local tournament to include teams from Java, Papua and other cities on Sulawesi island. The best speaker award went to Muhammad Akbar Walenna who just graduated from Universitas Hasanuddin.    

WSDC 2013 Prepared Motions Revealed

The 5 prepared motions for the 2013 World Schools Debating Championships in Turkey are out. Each WSDC team must undergo 8 preliminary rounds, half of them prepared while the other four will be announced an hour before the debates. The other known motion is designed for the grand final.

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. Prepared motions should be publicised two months before the tournament but the order for the preliminary ones will only be revealed along with the role assignments and complete draw next month. WSDC 2013 will take place from January 28 to February 5. 

Preliminaries:

This House supports greater US military presence in East Asia
This House believes that important decisions about children's health should be made by medical professionals, not by their parents
This House would cease the exploitation of resources in the Arctic region
This House supports sovereign debt default as a legitimate economic strategy for countries

Grand Final:
This House believes that Turkey is better off outside the European Union

Team Indonesia for WSDC 2013:
Carrisa Tehputri (SMA 4 Denpasar)
Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita (SMA 4 Denpasar)
Sayyid Habibullah (SMA 3 Pontianak)
Adeline Tiffanie (SMA Kristen 1 Jakarta)

Bali Takes 2 Spots in Indonesia's WSDC Team... Again

Bali's SMA 4 Denpasar continues its run as the top producer of debaters for Indonesia's team for the World Schools Debating Championships with two students getting into the current squad. Carrisa Tehputri and Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita made the cut after a recent series of selection for WSDC 2013 in Turkey. The 2 girls previously championed the 2012 National Schools Debating Championships with Carissa taking the best speaker award. Earlier this year, 2 of their seniors represented Indonesia in WSDC 2012 in South Africa.

The 2 other members of the new Team Indonesia are Adeline Tiffanie from SMA Kristen 1 Jakarta and Sayyid Habibullah from SMA 3 Pontianak, the first debater from Kalimantan island selected for WSDC since Rusdi Ghazali in 2001. Rusdi, who also hailed from Pontianak, captained the squad that commenced Indonesia's participation in WSDC.

Australs ESL champion Subarkah Syafruddin, a final year law student at Universitas Indonesia, returns as the coach after guiding Team Indonesia to respectable 4-4 finish in WSDC 2012. Debater of the Year 2011 and fellow UI debater Roderick Sibarani accompanies him as co-coach.  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 newly selected Team Indonesia will feature at the 2013 Indonesian Varsities English Debate in Bandung as a non-breaking team.
 

Newbies 2012: Undefeated Team Continue UI Reign

UI A (l to r): Zivana Sabili, Claristy, Opi Aristya

#1 Universitas Indonesia A (Zivana Sabili, Opi Aristya, Claristy) won the 2012 Newbies English Debate Competition without a single loss, giving the school its third consecutive title. In the final, they knocked down the motion "THBT punishment for crimes committed on the basis of economic neccesities should be discounted" and unanimously defeated #3 Universitas Padjadjaran B (Siti Nisrina Husna, Livita Sumali, Wiraditma Prananta).

UI also dominated the individual tab by grabbing the top three with Zivana Sabili emerging as best speaker of the competition. Since its inception in 2006, Newbies winners all hailed from UI with an exception in 2009 when Binus International took the trophy out of Depok for the one and only time so far. 

Newbies is an annual tournament held at UI's Depok campus and designed for those without any varsity debating experience. Many Newbies champions have moved on to win national tournaments. 

UI, ITB, Unpad, Atma Share Spots in Newbies 2012 Semifinals

Universitas Indonesia, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Universitas Padjajaran and Universitas Atma Jaya have one team each in tomorrow's semifinals of the 2012 Newbies UI after 4 rounds of debates today. UI A, which broke first without dropping a point, will meet Atma Jaya C while Bandung rivals ITB A and Unpad B will face off in the other knockout match.

Atma Jaya C actually ended at 5th place but got the last spot in the elimination stage after organizers barred ITB B, which had higher points, from breaking because the team had an ineligible member. Newbies UI should be a contest only for those without varsity debating experience but ITB B speaker Wisnu Aryo had such a record. He was a member of Team Indonesia for World Schools Debating Championships 2011 that went against university teams in the 2011 ALSA UI E-Comp a few months before his squad debated in Scotland. It is common for WSDC teams to compete in national varsity level competitions in preparing for the toughest high school tournament in the world. Other universities with ex-WSDC recruits did not send such members to Newbies UI. ITB B's presence had an adverse affect to other participants. All teams that lost to ITB B in the preliminary round failed to advance.        

New Debaters Jostle for Spotlight in Newbies UI 2012

The tournament is billed as Continuum Shift. The 2012 Newbies Competition at Universitas Indonesia begins today, showcasing newly recruited debaters who could dominate the domestic debating scene in a year or two. While there are a few other novice tournaments going on, this one is the most important because it is the stage where most debating powerhouses field their new talents. Besides host UI, debating powerhouses like Binus International, Binus University, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Universitas Atma Jaya and Universitas Parahyangan are sending multiple teams to this Asian 3on3 competition. There will be 4 preliminaries today that all of the 24 teams must endure while only the top 4 can advance to the semifinals tomorrow. The co-chief adjudicators are ALSA UI 2012 champions Aulia Anggita and Dennys Kapa, who was also part of the UI team that won Newbies UI in 2010.  

DOTY 2012 Table Leader Beyond Reach of Rivals

Rifan Ibnu Rahman

 

Rifan Ibnu Rahman, the Institut Teknologi Bandung debater who has led the 2012 IndoDebate Debater of the Year table since February, is poised to take the title as the gap with his closest rivals is too far to bridge. It would take two championships and two best speaker awards, or 12 points, for Dennys Kapa from Universitas Indonesia and Cindy Fransisca from Universitas Atma Jaya to just match the leader's tally. Even this is impossible because there is only one tournament left that will affect the standings -- the highly competitive Founders Trophy in late November. Furthermore, Dennys has decided to skip FT while Rifan wants to better his grand final appearance last year.

Another competition that can add points to those on the DOTY table is the World Universities Peace Invitational Debate in December but none of the table leaders plan to go there and Indonesian debaters have never broken in that tournament before. In October, debaters did not gain many DOTY points because one tournament, Pelita Harapan Debate Open, was cancelled and Indonesians came short from breaking in the Asian BP tournament, the only other one last month. Some broke into the EFL finals but point collection from ABP did not dramatically alter the table. On an encouraging note, ABP did propel Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta debaters to the DOTY 2012 list for the first time after they reached the EFL semis.

Click here to go to the complete table. The top 10 speakers on the DOTY list are:

1. Rifan Ibnu Rahman (Institut Teknologi Bandung) - 36 pts
2. Dennys Kapa (Universitas Indonesia) - 24 pts
3. Cindy Fransisca (Universitas Atma Jaya) - 24 pts
4. Invi Atmanegara (Binus International) - 23 pts
5. Jaran Walia (Binus Internationational)  - 20 pts
6. Aryo Febrian (Universitas Bakrie) - 19 pts
7. Sabarudin Adinugroho (Binus University) - 19 pts
8. Rosmiyana (Binus University) - 18 pts
9. Elghafiky Bimardhika (Universitas Indonesia) - 17 pts
10. Jane Revevalin (Institut Teknologi Bandung) - 17 pts