UT MARA Wins 2015 Bid, Brings Back WUDC to Malaysia

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia's largest university by size and population, will hold the 2015 World Universities Debating Championships after grabbing 57 votes, 16 more than its rival from University of Auckland. This will be the second time for Malaysia, which hosted WUDC, the most prestigious debating competition in the world, once before in 2005. WUDC 2015 can also be the biggest ever as the organisers advertise that they may open registration for 440 teams with an institutional cap of 3 teams and 2 adjudicators.


The chief adjudicators will be Jonathan Leader-Maynard, who debated for University of Oxford in the final of WUDC 2010, and Shafiq Bazari from the host institution, finalist of the 1st Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championship, also in 2010. They will have 5 deputies, 4 of them representing specific regions.

The preliminary debates will be held on the university's Shah Alam campus, a 20-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur. UT MARA will also become the venue of the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships. The school has pledged to bear all transport costs within the country and provide air-conditioned rooms for debate purposes free of charge.