JOVED 2014: Binus Int'l Debaters Win 1st JOVED Title, Sweep the Awards

JOVED 2014 Champions - Binus International A

#2 Binus International A (Wilson Salim, Melisa Irene, Gierdino Julian) championed the 18th Java Overland Varsities English Debate, giving their club its first trophy from the mother of debating tournaments in Indonesia. JOVED was the first competition in Indonesia that used an internationally accepted debating format.

Binus International Pool of English Debaters (Bipeds) is now truly a national powerhouse after winning the three most prestigious tournaments in Indonesia within 6 years of its establishment. Bipeds won the Indonesian Varsities English Debate in 2013 and the National Universities Debating Championships in 2011 and 2013. Siblings Wilson Salim and Melisa Irene also took home the best speaker awards after they were tied on the top of the tab.

In the final, the winners defeated #1 Universitas Brawijaya (Zelly Sidi Zamzami, Nadya Ayuning, M. Fahri Akbar) and dashed the hope of debaters from East Java to see the trophy go to their province for the first time. Champions of major national debating tournaments in Indonesia have all  come from schools located in the western and central parts of Java island. Bipeds knocked down the motion 'This House Would Oblige Media Companies to Allocate Proportionate Airtime for All Political Advertisements", an apt topic considering how television stations in Indonesia are taking sides and following the political choices of their owners.