NUDC 2014: UI Wins First Title, Breaks Binus Streak

NUDC 2014 Champ - UI (Dennys Kapa & Aulia Anggita)

Universitas Indonesia has the most successful debating society in the country with a room full of trophies from all major nationwide debate tournaments bar one - the National Universities Debating Championship (NUDC), the top school-based British Parliamentary contest. That void finally has been filled. #1 UI (Dennys Kapa & Aulia Anggita) won the 2014 NUDC last night after defending the final motion that proposed Indonesia should invest more in the arms industry.

UI dashed the hope of #2 Binus University (Rivera Kathrin & Marchella Febriyanti) that were bent on grabbing the fourth consecutive title for the Jakarta-based school. The other finalists were #4 Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indriani Pratiwi & Wida Wahyuni) and #7 Universitas Sanata Dharma (Sekartiyasa Kusumastuti & Tethy Pesoa), which both came from Yogyakarta. The UI, Binus and Sanata Dharma, the top three in the final, are eligible for funding to go to the 2015 World Universities Debating Championships in Malaysia.

UI's Dennys Kapa came out as the best speaker of the tournament, a title that last went to an UI debater in 2012. He graduated from a high school in Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara province, one of the most impoverished provinces in Indonesia. Today's victory crowned his years of national success that include two ALSA UI championship titles, the last one won with her NUDC partner Aulia Anggita. He is an example how a debater from a non-Java high school can excel on the national stage when he can find a suitable institution and receive a supporting environment to train and enhance his skills.

In the novice category, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (Novarian Budi & Husna Amirah) from East Java came out triumphant after defeating three non-Java teams Universitas Andalas, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara and Universitas Mulawarman. The best novice speaker award went Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita from Universitas Udayana Bali, who was a member of Team Indonesia in the 2013 World Schools Debating Championships. The former high school debating star is an example of a talented non-Java debater who decided to stay in her home province after graduation. Udayana reached all the way to the main quarterfinal.