AEO 2014: Top Awards Go Overseas, Mostly to IIU Malaysia

The International Islamic University Malaysia contingent at AEO 2014

Foreigners raided the 2014 Asian English Olympics debate competition at Binus University Jakarta. Asian powerhouse International Islamic University Malaysia took home the main trophy and best speaker award while Hong Kong University of Science and Technology claimed the novice title. Indonesian debaters failed to reach the main final, win the novice category or become part of the top 8 speakers. It was a contrast to last year when the final was all-Indonesian.

In this year's main final, #1 IIUM A (Ameera Moore & Mubarrat Wassey) defeated schoolmates #4 IIUM B (Mahherrajan Narayan & Amshar Aziz), longtime rivals #2 National University of Singapore (Andre Kua & Raymund Vitorio) and fellow Malaysian #6 Curtin University Sarawak (Keeshaanan Sundaresan & Vigneswaran Duraragh). The winning IIU A debaters also became the co-best speakers of the tournament while four of their schoolmates made it into the top 8 list.

While there was a spike in participation and quality from abroad, especially with the prominent presence from IIUM, there was also a dearth of strong Indonesian teams in AEO 2014. Universitas Indonesia and Institut Teknologi Bandung did not field their better debaters while Universitas Gadjah Mada decided to skip the competition altogether.

AEO 2014: No Indonesian Team in This Year's Main Final

The main final of the 2014 Asian English Olympics debate competition will have no locals, unlike last year's which saw all of the finalists come from Indonesia. In the semifinals, the last standing Indonesians, Binus International A (Melisa Irene & Wilson Salim) and Binus University A (Rivera Kathrin & Marchella Febriyanti) failed to withstand the wave from overseas.

Three out of four teams in the final will be Malaysian. Asian powerhouse International Islamic University Malaysia claims two spots through #1 IIUM A (Ameera Moore & Mubarrat Wassey) and #4 IIUM B (Amshar Aziz & Mahherrajan Narayanan). The other Malaysian finalist is #6 Curtin University Sarawak (Keeshaanan Sundaresan & Vigneswaran Duraragh). #2 National University of Singapore (Andre Kua & Raymund Vitorio) is the odd one among the last four.

While there was a spike in participation and quality from abroad, the best teams in Indonesia chose to overlook AEO 2014. Universitas Indonesia and Institut Teknologi Bandung did not field their top debaters while Universitas Gadjah Mada decided to skip the competition altogether. The chances to receive feedback from international judges and clash with top Asian teams seemed to be insufficient to attract the strongest Indonesian debaters this year.

In the novice category, the final will have two non-Indonesian teams from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Sekolah Tun Fatimah, a Malaysian high school. The two other novice finalists come from Universitas Indonesia B and Politeknik Negeri Sriwijaya.

Binus, Stikes Bali, OTP Seek to Bring Australs 2014 to Indonesia

A bid to bring the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship to Indonesia next year is in full swing. The parties responsible are Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan (Stikes) Bali, the nursing school that has never competed in Australs before, their mentors from On That Point, the Jakarta-based public speaking institute run by former and current debaters with international debating experience, and the Jakarta-based Binus University from where many of the OTP personnel hail. The other bidder is University of Otago, the New Zealand college that reached the final of the last WUDC.

The Indonesia bid's mantra to beat the Kiwis is the location - the paradise island of Bali. The proposed hotel, the sprawling Grand Inna, is literally on the famous Kuta Beach, where surfers around the world seek the perfect waves, sunbathers seek the perfect tan and sightseers seek the perfect red sunset. It also a hop away from all sorts of nightlife. Several snazzy establishments in southern Bali have been lined up for the parties. As a place drenched in culture and blessed with natural beauty, the tourist haven also has myriad choices of artistic entertainment and excursions.

The four-star hotel would be the venue for everything related to the tournament before the break announcement. The knockouts until the semis would take place at Stikes Bali, which hosted Indonesia's national BP competition in 2012. The Hard Rock Ballroom, across the street from Grand Inna, is the choice for the finals.

While OTP-trained Stikes Bali is the home institution, its students will not hold key posts. The convener and her deputies as well as leaders of the socials, transport, accommodation, food, registration and publication units would be Binus University students with experience in running the annual  Jakarta-based Asian English Olympics debate. The tournament director would be OTP's Aryo Febrian, a Bakrie University student who championed the 2011 United Asian Debating Championship's EFL category. The Balinese would act as liaison officers, runners and unit members.
 
Bryan Gunawan, a Binus University alumnus who founded OTP, is the proposed chief adjudicator. He championed the EFL category of the 2008 Asian Universities Debating Championship and served as DCA at the 2011 Asian BP. His deputies would be Kristen Price (University of Queensland - Australs 2007 Champion), David Maher (University of New South Wales - USU 2011 Finalist), Arinah Najwa (International Islamic University Malaysia - Australs 2011 Best ESL Speaker) and Sandeep Chulani (University of Hong Kong - 2009 East Asian IV Best Grand Final Speaker). The project is expected to spend $20,000 on travel subsidies to strengthen the judging pool.

The main tabmasters would be IBM's Rendy Darmawidjaja, a Binus University alumnus who worked on the WUDC 2013 tabs, and University of Melbourne's Michael Ciesielski, who tabbed Australs 2009.   

The proposed dates would be July 22 to 30, which may pose an issue for Muslims because Eid al Fitr, one of the holiest days of the religion when families gather, falls on July 29 next year. This is no problem from an organizing aspect. While more than 80 per cent of Indonesians follow Islam, Bali is predominantly Hindu and July is always a busy holiday season.                  

Australs 2013: Key Results & Motions

Champions: University of Sydney 2 (Daniel Swain, Paul Karp, Nina Ubaldi)
Finalists: Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Asher Emanuel, Jodie O'Neill, Nick Cross)
Best Speaker: Daniel Swain (University of Sydney 2)
ESL Champions: International Islamic University 1 (Syed Saddiq, Mubarrat Wassey, Ameera Moore)
ESL Finalists: University of Hong Kong 2 (Griffith Chen, Rayna Wang, Helena Hu)
ESL Best Speaker: Syed Saddiq (International Islamic University 1)

Best Indonesian Speaker: Elghafiky Bimardhika (Universitas Indonesia 2)
Best Indonesian Team: Universitas Indonesia 1 (Aulia Anggita, Dennys Kapa, Egalita Irfan) - #1ESL and ESL Quarterfinalists   

MOTIONS

R1 - Education
1. THBT universities should not have patents.
2. THW abolish tenure for university professors.
3. THBT states that don't provide free tertiary education should subsidize career paths for students that are useful for the state.

R2 - Sports
1. THBT the English Premier League should significantly limit the number of foreign players per team
2. THBT professional sporting clubs should only be owned by the local authority of the area they represent.
3. THBT we should ban players' unions in major sporting leagues

R3 - Crime
1. THBT we should require criminal judges to be employed in a prison for 6 months prior to appointment to the bench.
2. THBT illegally gathered evidence and information should be admissible in criminal trials
3. THBT individuals who commit minor crimes should be allowed to convert their sentences into corporal punishment

R4 - Media
1. THBT we should require all free-to-air TV stations to have and adequately fund 60min of ad-free news in prime time.
2. THBT journalists should be required to lodge their sources with a press council for verification.
3. THBT CEOs of major news companies should be democratically elected in open public elections.

R5 - Economics
1. THBT countries should not seek to regulate digital currencies like the Bitcoin
2. THBT prohibit credit rating agencies from disclaiming legal liability for the inaccuracy of their ratings
3. THW make lenders liable for the losses of low-income customers who are not given independent legal advice

R6 - Social Politics
1. THBT we should make legislative deliberations & decisions on retirement age and superannuation private, anonymous, confidential and by the secret ballot.
2. THBT we should support granting private administrative control of cities on the basis of charters
3. THBT gay rights group should disavow the "Gay is the New Black" campaign.

R7 - United States
1. THBT the US should pay Chinese activists to combat the efforts of China's '50 Cent Party'
2. THBT Detroit should sell the Detroit Institute of Art's 1 billion USD collection to service its debts
3. THBT Obama should grant Edward Snowden amnesty from all charges

R8 - Women
1. THW refuse classification to films and TV shows that fail the Bechdel Test.
2. THW pay parental leave as equal and non-transferable portions of leave for each parent
3. THBT progressive women's groups should refrain from attacking female politicians regardless of their policies

OPEN Pre-OF - Social Policy
1. THBT the infanticide of newborns should not be punished beyond the penalty for unlawful late-term abortions
2. THBT it was wrong for parents to accept confidential settlements from the Catholic Church on behalf of their children for abuse committed by clergymen
3. THBT Islamic states should set the curriculum of madrassas

OPEN OF - Environment
1. THBT we should abolish Green Belt regulations.
2. THW rewrite animal welfare standards to be uniform for each species of animal, regardless the animal's use/context.
3. THBT Obama should use the Environmental Protection Agency and other executive powers to aggressively combat climate change

OPEN QF - Middle East
1. THW support aggressive Palestinian protests, like property destruction, in illegal Israeli settlements
2. THBT the Muslim Brotherhood should cooperate with the Adly administration and accept cabinet positions for ending protests against the interim government
3. THBT we regret the rise of the nation state in the Arab World

OPEN SF - Law
1. THBT we should abolish the criminal law, expand tort law and provide extra funding for the litigants
2. THBT the standard or 'responsibleness' in criminal cases should never be influenced by prejudicial assumptions, even if held by the average person in that society.
3. THBT the tax offices should be allowed to retrospectively declare acts of aggressive accounting, which expliot tax loopholes, illegal.

GRAND FINAL
THBT women should be criminally liable for harm to foetuses in utero as a result of their lifestyle choices

ESL QF - Politics
1. THBT minimum standards of living should be legally enforceable in developing countries
2. THBT political parties should abolish their military wings
3. THBT we should select only women as diplomats to countries with poor rights standards for women

ESL SF - International Relations
1. THBT China should establish military bases overseas.
2. THBT Palestinians should not accept citizenship from Arab Nations.
3. THBT we should require UN approval for the giving of military aid

ESL FINAL
THBT the media should not have broadcast the footage of British soldier, Lee Rigby, being murdered in London.

Australs 2013: Sydney Wins 16th Trophy, IIU Tops ESL

#1 University of Sydney 2 (Daniel Swain, Nina Ubaldi, Paul Karp) won the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship yesterday without dropping a match, giving their school its 16th victory in the world's second most prestigious debating competition. In the final they defeated the motion "That women should be criminally liable for harm to foetuses in utero as a result of their lifestyle choices" proposed by #2 Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Asher Emanuel, Nick Cross, Jodie O'Neill). Daniel Swain also topped the speaker tab.

In the ESL category, #2ESL International Islamic University 1 (Ameera Moore, Syed Saddiq, Mubarat Wassey) took the crown after outclassing #5ESL Hong Kong University 2 (Griffith Chen, Rayna Wang, Helen Hu). Syed Saddiq bagged the best ESL speaker award. Two Universitas Indonesia teams broke into the ESL elimination stage but both fell in the quarterfinals. UI 1 (Aulia Anggita, Dennys Kapa, Egalita Irfan) had a 5-3 win-loss preliminary record, one of the best ever by an Indonesian team.

Australs 2013: Sydney v Victoria in Open Final; IIU v Hong Kong in ESL

Venue of the 2013 Australs ESL Grand Final

The main final of the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships will showcase the best of Australia and New Zealand, the only two countries from where winners come from since the event began in 1975.

#1 University of Sydney 2 (Daniel Swain, Nina Ubaldi, Paul Karp) will seek to give their school, the most successful in the competition's history, its 16th trophy. Their opponents, #2 Victoria University of Wellington (Asher Emanuel, Jodie O'Neill, Nick Cross), come from the only non-Australian institution that has won Australs and the Kiwis want to bring the title back to NZ for the 6th time.   

In the ESL final, #2ESL International Islamic University Malaysia 1, a team from the Asian powerhouse that usually skips this lower category, will face #5ESL Hong Kong University 2. Universitas Indonesia defeated an HKU squad in the 2011 Australs ESL final. This year two UI teams advanced into the ESL elimination stage but fell in the quarterfinals. Teams from Universitas Gadjah Mada and Universitas Atma Jaya also competed but failed to get enough points in the prelims to pass the cut. 

Australs 2013: Corrected Tab Awards UI Second Spot in ESL QF

The organizers of the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships corrected the ESL tabulation, enabling a second Universitas Indonesia team to advance into the elimination stage. While UI 1 (Aulia Anggita, Dennys Kapa, Egalita Irfan) still topped the ESL tab after the corrections, UI 2 (Elghafiky Bimardhika, Ibrahim Panji, Nisrina Praharso) earned #6 on that list. #1 UI 1 will face #8 Institute of Business Admnistration - Dhaka 2 in the quarterfinals today while #6 UI B will meet #3 International Islamic University of Malaysia 2. The corrected break list is as follows:

1. Universitas Indonesia 1
2. International Islamic University 1
3. International Islamic University 2
4. Asia Pacific University 1
5. Hong Kong University 2
6. Universitas Indonesia 2
7. Institute of Business Administration - Dhaka 1
8. Institute of Business Administration - Dhaka 2

Australs 2013: UI Breaks 1st in ESL Category Above IIU

Universitas Indonesia 1 (Aulia Anggita, Dennys Kapa, Egalita Irfan) topped the ESL tab in the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, placing themselves above Asian powerhouse International Islamic University of Malaysia, which they defeated in the last prelim. It was a display of tenacity from the UI trio who lost their first three debates but bounced back with a vengeance knocking down opponents in the last five rounds. UI1 will face reigning ESL champions International Christian University 1 from Japan in the quarterfinals. UI won this category before, in 2011 and 2009. The ESL break list is as follows:

1. Universitas Indonesia 1
2. International Islamic University 1
3. International Islamic University 2
4. Asia Pacific University 1
5. Hong Kong University 2
6. Institute of Business Administration - Dhaka 1
7. Institute of Business Administration - Dhaka 2
8. International Christian University 1

WSDC 2013: Key Results & Motions

Here are the key results from the 2013 World Schools Debating Championships, the most prestigious high school debating tournament this year. The numbers in the brackets after a team name follow this order: post-tournament position, place after 8 preliminary rounds, pre-tournament rank and group. WSDC uses a 3-on-3 format but each team can have up to 5 members and rotate their turns. Only speakers who debated at least 4 times in the prelims can enter the top individual list.

Champions: Australia (#1/#5/#1/A) -- 9th trophy

(Bo Seo, Tyrone Connell, Zoe Brown, Nicholas Salmon, James Stratton)

Finalists: Swaziland (#2/#2/#25/E) -- 1st appearance in GF

(Famele Mashwama, Oliver Mills, Wabantu Hlophe, Sandile Mndzebele, Lindelani Mabuza)

Best ESL Team: Peru (#9/#8/#36/F)

Best EFL Team: Indonesia (#22/#22/#27/E)

Top 10 Speakers

1. Bo Seo (Australia)
2. Fanele Mashwama (Swaziland)
3. Pavan Hedge (Hong Kong)
4. Darion Hotan (Singapore)
5. Thomas Simpson (New Zealand)
6. Zoe Brown (Australia)
7. James Lo (Hong Kong)
8. James Penn (New Zealand)
9. Aodhan Peelo (Ireland)
10. Tyrone Connell (Australia)

Best English-as-Second Language Speaker: Siddarth Srikanth (India)

Best English-as-Foreign Language Speaker: Carrisa Tehputri (Indonesia)

Motions:
R0. THW ban publication of opinion polls during election campaign
R1. THBT important decisions about children's health should be made by medical professionals
R2. THBT the media should be prevented from intruding the lives of public figures
R3. TH suppots greaters US military presence in East Asia
R4. THW allow prisoners choose death over life sentence
R5. THW cease the exploitation of resources in the Arctic region
R6. THW require government schools to teach religious studies
R7. TH supports sovereign debt default as a legitimate economic strategy for countries
R8. THW require university students to work in their country of origin for a number of years after graduation
OF. THW cut welfare payment for gamblers
QF. THBT social movements in democratic countries should drive social change through the courts rather than the legislature
SF. THBT the government should pay housewives and house husbands for their work
GF. THBT Turkey is better off outside the European Union

Australs 2011: Key Results

CHAMPIONS: #4 Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Seb Templeton, Richard D'Ath, Udayan Mukherjee)
FINALISTS : #6 National University of Singapore 1 (Imran Rahim, Sadhana Rai, Robin Teo)
ESL CHAMPIONS: #7ESL Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin)
ESL FINALISTS: #4ESL University of Hong Kong 1 (Abel Lam, Fiona Chong, Benjamin Yu)
BEST SPEAKER : #1 Eleanor Jones (University of Sydney 1)
BEST REPLY SPEAKER : #1 Eleanor Jones (University of Sydney 1)
BEST SPEAKER IN FINAL : #15 Udayan Mukherjee (Victoria University of Wellington 1)
BEST ESL SPEAKER : #38 Arinah Najwa (International Islamic University 1)

Indonesian Results in Australs 2011

Universitas Indonesia 1 - ESL CHAMPIONS
Prelims : 4-4/#7ESL/#61; Elims : 3 wins
Wins: University of Hong Kong 1 (ESL Final), International Christian University 1 (ESL Semi), Universiti Malaya 1 (ESL Quarters), University of Peking 1 (R8), Chung Ang University 1 (R5), Macquarie University 4 (R4), Underwood International College 1 (R2)
Losses: Monash University 3 (R7), Victoria University of Wellington 3 (R6), University of Auckland 2 (R3), Binus International 1 (R1)
Speaker Ranks: #179 Riza Aryani, #208 M. Subarkah Syafruddin, #209 Dimas Hokka

Binus International 1 - ESL QUARTERFINALIST
Prelims : 4-4/#3ESL/#51; Elims : 1 loss
Wins: Chung Ang University (R7), Nanyang Technological University 1 (R4), University of Technology Sydney 1 (R3), Universitas Indonesia 1 (R1)
Losses: International Christian University 1 (ESL Quarters), International Islamic University 1 (R8), Singapore Management University 1 (R6), University of Sydney 4 (R5), University of Melbourne (R2)
Speaker Ranks: #122 Christian Leonardo, #135 Astrio Feligent, #180 Invi Atmanegara

Institut Teknologi Bandung 1 
Prelims: 2-6/#105
Wins: Thammasat University 1 (R4), Taiwan Wenzao Ursuline College 1 (R6)
Losses: Universiti Putra 1 (R8), University of Macao 1 (R7), Chinese University of Hong Kong 1 (R5), HELP University 1 (R3), University of Sydney 6 (R2), University of Korea 3 (R1)
Speaker Ranks: #274 Aryani Atmosudirjo, #294 Diedra Putri, #295 Gladys Brigita

Indonesian Media Run Stories on UI's Australs Win



UI's Australs 2011 contingent (L to R) : Subarkah Syafruddin, 

Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, and adjudicator Ignes Pricillia

Universitas Indonesia's recent win in the ESL category of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships made headlines. Several Jakarta-based media outlets, including Indonesia's most read news portal detik.com and the country's leading business daily newspaper Bisnis Indonesia, ran the stories, which were heavily commented and tweeted afterwards. 

The victory in Seoul gives UI its second trophy of the year after winning the ALSA E-Comp last May. UI defeated University of Hong Kong earlier this week in a final that debated labour in Southeast Asia. Another UI team won the ESL of Australs in 2009, also beating debaters from Hong Kong over a ASEAN-related motion.  

Australs 2011 ESL Trophy Goes to UI

Universitas Indonesia 1 - ESL Champions (L to R) : Syafruddin Subarkah,
Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani and adjudicator Ignes Pricillia

#7ESL Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin) ended their journey in the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships as the champion of the ESL category after a final debate against #4ESL University of Hong Kong. They managed to match the achievement of another UI team two years ago, showing that Indonesian debating is alive and kicking. Seven out of 9 adjudicators in the final gave them the nod.

There were two other Indonesian teams at Australs 2011 in Seoul. #3ESL Binus International 1 (Astrio Feligent, Christian Leonardo, Invi Atmanegara) ranked higher than UI 1 but failed to pass the ESL quarterfinal while Institut Teknologi Bandung 1 (Gladys Brigitta, Diedra Putri, Aryani) did not break. UI's Ignes Pricillia was a breaking adjudicator after chairing 6 out of 8 preliminary rounds. Subsequently, she chaired an ESL quarterfinal. ITB's Dito Krista chaired a preliminary debate but did not make the cut.

No Australians in Australs 2011 Grand Final

There will be no team from Australia in the final debate of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships  -- just like last year. Reigning champion #4 Victoria University of Wellington 1 from New Zealand today will defend their title against #6 National University of Singapore 1, which won the top 3-on-3 Asian debating contest last May.

Since 1975, whenever a non-Australian team won the Australs, debaters from the Land Down Under would take the trophy back the next year. In fact, from 1983 to 2010, Victoria was the only non-Australian institution that became champions of the top debating tournament in the Asia-Oceania region. And they only could that twice. Besides last year, Victoria also won in 1998.

From the beginning, Australians showed they were keen to dominate Australs 2011 as they arrived in Seoul as the biggest contingent -- more than a quarter of the 113 participating squads. University of Sydney sent 7 teams and all of them managed to slip into the top 24 but only 4 could break due to the institutional cap rule. Monash University 1 topped the tab after 8 preliminary rounds and Sydney 1 came second. However, Victoria 1 and NUS 1 ruined the script after they eliminated Monash 1 and Sydney 1, respectively, in the semifinals earlier today.

Victoria 1 is led by Udayan Mukherjee who was on last year's winning team. His two partners are Seb Templeton and Richard D'Ath who reached the semifinals of Australs 2010 as Victoria 2.

NUS 1 (Imran Rahim, Sadhana Rai, Robin Teo) may make another historical milestone if they can take the crown. No team from outside Australia and New Zealand has won the Australs. The final will take place at South Korea's National Assembly, which is also the venue for the debate to grab the ESL title between Universitas Indonesia and University of Hong Kong.    

UI Debaters Reach Australs 2011 ESL Final

#7ESL Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin) made it into the final ESL debate of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships and will meet #4ESL University of Hong Kong 1 in a fight for the title. In the semifinals, UI eliminated #6ESL International Christian University from Japan while Hong Kong knocked out the last standing team from host South Korea, #8ESL Ewha University's EDiS.

UI's journey in Australs 2011 started with sleeping like hobos at Seoul's airport and losing to fellow countrymen Binus International in the first debate but Hokka, Riza and Sume bounced back and showed their mettle. Their road to the ESL final was as follows:

Preliminaries (4-4, #7ESL/#61)
R1 v. Binus International 1 (L)
R2 v. Underwood International College 1 (W)
R3 v. Auckland University 2 (L) -- opponent reached main octofinals
R4 v. Macquarie University 4 (W)
R5 v. Chung Ang University 1 (W)
R6 v. Victoria University of Wellington 3 (L)
R7 v. Monash University 3 (L) -- opponent reached main pre-octofinals
R8 v. Peking University 1 (W)
QF v. #2ESL Universiti Malaya 1 (W)
SF v. #6ESL International Christian University 1 (W)

In 2009, UI also met a team from Hong Kong --The Chinese University of Hong Kong-- in the ESL final of the Australs. Tirza Reinata, Intan Hadijah and Frieda Siregar outdebated them and brought home the trophy. Indonesia hopes history will repeat itself tomorrow at the Australs 2011 ESL Final.

UI Team Sail into Australs 2011 ESL Semis

#7 Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin) today defeated #2 Universiti Malaya 1 from Malaysia, ensuring a place in the ESL semifinals of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships. They will face a team from  Japan's #6 International Christian University that eliminated #3 Binus International, the other Indonesian institution which made it to the ESL quarters. 

The UI debaters had a 4-4 record from the preliminary rounds after beating Macquarie University 4 from Australia, Koreans Underwood College and Chung Ang University, and Peking University from China. They are fighting to repeat the achievement of another UI team (Tirza Reinata, Intan Hadijah, Freida Siregar), which won the Australs ESL crown in 2009. The other ESL semi will be between #4 University of Hong Kong 1 and  Ewha University's #8 EDiS 3, which knocked down #1 Multimedia University of Malaysia in a debate that was chaired by UI's Ignes Pricillia. 

Binus International, UI Break into Australs 2011 ESL Quarters

Binus International 1 (Astrio Feligent, Christian Leonardo, Invi Atmanegara) and Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin) both collected 4 wins in the preliminary stage of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, enabling them to rank third and seventh, respectively, on the tournament's ESL list and break into that category's quarterfinals.

The top 8 ESL teams in Australs 2011 are eligible to compete for the ESL title. They are:

1. #41 Multimedia University Melaka 1 (5VP - 2097)
2. #44 Universiti Malaya 1 (4VP - 2105.5)
3. #51 Binus International 1 (4VP - 2102)
4. #52 University of Hong Kong 1 (4VP - 2101.3)
5. #59 Kyung Hee University 2 (4VP - 2094.8)
6. #60 International Christian University 1 (4VP - 2094)
7. #61 Universitas Indonesia 1 (4VP -2092.5)
8. #62 Ewha University 3 (4VP - 2091.75)

Another Indonesian team from Institut Teknologi Bandung did not make the ESL cut. No team from Indonesia slipped into the top 24 on the overall team tab that will compete in the main elimination rounds.

The ESL and main knockouts will begin on July 12. The top debating tournament in the Asia-Oceania region, which is taking place in Seoul, attracted 113 teams this year.  No university outside from Australia and New Zealand has won Australs, which is the largest 3-on-3 debating tournament in the world, although Asian teams have reached the grandfinals twice since it began in 1975.

UI student, Ignes Pricilla, etched her own achievement, becoming the only Indonesian among the 36 people selected to judge beyond the preliminaries. Ignes chaired 6 out of 8 preliminary rounds, twice as a single adjudicator.