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.

WSDC 2014: Title Goes to England, Indonesia Debater Best EFL Speaker

WSDC 2014 Champion - England

#3 England (Will Cook, Eleanor Shearer, Sam Feinburg, Louis Collier) won the 2014 World Schools Debating Championships in Bangkok, giving their country its fourth title from the most prestigious high school debate competition on the planet. Team Indonesia came home with the best EFL speaker award after an astonishing performance by a Banten high school debating star.

In the final that had England oppose the motion 'This House Believes That an ASEAN Political Union is an Impossible Dream', the eventual champion dashed the hope of  #1 South Africa (Saadiyah Mayet, Kate Dewey, Josh Broomberg, Rachel Gardiner, Samuel Musker) to become the first champion from the continent of Africa. England's Will Cook took home the best speaker award.

WSDC 2014 turned out to be a tournament of surprises. The teams that debated in the WSDC 2012 final, Scotland and Wales, failed to advance. In the top 16, there were 6 Asian teams - Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Singapore and the Philippines. Indonesia, which had never broken in the last decade, advanced with 6 wins, the most ever scored by a team from the country. China broke for the first time ever. South Africa, which has never won WSDC, topped the preliminary tab with 8 wins and 23 judge points, short one ballot from perfect. They continued to convince all judges in knockout rounds before the final. Triumphant England stopped that incredible run after a 7-2 split decision.  

#9 Peru ranked as the Best English-as-Second-Language Team with Nishant Selvalingam from Malaysia topping the ESL speaker list. #10 Netherlands exited the tournament as the Best English-as-Foreign-Language Team with SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan Regina Cara Riantoputra snatching the top EFL speaker title. She is the first Indonesian to officially win that title. Last year, another Indonesian debater was announced to get that award but the organizers had to give it to another speaker after the eventual winner's language status was corrected. The next tournament will take place in Singapore, the only Asian country with a WSDC title. 

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.

ABP 2013: It's Indonesia v China in EFL Semifinals

Four Indonesian teams advanced into the semifinals of the English-as-Foreign-Language category at the 2013 Asian British Parliamentary Debate in China, taking half of the available slots. The rest of the semifinalists will come from the host country.

An all-Indonesian EFL final is possible. #2EFL Binus International A (Jaran Walia & Melisa Irene) and #15EFL Universitas Indonesia A (Ibrahim Panji Indra & Stella Kusumawardhani) will be in one chamber with 2 Chinese pairs while #5EFL Binus International B (Andrianto Khiputra & Wilson Salim) and #16EFL Universitas Indonesia B (Anas Sijabat & Magreta Kaila Adenta) will debate in the other against 2 other teams from China. The top 2 in each room will fight for the title in the final.

No Indonesian team slipped into the top 24 that can go into the open knockouts. Just like in the EFL section, the main semifinals will also be about two countries. The surviving 8 in the open competition all come from either Singapore or Malaysia. All remaining matches will take place tomorrow.

UGM Retains IHL Title, Grabs Fifth Trophy in 2013

Universitas Gadjah Mada (Alif Satria, Indriani Pratiwi, Paska Darmawan) defended the title in the Indonesian round of the 2013 International Humanitarian Law Debate after defeating a team from Universitas Brawijaya in Bali yesterday. This victory gave UGM its fifth trophy this year, making it the most successful club in 2013 so far. It was the third championship for freshman Alif Satria, who also became a tournament best speaker for the second time in as many months.

Alif Satria, Paska Darmawan, Indriani Pratiwi

The national IHL debate is exclusively for International Relations students. Invitations go to the department or the student association, rather than the debating society. Due to this arrangement, debaters from powerhouse Universitas Indonesia, where inter-organisation communications can be muddled, failed to join the competition again although many strong speakers from this school are IR students. Some participants in the IHL debate were not active competitive debaters but IR students assigned by their respective department or association.

The champions get a ticket to debate in the international round in Malaysia, where actually non-IR students are allowed to compete. The results of the IHL debate will not affect the Debater of the Year table because of the tournament's IR-only restrictions.  

WSDC 2013: No Break for Indonesia and Titleholder Scotland

Team Indonesia's journey in the 2013 World Schools Debating Championships ended with a 4-4 tally like last year and a position below the break line. On the last day of preliminaries, Indonesia lost to neighbour Malaysia but defeated host Turkey. The national team had a strong start, beating #6/A Greece in R1 and winning the first 3 rounds but since slipped with 4 straight losses, the last 3 on 1-2 split decisions, before closing the campaign with a win.

All WSDC teams must debate 8 different teams in the prelims, one from each of the 8 rank-based groupings. Indonesia ranked #27 out of 50 contestants, part of the E grouping (#25-30). The WSDC classifications are calculated based on victories and judge votes in the past 3 championships. Four preliminaries have prepared motions and the other four rounds are impromptu. Only the top 16 teams can break into the knockouts.

Since the first participation in 2001, Indonesia has broken into the knockouts twice, in 2003 and 2004, both with 5 wins from 8 rounds. In 2010, Indonesia also bagged 5 wins but came short from breaking on judges votes. The members of this year's team are Carrisa Tehputri and Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita from SMA 4 Denpasar, Adeline Tiffanie from SMA Kristen 1 Jakarta and Sayyid Habibullah from SMA 3 Pontianak.The coaches are Universitas Indonesia students Subarkah Syafrudin and Roderick Sibarani.

Reigning champion Scotland also failed to break after suffering 4 losses, including to Swaziland and India, darkhorses that will go to the elimination stage. This will be the first time for Scotland to miss the advanced rounds of WSDC since the tournament began in 1988. Their scoreline is identical to Indonesia's - 4 wins and 13 judge ballots - with better speaker scores.

WSDC 2013: Unlucky Day for Indonesia; Swaziland on Fire

Team Indonesia lost all two of their matches on Day 3 of the 2013 World Schools Debating Championships in Turkey, a competition that has become swooned by the fairytale campaign of Swaziland, a small African nation whose debaters have won all bar one of their rounds. Tomorrow is the last day for the preliminaries with R7 and R8.

Swaziland - WSDC 2013's cinderella

Indonesia's two losses came from split decisions that went in favour of their opponents - Romania in R5 and United Arab Emirates in R6. At the moment, Indonesia's scorecard is 3-3 with 2 rounds to go. Indonesia will meet Malaysia tomorrow morning and host Turkey in the afternoon. Both teams have higher ranks but pulling off an upset is very possible. Our debaters did it in R1 against Greece and have the ability to repeat that feat. The members of this year's team are Carrisa Tehputri and Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita from SMA 4 Denpasar, Adeline Tiffanie from SMA Kristen 1 Jakarta and Sayyid Habibullah from SMA 3 Pontianak.

The major upsets of the tournament came from a team from Swaziland, a country that only joined WSDC last year when they ended with a respectable 4-4 tally. They are now almost certain to break. Debaters of this tiny state have won 5 out of their 6 matches, only losing to 2011 champion Singapore on a 2-1 split decision in the first round. There was no more slip from there on. In the next round, they crushed Lebanon. Yesterday, they knocked down  Slovakia and then embarrased reigning champion Scotland through convincing 3-0 wins. Today, they outclassed Israel and China. Tomorrow, they face Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania.

WSDC 2013: Corrected Draw Gives Indonesia Euro Rivals

World of Wonders Topkapi Palace in Antalya, Turkey - Hotel for WSDC 2013

The revised draw for  2013 World Schools Debating Championships in Turkey presents Indonesia with a mostly European challenge. The first draw for the preliminary rounds of the January 27-February 5 competition had to be cancelled after the organizers failed to include Hungary, which eventually will go against Team Indonesia in the second debate. The other in-round opponents are Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wales, Romania, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Turkey.

All WSDC teams must debate 8 different teams in the prelims, one from each of the 8 rank-based groupings. Indonesia is in the E grouping (#25-30) and ranks #27 out of 50 contestants. The WSDC groupings are calculated based on victories and judge votes in the past 3 championships. Greece is from group A. So, it is the highest ranked team Indonesia will face in the mandatory rounds. In 2004, Team Indonesia defeated Greece. Realistically, the toughest match will be against Wales, last year's finalist. Four preliminaries have prepared motions and the other four rounds are impromptu. Winning less than five prelims guarantees seats in the audience during the knockouts.

The members of Team Indonesia 2013 are Carrisa Tehputri and Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita from SMA 4 Denpasar, Adeline Tiffanie from SMA Kristen 1 Jakarta and Sayyid Habibullah from SMA 3 Pontianak. There is no returning member in this team, one aspect that will be common in other contingents. Since its WSDC entry, Indonesia has broken twice into the octofinals in 2003 and 2004. The highest achievement is #11 in 2003 but the team which collected the most judge votes was the one who went to WSDC 2010 in Qatar. Unfortunately, the latter did not break. Only the top 16 teams can break into the knockouts. The 2003, 2004 and 2010 teams won 5 preliminary matches. Last year, Team Indonesia ended at #25 after having a 4-4 record.

The draw, speaking positions and motions for Team Indonesia 2013's debates are as follows:

R1 Opp vs Greece  (#6/A) - THBT decisions about children's health should be made by medical professionals, not by parents

R2 Prop vs Hungary (#50/H) - Impromptu

R3 Prop vs Bosnia & Herzegovina (#43/G) - TH supports greater US military presence in East Asia

R4 Opp vs Wales (#8/B) - Impromptu
R5 Opp vs Romania (#32/F) - THW cease the exploitation of resources in the Arctic region

R6 Prop vs United Arab Emirates (#17/C) - Impromptu
R7 Prop vs Malaysia (#20/D) - TH supports sovereign debt default as a legitimate economic strategy for countries 

R8 Opp vs Turkey (#26/E) - Impromptu

See the full draw here

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.

Bawor Cup 2012: Two UI Teams in the Final

Reigning champions Universitas Indonesia took half of the 4 spots in the grand final of the 3rd Bawor Cup after winning their semifinal matches today. No other university has won this Purwokerto-based tournament before. #2 UI B (Aulia Anggita & Egalita Irfan) and #5 UI A (Elghafiky Bimardhika & Dennys Kapa) will face two pairs who all reached the grand final of the recent 2012 National Universities English Debating Championship - #4 Universitas Atma Jaya (Cindy Fransisca & Davin Susanto) and #7 Universitas Parahyangan (Dwita Aryani & Josefhine Chitra). The winner of the debate, which is slated for tonight, will receive a free ticket to compete in the World Universities Peace Invitational Debate in Malaysia next December.  

OIC Debate 2012: Main and Indonesian Results

The 2nd Organization for Islamic Cooperation Debating Championship took place in Malaysia earlier this week involving 24 teams from 6 OIC member countries. The host country dominated with teams from Universitas Indonesia and University of Dhaka giving the strongest challenges to the Malaysians. Uniquely, individual awards were given based on gender to the top 3 male and female debaters. UI's Egalita Irfan was the sole debater from outside Malaysia who could break into the top 10 speakers on the tab. She was also the only one leaving Malaysia with an award -- the 2nd best female debater. Key results are as follows:

Champions: International Islamic University Malaysia (Syed Saddiq, Arinah Najwa, Jaber Abedin)
Finalists: Universiti Teknologi Mara (Shafiq Bazari, Mohammed Mifzal, Muayyad bin Khairulmaini)

Top 10 Speakers on tab:
1. Syed Saddiq (International Islamic University Malaysia)
2. Shafiq Bazari (Universiti Teknologi Mara)
3. Arinah Najwa (International Islamic University Malaysia)
3. Mohammed Mifzal (Universiti Teknologi Mara)
5. Don Siron Pereira (KDU Colleges)
6. Jaber Abedin (International Islamic University Malaysia)
7. Adrian Calvin Cheong (KDU Colleges)
8. Egalita Irfan (Universitas Indonesia)
8. Muayyad bin Khairulmaini (Universiti Teknologi Mara)
10. Sharanya Visualingam (KDU Colleges)

Top Female Speaker Awards
1. Arinah Najwa (International Islamic University Malaysia)
2. Egalita Irfan (Universitas Indonesia)
3. Sharanya Visualingam (KDU Colleges)

Top Male Speaker Awards
1. Syed Saddiq (International Islamic University Malaysia)
2. Shafiq Bazari (Universiti Teknologi Mara)
3. Mohammed Mifzal (International Islamic University Malaysia)

Performance of  Indonesian teams:
#6 Universitas Indonesia (#8 Egalita Irfan, #11 Aulia Anggita, #33 Hana Hanifah) -- 3-2 (Quarterfinalist)
#14 Universitas Gadjah Mada (#20 Wida Wahyuni, #28 Dianty Widyowati, #46 Ali Bachtiar) -- 2-3
#20 Universitas Sriwijaya (#46 Joko Dwi Santoso, #46 M. Akbar Rafsanzani, #55 Ferdy Hirawan) -- 1-4
#23 Universitas Parahyangan (#46 Brinanda Lidwina, #59 Noah Paat, #65 Jessica Bellamy) -- 1-4

UI Team Break into OIC Knockouts in Malaysia

#6 Universitas Indonesia (Aulia Anggita Larasati, Egalita Irfan, Hana Hanifah) advanced into the knockouts of the 2012 Organization of Islamic Cooperation Intervarsities Debating Championship as the only surviving Indonesian team in the Malyasia-based competition. They won 3 of their 5 preliminary rounds, beating Jahangirnagar University from Bangladesh, University of Brunei and Malaysia's KDU College. They will meet #3 KDU again in the quarterfinals today. This is the first time an Indonesian team broke into the main knockouts of an overseas tournament this year. Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Parahyangan and Universitas Sriwijaya also sent teams to the OIC debates but failed to progress. The tournament had 22 participating teams from member countries of the OIC.  

UADC 2012: Indonesian Results

Seven Indonesian teams went to the 2012 United Asians Debating Championships in Malaysia. Although none of them broke into the top 16, they could create an all-Indonesian final in the English-as-Foreign-Language category. Binus International brought home the EFL trophies for best team and individual. Here are the details of their performances at Asia's most prestigious debating competition.

#27/#1EFL Binus International A 5W-3L -- EFL Champions

#48/#3EFL Binus University A 4W-4L -- EFL Finalists

#53/#4EFL Universitas Parahyangan A 4W-4L -- EFL Semifinalists



UADC 2012 EFL Champions Binus International A
Jaran Walia, Caroline Herlina, Invi Atmanegara



#62 Binus International B 3W-5L

#65 Universitas Padjadjaran A 3W-5L

#78 Institut Pertanian Bogor A 2W-6L

#79 Binus International C 2W-6L

Top 10 Indonesian Speakers

1. Invi Atmanegara (Bipeds A) -- #1EFL/#77
2. Caroline Herlina (Bipeds A) -- #2EFL/#88
3. Jaran Walia (Bipeds A) -- #3EFL/#104
4. Felicia Novina (Bipeds B) -- #122
5. Andrew Sadeli (Bipeds B) -- #136
6. Dimas Aditya (Unpad A) -- #137
7. Mayang Puspita (Unpad A) -- #139
8. Cassandra Etania Liem (Binus A) -- #141
9. Dwita Aryani (Unpar A) -- #158
10. Melissa Irene (Bipeds B) -- #164

Best Indonesian Adjudicator(s):

Muhammad Erfan Supradhono (Unpad) & Wilson Salim (Bipeds) -- 3.188

UADC 2012: Motions in Preliminary Rounds

Eight preliminary rounds of the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships at Malaysia's Multimedia University ended today. The break announcement will take place later tonight. Here are the motions used so far.

R1. HEALTH
THBT those on organ transplant waiting lists should be prioritised according to lifestyle choices
THW disallow individuals below a certain income level from participating in clinical tests
THBT, in the event of life-threatening illnesses, medical decisions about children should be made by their doctors and not their parents

R2.  SPORTS
THW mandate equal primetime coverage for men's and women's sports
THW ban all sports that define winning as inflicting pain or glorifying its simulation
THBT companies who promote unhealthy lifestyles should be disallowed from sponsoring sporting events

R3. YOUTH
THW forcefully reallocate talent and resources from all the top educational institutions to those at the bottom
THW require universities to share the burden in repaying the loans of their graduates if they are unable to find employment
THW abolish unpaid internships

R4. THIS LAND IS MY LAND
THW exempt indigenous communities from laws relating to environmental protection
THW actively and forcefully reverse transmigration policies instituted by former dictators or colonial masters
THBT tribal law should have jurisdiction over all crimes committed on tribal land, regardless of who the perpetrator is

R5.
THBT ASEAN should have a defense pact stipulating that any attempt by China to occupy the South China Sea islands will be met with military force
THW ban the use of unmanned combat vehicles (drones) in combat operations
THBT the US should adopt a policy that in the event Israel launches any attack on Iran, the US will withdraw all military support to it

R6. WOMEN
THBT liberal states with sexually conservative communities should subsidize hymen reconstruction surgery
THBT the feminist movement should condemn celebrities like Rihanna who choose to continue to pursue a personal relationship with abusive partners
THBT the French government should repeal the ban on the burqa

R7. WE ARE FAMILY
THW legalize polygamy
THBT state welfare should only support families up to a certain size
THBT liberals have a moral duty to abstain from marriage until gay marriage is legalized

R8. RELIGION
THBT religions should be held liable for making curative claims on illnesses if an individual refuses to seek life-saving medical treatment
THW ban proselytizing in prisons
THW ban gay conversion therapy

UGM Wins National Round of IHL Debate Again

Overshadowed by the more popular ALSA UI E-Comp, the national round of the 2012 International Humanitarian Law debate ended yesterday with host Universitas Gadjah Mada (Erwina Salsabila, Muhammad Fidhzariyan, Hadza Min Fadhli) defending the title and bagging the school's first trophy in 2012. The winners are eligible to compete on behalf of the country in the international IHL debate in Malaysia. The national round is limited by invitation and restricts participation to International Relations students. Only 19 teams joined the 2012 edition. Ironically, the international round in Kuala Lumpur is an open tournament that has attracted teams from all over Asia, including from engineering schools. This year's tournament will take place May 11-13 and one of the registered teams is called Pork Chop.

OIC's 2nd Debating Championship Set for July

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) this year will endorse the 2nd OIC Intervarsity Debating Championships for their country members, which include Indonesia. The tournament will take place from July 2 to 7 at the International Islamic University Malaysia. There is a cap of 6 teams per country. Registration has been opened since April 1 and interested schools should register before April 30. The competition fee is USD 30 per person, excluding accommodation and food.Click here for further details. University of Dhaka's Institute of Business Administration championed the inaugural edition in 2010.  It was the first time a team from Bangladesh won an international debating tournament. Binus International and Universitas Gadjah Mada advanced into the knockout stage.

WSDC 2012: Break List

Reigning champion #6/A Singapore broke first into the knockouts of the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships after winning all 8 preliminaries and only dropping one judge. Host #9/B South Africa and two-time winner #3/A New Zealand also entered the elimination stage without a loss. The darkhorses are #26/E Malaysia and #41/G Lithuania who collected 6 VP after taking the scalps of higher ranking teams. In R1, Malaysia provided the tournament's first shock with a win against 8-time champion and last year's finalist #2/A Australia. The two teams will meet again in the octofinal. The complete list after 8 rounds is as follows (Country, VP, Judges, Pre-Tourney Rank): 

1. Singapore (8-23) #6/A
2. South Africa (8-21) #9/B
3. New Zealand (8-21) #3/A
4. Australia (7-20) #2/A
5. Scotland (7-19) #15/C
6. England (6-20) #1/A
7. Wales (6-18) #10/B
8. Philippines (6-18) #17/C
9. Canada (6-17) #4/A
10. India (6-17) #18/C
11. Lithuania (6-17) #41/G
12. Greece (6-16) #5/A
13. Malaysia (6-15) #26/E
14. Hong Kong (5-16) #14/C
15. Ireland (5-16) #12/B
16. Korea (5-15) #8/B

Note: All A teams broke. #7/B Netherlands, which won all their debates last year, ended at #24 after losing 4 times in preliminaries. #11/B Pakistan missed the break on speaker points.

WSDC 2012: Indonesia Bags First Point, Malaysia Downs Australia

#29/E Indonesia today scored its first win in the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships after unanimously beating #48/H Zimbabwe in R2. All judges thought Indonesia successfully knocked down the motion "This House Believes That Newly Democratised Arab Nations Should Not Allow Religious Parties to Participate in Elections". In the first round, Indonesia lost to reigning champions #6/A Singapore in a debate in which our team had to propose a ban on alcohol. The 2012 team consists of Cheryl Nazik Cosslett (SMA 1 Bogor), twins Revian and Revaldi Wirabuana (SMA 4 Denpasar) and Alif Satria (SMA 8 Yogyakarta).

The highlight of the competition was #26/E Malaysia's success defeating 8-time champion #2/A Australia in the opener on a 2-1 decision. In the second debate, Australia again lost a judge in the slim victory against #20/D Mexico. At the end of Debate Day 1, only Singapore, #1/A England and #8/B South Korea can boast the perfect scoreline of 2 wins and 6 judge points.

Team Indonesia tomorrow will face #38/G Mongolia in the impromptu R3 and must defend the motion "This House Believes That Developing Nations Should Place Limits on Internal Rural-Urban Migration" against South Korea.  

WUDC 2012: Indonesia Sends Big Contingent, Gets "A" Status

The 2012 World Universities Debating Championships, the most prestigious debating tournament on the planet, officially kicked off today at Manila's De La Salle University with a record-tying number of Indonesian teams. Universitas Indonesia sent the 2 first Indonesian teams to WUDC 1999, coincidentally also held in the Philippines. In WUDC 2005 in Malaysia, there were 17 Indonesian teams, eclipsing the past record by far. When WUDC 2012 debates start tomorrow, the same number will join the competition.

Besides 4 pairs from UI, there will be 2 squads each from Binus University and Universitas Atma Jaya while Binus International, Institut Pertanian Bogor, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Sekolah Tinggi Akuntansi Negara, STBA Teknokrat, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Negeri Padang, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta and Universitas Padjadjaran respectively sent a team. These institutions had reached a decision to have Bryan Gunawan from Binus University as the Indonesian representative for the Worlds Council.

Bryan today tweeted that Indonesia won the right to earn a "A" nation voting status because there had been at least 4 Indonesian institutions in the last 2 WUDCs. More than 6 Indonesian universities sent teams to WUDC 2010 and 2011. That new status means Indonesia now has 4 votes in the council, which will be crucial in deciding the next host. Up until now, there has been no bids for WUDC 2014 although there is a rumour there might be an audacious attempt to bring the competition to Indonesia in the near future.

Bawor Cup 2011 Winner to Get Ticket to WUPID

Bawor Cup, a British Parliamentary style debating tournament held in Purwokerto, will take place from July 17 to 20 this year, two days before the next JOVED and the organizers promise the champion will get a ticket to participate in the 2011 World Universities Peace Invitational Debate.

WUPID is an invitation-only debating competition in Malaysia that chooses 100 institutions throughout the globe to warm up before WUDC, which traditionally starts right after Christmas. It is unclear how the Bawor Cup scheme will affect the number of WUPID invitations for Indonesian institutions. Bawor Cup is a debating competition that took off last year and is known for treating participants with a cultural holiday package in Central Java.