Selections for Indonesia's WSDC 2012 Team Begins Today

The Ministry of Education has invited 24 high school students from all over the country to join the selection process to get 4 debaters who will represent Indonesia in the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships. The trials begin today at Jakarta's Wisma Subud and they are aimed at selecting Team Indonesia before the November 18 deadline. The next WSDC will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from January 17 to 27.

Indonesia has broken twice into the WSDC knockouts, in 2003 and 2004, with a nearly identical line-up. No other Indonesian team has advanced from the preliminaries. Debaters and coaches of those two successful teams will take part as judges in today's trials.

The coach for the upcoming Team Indonesia is M. Subarkah Syafruddin whose Universitas Indonesia team won the ESL category in the 2011 Australasian Inter-Varsities Debating Championships in Seoul. Sume, as he is affectionately known, has a tough task ahead. He needs to form a solid team from scratch while several nations have decided to use debaters who competed in the 2011 WSDC last August as the backbone of their Cape Town squads.

ASDC 2011 List of Motions

The 2011 Asian Schools Debating Championships ended last week in Seoul with Daewon High School from South Korea as the champion after beating Xavier School from the Philippines in the grandfinal. Malaysia's Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman (STAR) will host next year's ASDC. Indonesian teams failed to excel in ASDC 2011 but the motions used in the tournament may help preparations in our schools. 

Test

• THW disallow people from leaving inheritance to pets
• THW abolish all animal cruelty laws
• THW not allow people to keep wild animals as pets

R1

• THW ban sports that aim to inflict physical violence on competitors
• THW not allow minors to become professional gamers
• THW have a minimum quota for local players in domestic leagues

R2

• THBT the right to offend religion/s is an essential element to freedom of speech
• THBT the feminist should embrace women who choose to disempower themselves.
• THBT anorexia is a legitimate lifestyle choice.

R3

• THW stop the public funding of NASA
• THBT governments should fund research to clone extinct species
• THBT humanity would be better off knowing that intelligent life exists somewhere else in the universe

R4

• THBT South Korea should stop seeking reunification
• THBT China should abandon its one child policy
• THBT the ASEAN should suspend Myanmar’s membership pending democratic reforms

R5

• THW abolish laws that protect royal families from being insulted
• THBT monarchies have no place in modern democracies
• THBT the LGBT Movement should stop celebrating gay parades

R6

• THBT Japan should abandon civil nuclear energy
• THBT it is justified to break the law to protect the environment
• THBT governments should include environmental impact in measuring economic success

R7

• THW televise executions of criminals
• THW legalize all drugs in the USA
• THW not grant tourist visas to states with high incidence of human trafficking

 

Octos

• THBT US government should establish schools that teach immigrant children in their native tongue
• THW force religious schools to teach sex education including contraception
• THW stop all research towards the cure for autism

Quarters  

• THBT the ICC should try Bashar Al Assad.
• THBT aid should be protected by force without the permission of the sovereign state
• THW allow objection to military service on the grounds of personal beliefs

Semis

• THBT the Greeks should default
• THBT all water consumption beyond basic needs should come from private sources
• TH regrets the rise of microfinance

Novice Finals

• THBT tabloids are essential to a vibrant democracy
• THW allocate airtime for racist political parties in public TV networks
• THBT celebrity felons should have harsher penalties (selected for final)

Finals

• THBT post-conflict societies should destroy all artwork created in support of a fallen dictator
• THBT mainstream governments should not contact isolated tribes (selected for final)
• TH celebrates the co-optation of political and artistic counter-cultures into the mainstream

UI Bags 3 Debating Crowns in Less Than 10 Days

Debaters from Universitas Indonesia grabbed the school's third debating trophy in 9 days after championing the Perbanas Marketing Debating Competition yesterday. While PMDC was a competition using Indonesian and did not use a known format, the participants came from all over the country and the core of the winning team are members of English Debating Society Universitas Indonesia.

Iki Sari Dewi and Agita Nalsalia, along with non-EDS UI member Amadea Novia Ferty, eliminated host Perbanas Institute in the final that was broadcast live on radio. The judges mostly were marketing experts and the motions had an economics theme.

The streak began on July 13 when EDS UI members Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani and Subarkah Syafruddin won the ESL category of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships in Seoul. Eight days later Hokka bagged another trophy with EDS UI President Ahdiat Permana when they defended their title as champions of Bawor Cup. Will the successful run continue at the upcoming 15th Java Overland Varsities English Debate, the country's first debating tournament using an internationally accepted format?

Bawor Prelims to End Today, UI Pair Bent on Keeping Title

Universitas Indonesia A (Ahdiat Permana, Dimas Hokka) looked set to retain the Bawor Cup champion title after gathering full points (9VP) from the first 3 preliminary rounds. There are 2 more matches to go later today before the break.

The pair won the inaugural edition of this Purwokerto-based, British Parliamentary tournament last year. Hokka just arrived from Seoul where his team became the ESL champions of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships last week. Bawor Cup organizers promise this year's winner can attend the 2011 World Universities Peace Invitational Debate in December without spending a cent on registration, transport and accommodation. They will also finance 2 teams --the best novice team and one made up of the top 2 speakers of the tournament-- to compete in the Kuala Lumpur Open Challenge next August.

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.  

Victoria 1 Grab Australs 2011, Best Speaker in Final

Venue of the Australs 2011 finals

#4 Victoria University of Wellington (Richard D'Ath, Seb Templeton, Udayan Mukherjee) emerged as the champion of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, keeping the trophy that the New Zealand school won last year. In the grand final, they defeated #6 National University of Singapore (Imran Rahim, Sadhana Rai, Robin Teo).

Udayan Mukherjee, part of last year's winning Victoria team, also was awarded the best speaker in the finals. Elle Jones from University of Sydney grabbed the overall best speaker prize, also known as the Martin Sorensen Trophy. Her team, which broke second from the preliminary rounds, lost to NUS 1 in the semifinals earlier today.


The winning team successfully negated the motion "THBT Nations Should Use Bounty Hunters to Capture or Kill Their Enemies" in the final that took place in Seoul. It was the second non-Australian final in as many years following a long stretch of Australian  dominance in the top tournament in the Asia-Oceania region.


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. And they only could that twice. Besides last year, it also won in 1998.

Australs 2011 was the first time a Korean institution, Chung Ang University, hosted the championships. Victoria will be the host next year.

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.    

Australs 2011: NUS Only Asian Team in Final Four

#6 National University of Singapore 1 (Imran Rahim, Sadhana Rai, Robin Teo), the reigning Asian champion for 3-on-3 debating, will be the only team from Asia in the main semifinals of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships. NUS 1 defeated fellow Asians #3 Ateneo de Manila University in the quarterfinal and will face hot favourites #2 University of Sydney 1.

In the other semifinal, Monash University 1 (Madelaine Schultz, Gemma Buckley, Chris Bisset), who topped the tab, will debate a team from last year's Australs champion Victoria University of Wellington. No team from outside Australia and New Zealand has won the Australs, the world's largest debating competition using the uninterrupted 3-on-3 format, since it started in 1975.  

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. 

Australs 2011: Main Break List

Here are the teams that can proceed into the main elimination stage of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, following a pullout from Sydney 4 and institutional capping that made Sydney 6 and Sydney 7 ineligible to break. Only 4 teams from the same institution can compete in the knockouts.


1. Monash University 1 (7 wins)
2. University of Sydney 1 (7 wins)
3. Ateneo de Manila University 1 (7 wins)
4. Victoria University of Wellington 1 (6 wins)
5. University of Sydney 2 (6 wins)
6. National University of Singapore 1 (6 wins)
7. University of Auckland 1 (6 wins)
8. University of Sydney 5 (6 wins)
9. University of Sydney 3 (6 wins)
10. Universiti Teknologi Mara 2 (6 wins)
11. Monash University 2 (6 wins)
12. Macquarie University 1 (6 wins)
13. Universiti Teknologi Mara 1 (6 wins)
14. Ateneo de Manila University 2 (6 wins)
15. University of Otago 1 (6 wins)
16. Victoria University of Wellington 2 (5 wins)
17. University of Melbourne 1 (5 wins)
18. University of Western Australia 1 (5 wins)
19. University of Auckland 2 (5 wins)
20. Monash University 4 (5 wins)
21. University of Queensland 1 (5 wins)
22. Monash University 3 (5 wins)
23. University of Melbourne 3 (5 wins)
24. International Islamic University Malaysia 1 (5 wins)


Team 9-24 will go through the double-octofinals while the top 8 will meet the winners of that round in the octofinals. Those debates will take place tomorrow.

Indonesia's Australs Fate Depends on Silent Rounds

Three Indonesian teams need substantial wins in the last 2 rounds of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships to advance into the double-octofinals or the ESL knockouts. However, R7 and R8 are silent rounds, forcing debaters to wait until the break announcement this evening for the results.

After 6 rounds, Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin) and Binus International 1 (Astrio Feligent, Christian Leonardo, Invi Atmanegara) both are at 3-3 after competing against the best in the tournament. Only teams with 5VP have clear chances to sail through into the main elimination rounds. The best 8 ESL teams are eligible to compete in a separate contest. A 4-4 record may be enough but the threshold may be higher due to large participation from Northeast Asia this year.

UI and Bipeds teams had colorful runs. They met in R1 with the latter coming out triumphant. In subsequent rounds, Bipeds knocked down Asian giant Nanyang Technological University and University of Technology Sydney but lost to Australian powerhouses Melbourne and Sydney. UI's two other defeats were in the hands of last year's champion Victoria University and runner-up Auckland University, both from New Zealand. UI defeated Australia's Macquarie University and Korean colleges, Underwood and Chung Ang.

Another Indonesian team from Institut Teknologi Bandung (Gladys Brigita, Diedra Putri, Aryani) entered R7 with 2 wins. UI adjudicator Ignes Pricillia has chaired 5 out of 6 rounds while ITB judge Dito Krista was chair in R6.

UI Team Win All Debates on Day 2 of Australs 2011

Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin) gained maximum points on the second day of preliminaries of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships today after beating Macquarie University 4 from Australia in R4 and host Chung Ang University in R5. With 3VP after 5 rounds, their chances to break into the double-octofinals or the ESL knockouts are still very much alive.

Two other Indonesian teams are also competing in Australs 2011. A Binus International team are still in contention like UI but the squad from Institut Teknologi Bandung may have dim chances as they have only won once in 5 rounds. Day 2 had motions on international relations and the economy. The preliminary stage will continue tomorrow with a scheduled break announcement at the end of the day.

Binus International Beat UT Sydney in Australs 2011

Chung Ang University Library Venue for Australs 2011 Preliminaries Binus International (Astrio Feligent, Christian Leonardo, Invi Atmanegara) today defeated University of Technology Sydney 1 from Australia in the third preliminary round of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, showing Indonesians can compete at the regional level. The top tournament in the Asia-Oceania region, which is better known as Australs, kicked off its preliminaries today in Seoul with 113 teams. More than a quarter of them from Australia, the top country in 3-on-3 debating.  Two other Indonesian teams from Institut Teknologi Bandung and Universitas Indonesia, are also taking part in this competition. No team outside from Australia and New Zealand have 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. This year, 24 teams will be eligible to break into the double-octofinals, which will take place on July 12, due to the large participation. Unfortunately, the number of qualified adjudicators did not match the enthusiasm to debate. On day 1 of the debates, 46 out of 57 rooms had lone judges. The first 3 rounds had motions on sports, development and arms of government. The preliminaries will go on until July 10. There is a separate ESL break in Australs and UI championed that category in 2009. After 3 rounds, the results of the Indonesian teams are as follows: Binus International 2 VP -- 1. UI (W), 2. Melbourne 5 (L), 3. UT Sydney 1 (W)  Universitas Indonesia 1 VP -- 1. Binus Int'l (L), 2. Underwood 3 (W), 3. Auckland 2 (L) Institut Teknologi Bandung 0 VP -- 1. Korea 2 (L), 2. Sydney 6 (L), 3. HELP 1 (L) However, the best performing Indonesian today was an adjudicator. Ignes Pricillia, an UI sophomore, chaired panels in the first 2 rounds and was trusted to become a single adjudicator in round 3. In round 1, she adjudicated Melbourne 1, one of the tournament's favourites.

Asian BP Registration Opens July 5, Australs Begins July 8

Two important regional debating tournaments will kick off different phases next week.

The race to grab slots in the coming Asian British Parliamentary Debate Championships will begin July 5 at 1300 WIB or noon Dhaka time. The online registration closes July 20 but there are only 80 spots and each institution can send up to 3 pairs so the list may fill up fast. The 3rd Asian BP will take place at North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh from December 7 to 11, 2011, making it a good warm-up for those who want to compete in the World Universities Debating Championships at the end of the year.

Half a continent away from Dhaka, the preliminary rounds of the Australasian Debating Championships will start in Seoul on July 8. Five Indonesian schools (Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Hasanuddin, Institut Teknologi Bandung and Binus International) are registered to take part in the world's largest 3-on-3 debating competition that will take place this year at Chung Ang University. Indonesian teams have excelled in the ESL category of this tournament in previous years. The break will be announced on July 10 while the finals will take place on July 13.    

Two Indonesian Schools Listed to Debate in ASDC Seoul

SMA 1 Sidoarjo and SMA 2 Mojokerto are among 80 teams that are on the registered list of the 2011 Asian Schools Debating Championships in Seoul, South Korea this year. The competition, which gathers teams representing high schools in Asia, will be held from July 22 to 27, coinciding with JOVED 2011. This year's tournament will be the third ASDC. The first two took place in Manila hosted by De La Salle University.

Indonesian Teams on the Korea Australs List

There are several Indonesian institutions that intend to compete in the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships at Chung Ang University in Seoul, South Korea from July 6 to 14, 2011. Some have managed to get on the main list while several teams are on the waiting list. The team cap is at 120.

Indonesian teams on the main list:

• Universitas Indonesia (2 teams)
• Universitas Bina Nusantara (2 teams)

Indonesian teams on the waiting list:

• Universitas Gadjah Mada (1 team)
• BINUS International (1 team)