Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Debate Comprtition

 
Reported by ELC
       At the beginning of the year, the English Language Centre set up a debate club, recruiting 20 students who showed interest in debate.  Experienced external debate trainers, Ms Jainah and Mr Muqriz, from the Malaysian Institute for Debate and Public Speaking were invited to  provide professional training on a weekly basis. All the debate trainees got an opportunity to master the skills of debating, enhance thinking skills as well as build confidence in public presentation.

       In order to provide the trainees with the feel of competing at an actual Asian parliamentary debate setting, the English Language Centre organised a debate competition for the very first time. With the guidance and assistance of Mr Muqriz, the debate trainees were grouped into 6 teams and started to research and practise among themselves with a few motions.

       On 27 September and 4 October 2016, the competition took place at ELC where each team took turns to compete with different opposing teams. Lots were drawn on the spot to determine their sides and motions. Each team competed to win a debate which equated to earning one win point and at the same time collected speaker points. On 4 October 2016, a break to the finals of two teams was announced after a total of three preliminary rounds.
     

       Three experienced external adjudicators, Mr Muqriz, Mr Aidil and Mr Iqbal, from the Malaysian Institute for Debate and Public Speaking were invited to judge the preliminary and final rounds. In the final stage of the competition, the chief adjudicator, Mr Muqriz, commented that  the adjudicators had enjoyed the  debate very much. With the motion “This house will ban capital punishment”, both sides of debaters were able to provide rich content from  different points of view.  They could hold onto their main principles and make a good analysis.  However, they should improve further their critical thinking skills by utilising life examples as a reference in their arguments. Besides, Mr Muqriz appreciated all the participants’ effort and time put in along the journey. He also pointed out that debate is not about winning. Instead, it is a skill that involves a lot of reading, preparation and communication.  He hoped that all the participants would continue to tap their potential and make debating as part of their talents.

       Lastly, we would like to congratulate the winners and thank the participants for making this event a success.

       The winners of the debate competition:
The Champion: Opposition Team
Goh  Sher Lin(J2 Washington),Bernard Siow Terng Fong (J2 Chicago), Ng Bren Den (S1 Adelaide)

The Finalists: Government Team
Sean Tan Ming Yuan (J1 Ottawa), Leng Yu Cheng (S1 Washington), Lim Jia Yun, Ruth (S1 Adelaide)

The Best Debater
Bernard Siow Terng Fong (J2 Chicago)


Bernard Siow Terng Fong (J2 Chicago)
       If I were to sum it up in two words, it would be ‘lucky’ and ‘unexpected’. My team and I felt overwhelmed when the victory was announced, and we were grateful for that. We owed our success to the trainer’s careful and effective training, my teammates for being cooperative and synergizing well with each other. Last but not least, I wanted to thank Ms Chua and all the teachers that played a role in making sure of a smooth run of the competition. In the end, I really enjoyed this event, and I hope that this competition can be held again on a bigger scale.
Leng Yu Cheng (S1 Washington)
      It was a great experience getting involved in a debate competition. It has benefitted me in many ways, for example,  the manner when speaking, the impact of the controversial motions towards people and the response to the question directed to us. I am grateful to be one of the finalists of the competition and I was rather overwhelmed to see our results achieved as a team. 

Ms Chua Pei Chen (ELC Management Committee)
      Debating is an activity that allows us to ponder over different arguments, engage with opposing views as well as speak persuasively and tactfully. Knowing that there were students enthusiastic about debate, the English Language Centre decided to bring in a professional debate trainer from the Malaysian Institute for Debate and Public Speaking to provide ongoing training. The debate trainees spent their Tuesday afternoons to attend the training, learning about the format, methods to treat the issues raised, ways to deliver their arguments and so on. It was always encouraging when seeing them leave the debate class with a great sense of satisfaction and achievement. I hope that they could continue to sharpen their saws and apply the skills learnt in real-life situations.

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