KUCHING – Top orators from eight institutions of higher learning in the State will converge at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus next week to compete in the Yayasan Sarawak English Debate Championship.
The preliminary rounds will kick off from 27 to 29 August, with the final to be held 30 August.
A total of 14 teams will be in the running for the championship title.
Jointly organised by Swinburne Sarawak and Yayasan Sarawak, the theme for this year is “Searching for drivers of technology, development and the environment”.
In the fray for the top spot are Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Multimedia College Sarawak, SEGI College Sarawak, Curtin University, UNIMAS, UiTM Sarawak, Masterskill Global College, and Swinburne Sarawak.
“Swinburne is delighted to be working with Yayasan Sarawak in this year’s edition of the championship. We are looking forward to four days of exciting debate,” said Darren John Angking, the assistant organising chairperson.
“The competing institutions have a reputation for having very experienced teams so we can expect good, solid arguments to be put forth,” said Darren, a lecturer with the School of Language and Foundation at Swinburne Sarawak.
“Debate tournaments such are good avenues for students to practice and develop their oratory skills. Students, especially Bumiputera students, should take the opportunity and get themselves involved in these events,” he said.
The tournament will use the Asian parliamentary style of debating, and the winning team will walk away with a trophy and cash prize. The first runner-up and teams that make it to the semi-finals will also receive cash prizes.
Also up for grabs are individual prizes for the five Best Debaters, the Best Speaker of English, the Best Speaker in the Grand Final, and the top three contestants in the Public Speaking contest.
The chief adjudicator for the tournament is Iqbal Hafiedz, chief executive officer and managing director of the Malaysian Institute for Debate and Public Speaking (MIDP).
As a speaker, Hafiedz had debated competitively for over five years and adjudicated the highest international competitive events including several World Debating Championships. His achievements included Best Speaker in Asia for 2006 (All-Asian).
The Yayasan Sarawak English Debate Championship was last held in 2010 where Swinburne Sarawak emerged as the champions.