KUCHING –SMK Batu Lintang took home the champion’s trophy in the Swinburne Sarawak Inter-school Debating Championship after beating a school from Peninsular Malaysia, today (21 February 2013).
Debating on the motion “This House would force clinically obese children to attend residential weight loss and education camps” as the Opposition, the team of Abel Gerard Law Shuo Quan, Amanda Hwa De Ai and Alson Lai Zhi Jie proved they were the better side when they beat Sekolah Datu Abdul Razak of Negri Sembilan.
The motion was closely fought by the two sides. The result was a 5 – 4 split decision, giving SMK Batu Lintang the win.
Iyad Zaiky Amal, Muhammad Faris bin Ahmad Rashidi and Mohammad Norshafiq bin Nor Hisham, debating as the Government were just marginally considered the weaker team by the panel of adjudicators made up of representatives from various schools and institutions of higher learning from Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
Abel Gerard Law was also awarded Best Debater in the final.
Katherine Gumal from SM Lodge was named Best Speaker of English in the senior category.
She was also Overall Best Debater in the preliminary rounds, followed by Abel Gerard Law in second, Lim Tai Jie of SMK Batu Lintang in third, and Jerry Tan Hai Kok from SM Lodge in fourth, and Joshua Teo from Chung Hua Middle School No. 1, in fifth place.
SMK St Joseph’s Team B, which comprised Daniel Chiew Shun Hong, Jerard John and Jay Lee Wing Wai, was awarded Most Promising Senior Team.
In the junior category, Torrance Chen Yun Chien, Chloe Chew Yi-Li and Janice Wang Xin Jie of SM Lodge were crowned champions after beating Kolej Yayasan Saad of Malacca’s Muhammad Harith bin Mohamad Nahar, Wan Sofea Hassanah binti Wan Shahibi and Zulaikha bt Zainal Effendi.
Zulaikha was awarded Best Speaker of English in the final.
The Overall Best Debater in the preliminary rounds went to Torrance Chen of SM Lodge. This was followed by Janice Wang Xin Jie (SM Lodge), Mohd Azrai Zain bin Ariffin (SMK Batu Lintang), Chloe Chew Yi-Li (SM Lodge), Malcolm Yap (SM Lodge) in second, third, fourth and fifth places respectively.
A total of 75 teams from 26 schools from Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia competed in the four-day tournament from 18 to 21 February.
This is the first time in the eight-year history of the championship that schools from Peninsular Malaysia had taken part. They were from Johore, Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Terengganu.
Last year, the championship was won by Indonesian school SMA Katholik Santu Petrus.
