- A lot of exciting awards were won at the Limkokwing International Debate Championship.
Dato Tiffanee Marie Lim handing the trophies to the award winners
Datuk Johan Jaafar of Media Prima addressing the audience
Tuan Haji Mohd Anuar bin Abdul Hamid congratulating the participating students.
Guest adjudicators Mahatir Lokman and former Miss Malaysia, Deborah Henry.
The championship had attracted students from across the country.
The final round in progress.
Best Adjudicator Thevesh Theva giving his comments on the final round.
The final round - the debate motion was "Eco terrorism is justified to save the environment.'
Guest adjudicator Mahatir Lokman addressing the audience.
Mr Brett James Frazer, who was the Chief adjudicator for the final round addressing the crowd.
The award winners with their trophies.
The four day inaugural Limkokwing International Debate Championship came to a memorable end with SMK Sri Permata team; Kishen Sivabalan and Nimalan Gunandran walking away with scholarships to study at Limkokwing University, a month long trip to London for the University’s Global Classroom programme, and a sum of RM10,000 in prize money.
They faced three other teams in the final round; another SMK Sri Permata team, Methodist Boys School, and Damansara Jaya. The final round was held at Limkokwing University Hall of Fame, under the rapt arbitration of a panel of adjudicators, led by Mr Brett James Frazer.
The final round motion proposed ‘Eco terrorism is justified to save the environment,’ and all the teams brought forth strong arguments, each team giving their contenders a tough competition.
“ To identify young people with budding skills in public speaking and sharpen their thinking skills to project their ideas with greater finesse.”
Founder and President of Limkokwing University, Tan Sri Limkokwing, who was present at the championship finale, said the purpose of the debate was to ‘identify young people with budding skills in public speaking and sharpen their thinking skills to project their ideas with greater finesse.’ He said debate provides the youth with an opportunity to think critically and develop their communication skills.
“Building the skills to engage in debate is to prepare a young person to think with strategy and courage and use persuasion to gain acceptance of ideas,” he said.
He continued to say debate equips young people with necessary skills to be future leaders and overall successful in life.
“The best debaters always do well in life and many move on to leadership positions in society, politics or industry.”
Also speaking in regards to the debate championship, Minister of Education II, YB Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh, said the country needed a skilled, creative, and innovative human capital capable of responding well to challenges, in order to reach Malaysia’s aspiration of being a high income status economy by the year 2020. He said platforms such as the debate championship were the way forward in achieving the national aspiration and turning the country into a competitive economy in the global market.
“A platform like the Limkokwing International Debating Championship provides the means for Malaysia to build this base of skills.”
“A platform like the Limkokwing International Debating Championship provides the means for Malaysia to build this base of skills. It not only helps us to identify talent but it also provide the avenue for Malaysians to raise their skills to global standards,” he said.
At the end of the championship, the students said they had learnt a lot, especially since it was the first time for some of them to be participating in a debate competition of such magnitude.
‘It was a great experience being here, not only did we learn a lot about debate, but we were exposed to the university’s culture of creativity and innovation,“said one of the debaters, Levinthiran Kuruparam, a third place winner from Methodist Boys School.
Check out the results of the inaugural Limkokwing International Debate Championship here.
The panel of adjudicators were also happy with the tournament, saying it was well organised and perfectly executed, terming it ‘the best they had ever been to.’
“It was an incredible debate that displayed the fluency and depth that all the debaters dealt with when they tackled the motions,” said Mr Frazer.
A lot more prizes were won at the tournament, with another SMK Sri Permata team; Siddharta Adaikalaraj and Roshan Sivabalan, the first runner up will receive RM3,000 and a trophy. The other two schools came in tied as the second runner up which went to Methodist Boys’ School team; Levinthiran Kuruparam and Lim Le Shaun, and SMK Damansara Jaya team, Eliza Chow & Evan Wong, each team receiving RM1, 500 and a trophy.
Other award winners were Siddharta Adaikalaraj for Overall Best Speaker, Kishen Sivabalan for Finals Best Speaker, and nine other students for the Top Ten Best Speakers awards, all of whom walked away with a trophy. The award for Best Adjudicator went to Thevesh Theva.