Reading, vital key to winning debating contest<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
There probably are not many youngsters in Indonesia who spend
\ntheir youth digesting Salman Rushdie's The Midnight Children,
\nIsabelle Allende's The House of the Spirits or Gabriel Marcia
\nMarquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. But this was what it
\ntook to become the Indonesian school debating contest champions.<\/p>\n
Reading the works of some of the world's great writers and
\nsubmitting regular literary reviews was part of the preparations
\nundertaken by Natasha Djaja, Vanessa Budiharja and Sahil Kush
\nMahtani from the private Sekolah Pelita Harapan (SPH) high
\nschool, who won the 2003 National School Debating Championship.<\/p>\n
They took home the first prize by defeating Intan Haddijah,
\nRichard Anggoro and Tirza Reinata from state-run SMU 34 high
\nschool after over an hour of fierce debating.<\/p>\n
The motion they debated in the final round was whether or not
\nprovincial government officials should be natives of the areas
\nthey serve.<\/p>\n
In the previous rounds, the contestants debated motions --
\nrevealed 30 minutes before the debate started -- ranging from
\nquotas for women in the legislature and whether the government
\nshould stop sending workers abroad, to whether the government
\nshould provide former athletes pensions upon their retirement. To
\nexcel in this event the contestants had to be knowledgeable about
\ncurrent affairs.<\/p>\n
Thirty-two teams from 19 provinces took part in the
\nchampionship, which ran from April 11 to April 16. The eight best
\nindividual speakers were selected as candidates for the
\nIndonesian team that will take part in the 2003 World Schools
\nDebating Championship in Lima, Peru.<\/p>\n
\"Apart from reading such works of fiction, we also had to be
\nknowledgeable about larger-than-life topics such as democracy,
\nfree will and human rights,\" Sahil told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said these kinds of topics were regularly discussed within
\na debating circle at SPH.<\/p>\n
\"In this debating club, some of our eighth and ninth graders
\nare already well versed in those issues and able to engage in a
\ndebate,\" he said, adding that he sometimes coached the club.<\/p>\n
English is no longer a handicap for Sahil because at SPH all
\nsubjects are taught in the language.<\/p>\n
He said that although he is not a native speaker, English is
\nhis first language at home.<\/p>\n
One of the candidates for the world championships in Peru,
\nAditya Damasurya of SMUN 1 in Surakarta, Central Java, also had
\nto get used to English as a first language.<\/p>\n
\"I spent four years of my childhood in Australia, from age
\nthree to seven,\" he said in Bahasa Indonesia with a thick
\nJavanese accent, as if to disaffirm the Australian accent he put
\non during the debating contest.<\/p>\n
Aditya said that to sharpen his English skills he has taken a
\nlanguage class since his first year in junior high school.<\/p>\n
Vanessa of SPH, a native of Jakarta, said she had studied
\nEnglish since she was young.<\/p>\n
\"I started to speak in English when I was a first grader at
\nSekolah Pelita Harapan,\" she said.<\/p>\n
At home, she has to abide by a rule from her father that
\nEnglish is their only means of communication.<\/p>\n
\"My father won't speak to me if I don't use English in our
\ndaily conversation,\" she told the Post.<\/p>\n
Winners of the 2003 National School Debating Championship
\nApril 11 to April 16, 2003<\/p>\n
Top Team: Sekolah Pelita Harapan (Natasha Djaja, Sahil
\nKush Mahtani, Vanessa Budiharja).<\/p>\n
Runner-Up Team: SMUN 34 Jakarta (Intan Haddijah, Richard
\nAnggoro, Tirza Reinata).<\/p>\n
Best Speakers and candidates for world championships in Peru:
\nZiarini Zaki (Al Azhar BSD, Banten Province), Putu Sanjaya (SMU
\nKolese Kanisius, Jakarta), Juris Tan (SMUK 1 Jakarta), Aditya
\nDamasurya (SMUN 1 Surakarta, Central Java), Mahardika Sadjad
\n(SMUN 17 Makassar, South Sulawesi), Nidya Hapsari (SMUN Bandar
\nLampung, Lampung), Siti Astrid Kusumawardhani (Al Izhar Jakarta),
\nSahil Kush Mahtani (Sekolah Pelita Harapan, Banten Province).<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/reading-vital-key-to-winning-debating-contest-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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