34 teams battle in debating contest
34 teams battle in debating contest
JAKARTA (JP): Thirty-four teams battled it out in the first
three preliminary rounds of the Indonesian Varsities English
Debate 1998 yesterday, the first such national debate here.
The three-day debate opened yesterday with 34 teams from 22
universities at the University of Indonesia (UI), Depok, West
Java. The winning team may be nominated for the world English
debating tournament, scheduled in December.
The debate was organized by the University of Indonesia's
English Debating Society and is sponsored by RCTI private TV
station.
Its opening saw debate teams verbally battling over issues
covering student movements, science and technology, humor, the
environment, psychology, entertainment and sports, economics,
international and Indonesian reform agendas.
The teams utilize the Australasian parliamentary format, which
requires three speakers to a team and seven minutes to each
speaker, throughout the competition. The format is one of several
used in international debating competitions.
The format allows either first or second speaker to present
end arguments and the final conclusion, or the "rap-up".
About 30 adjudicators of the 51 invited showed up for the
opening debates. Adjudicators present included entrepreneur
Natalia Soebagjo, TV anchors Zsa Zsa Yusharyahya and Desi Anwar,
director of The British Council Neil Kemp, the British Embassy's
Deputy Head of Mission Quinton Quayle and University of Indonesia
School of Letters lecturer Nadia Madjid.
Natalia said she was "quite impressed" with the UI English
Debating Society's taking the initiative, stressing however that
the tradition of debating should also be started in the
Indonesian language. She added that the fact that all 34 teams
were comprised of students not proficient in English but who were
still at the debate was laudable.
"It is quite difficult to convey logic, emotions and basically
express in a foreign language. This in itself is laudable," she
said. Students needed to bring more focus to their debates, she
said, and not deviate from the primary concept of the selected
topic with irrelevant arguments.
"For instance, when talking of banning cigarette ads, you do
not support it with 'cigarettes are harmful to health' ... no
relevance whatsoever to the main topic," she said.
All 34 teams will resume their debate in today's preliminary
rounds. Only eight will make it to the quarter finals, four to
the semifinals and two to the final round on Monday.
Participating colleges from Greater Jakarta are University of
Indonesia, Bina Nusantara University, Pancasila University,
Jakarta University of Muhammadiyah, Tarakanita Secretarial
Academy, Jakarta Teachers Training Institute, Atmajaya University
and the Indonesian Institute of Technology.
Colleges from Java are Satya Wacana Christian University from
Salatiga, Yogyakarta University of Muhammadiyah, Jenderal
Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Bandung Institute of
Technology, Bandung's Parahyangan University, Semarang's
Diponegoro University, Surabaya's Naval Academy, Yogyakarta's
Gadjah Mada University and Surabaya's Petra University. Those
from outside Java are Padang Teachers Training Institute,
Hasanuddin University in Ujungpandang, Sulawesi, Bengkulu
University and Bali's Udayana University. (ylt)
JAKARTA (JP): Thirty-four teams battled it out in the first
three preliminary rounds of the Indonesian Varsities English
Debate 1998 yesterday, the first such national debate here.
The three-day debate opened yesterday with 34 teams from 22
universities at the University of Indonesia (UI), Depok, West
Java. The winning team may be nominated for the world English
debating tournament, scheduled in December.
The debate was organized by the University of Indonesia's
English Debating Society and is sponsored by RCTI private TV
station.
Its opening saw debate teams verbally battling over issues
covering student movements, science and technology, humor, the
environment, psychology, entertainment and sports, economics,
international and Indonesian reform agendas.
The teams utilize the Australasian parliamentary format, which
requires three speakers to a team and seven minutes to each
speaker, throughout the competition. The format is one of several
used in international debating competitions.
The format allows either first or second speaker to present
end arguments and the final conclusion, or the "rap-up".
About 30 adjudicators of the 51 invited showed up for the
opening debates. Adjudicators present included entrepreneur
Natalia Soebagjo, TV anchors Zsa Zsa Yusharyahya and Desi Anwar,
director of The British Council Neil Kemp, the British Embassy's
Deputy Head of Mission Quinton Quayle and University of Indonesia
School of Letters lecturer Nadia Madjid.
Natalia said she was "quite impressed" with the UI English
Debating Society's taking the initiative, stressing however that
the tradition of debating should also be started in the
Indonesian language. She added that the fact that all 34 teams
were comprised of students not proficient in English but who were
still at the debate was laudable.
"It is quite difficult to convey logic, emotions and basically
express in a foreign language. This in itself is laudable," she
said. Students needed to bring more focus to their debates, she
said, and not deviate from the primary concept of the selected
topic with irrelevant arguments.
"For instance, when talking of banning cigarette ads, you do
not support it with 'cigarettes are harmful to health' ... no
relevance whatsoever to the main topic," she said.
All 34 teams will resume their debate in today's preliminary
rounds. Only eight will make it to the quarter finals, four to
the semifinals and two to the final round on Monday.
Participating colleges from Greater Jakarta are University of
Indonesia, Bina Nusantara University, Pancasila University,
Jakarta University of Muhammadiyah, Tarakanita Secretarial
Academy, Jakarta Teachers Training Institute, Atmajaya University
and the Indonesian Institute of Technology.
Colleges from Java are Satya Wacana Christian University from
Salatiga, Yogyakarta University of Muhammadiyah, Jenderal
Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Bandung Institute of
Technology, Bandung's Parahyangan University, Semarang's
Diponegoro University, Surabaya's Naval Academy, Yogyakarta's
Gadjah Mada University and Surabaya's Petra University. Those
from outside Java are Padang Teachers Training Institute,
Hasanuddin University in Ujungpandang, Sulawesi, Bengkulu
University and Bali's Udayana University. (ylt)