Palembang Debating Championship (Part 2 - the event)

At the end of Part 1 the team from Universitas Dhyana Pura had arrived at Polsri, Palembang, and NUDC2013 had opened in a colourful ceremony.  For the observers and coaches the days were long, but they were even longer for the student competitors.  On days  1 to 3 they had their first "wake up call" at 3 in the morning which seemed designed to stagger shower times so that all were ready for 6 am breakfast and the buses to the Polsri competition venue.  We had the luxury of a couple more hours in bed before setting off.

 

The National Universities Debating Championship (NUDC) is a nationwide tournament run by the Ministry of Education. It uses the British Parliamentary style. It started as the National University English Debating Championship (NUEDC) in 2007 but in 2013, the official name changed to its current form.  This year 96 teams competed.  Only one team can come from a University and the best 8 teams from each of 12 pools spread across Indonesia's 33 provinces are able to compete.

 

In British Parliamentary style each debating chamber contains 4 teams, each of 2 speakers.  There are 2 Government (opening and closing) and 2 Opposition teams (opening and closing).  The order of speaking is: Prime Minister,  Leader of the Opposition, Deputy PM, Deputy LofO, Govt Member, Opp Member, Govt Whip, Opp Whip.  Each speaker has a maximum of 7 minutes to speak.



The "PM" opens a debate and makes a point (and hopefully scores a point)



The "motions" covered a range of topics, some of which required a good deal of knowledge of current and regional affairs.  The 7 motions debated during the qualifying pool rounds were:

• R1. THW abolish single-sex schools.
• R2. THW compel media companies to sell majority of shares exclusively to journalists.
• R3. THBT companies should have the right to conduct aggressive cracking and hacking in response to cyber-attacks.
• R4. As long as the anti-LGBT laws are in place, THBT Western liberal democracies should not send their athletes to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
• R5. THBT the feminist movement should support the use of hijab.
• R6. THW exempt artists and their work from blasphemy, defamation, and hate speech laws.
• R7. TH believes in the Chinese model of economic development.

(THBT: This House believes that ...;  THW: This House will.... ; )

 

Before each round the competitors assembled in the main hall.  The draws were posted (each team rotated through the 4 team positions) and the Motion was announced.  Competitors had 15 minutes to present their cases before the debates started between the 4 teams in each of the 24 chambers.

Some of the competitors between rounds

Universitas Dhyana Pura team:  Steven and Evan
(through a window dimly - no room to enter)

The Dhyana Pura support team (Chris, Chrisma and the "native speaker" - me) stayed at a small hotel near the larger hotel housing the student debaters).  Our tariff included "breakfast" (a vague description).  On two mornings our surprise breakfast was delivered with a loud knok on the door at 6:30.  It was a lukewarm cup of very sweet weak black tea and a sandwich filled with condensed milk and chocolate sprinkles.  

One morning the bread was green (pandanus flavoured) and we got a sandwich each.  The breakfast above came with only 1 sandwich for 2 people, so on arrival on campus we would visit the canteen behind the main hall for some "top up" breakfast. 



The student "canteen" beside the main debating areas

Members of 3 of the teams from Bali, with some of the Palembang hosts

Students from the hosting campus were time
keepers as well as the team Liaison Officers.

 

Debaters preparing their presentations outside the debating chamber

After each debate the competitors assembled in the main hall for snacks and to await the details of the next draw.  Due to the length of the adjudication process and the time to collate scores and arrange "seedings" there was quite a bit of waiting time.  This gave students a chance to mix and make friends (or assess other competitors), and there was time even time for a little relaxing activity.



Time for a couple of rounds of "Uno" as light relief between debates



(L-R) Evan, Mr Chris Susanto, Bu Chrisma, Yustina, Steven
 (Dhyana Pura debaters, adjudicator and team support/coach).

 There were 3 qualifying debates on days 1 and 2.  On day 3 there was one debate and the "breaks" were calculated and announced.  The draw was announced for the best 16 teams of "open" and "novice", and the Quarter Final debates were held.

The Novice teams (never competed at national level) debated:

• Novice QF. THBT Indonesia should significantly increase its military budget.
• Novice SF. THW force individuals who actively do self-harm acts to go to a mental health counselor provided by the state.
• Novice GF. THBT Indonesia would be better off without the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

  The Open category teams debated these Motions:

• Main OF: As newly democratized states, THW provide reserved seats in the parliament to every group that actively supports the revolution process.
• Main QF: TH supports states without army.
• Main SF: TH opposes social media.
• Main GF: THW only allow individuals who have held a position in the governmental structure to run as presidential candidate.

 

Late in the afternoon on Friday, day 5, the hall filled and waited for the announcements.  Our Universitas Dhyana Pura team was in the Novice pool, and was placed at 59th overall (out of 96).  This was an encouraging result for our first entry in a national competition. 

 

The Comperes get the Closing Ceremony under way



The trophies are ready for presentation

Representative of the Palembang host summarised the week's event

Eventually the winners were announced.  The Champion Team was from Binus International (debaters:Invi Atmanegara, Jaran Walia).  This gave "Binus" 3 successive championships, an extraordinary performance.  Invi also won the "best Speaker" award.

 

The prizes are ready - we just need to know the winners

Invia Atmanegara won the "Best Speaker" award

Some of the presentations

The "runners up" were: Universitas Bakrie, Institut Teknologi Bandung, and Universitas Gadjah Mada

 

Best Novice Team: Universitas Lampung (Hesti Setyawaty & Vianna Maria Ursula) and Best Novice Speaker: Bahram Naderil (Universitas Jember)

  

The "Pageant Queen" of the host institution was a popular inclusion in many
  group photos after the ceremony.  I'm with some of the event organisers.

Students and organisers were queuing up to have their photos taken with the stunningly attired "queen" of the hosting Polyteknik.  I think that as the only foreigner present I was second most popular group member.  I lost track of the number of students who were photographed with me.



I posed with many student groups - the novelty of being the foreigner

After the Ceremony we enjoyed a buffet of many local dishes, and then it was time for photos and farewells.  The event was over and we returned to our hotels.  Many of the students enjoyed a night out.  I enjoyed a night "in". 

Most of the Bali competitors and a couple of our
liaison officers relax after the Closing Ceremony.

 

Overall I'm very pleased I went with our team, not withstanding the long travel times, the long days and bronchitis.  The standard of the winning teams and individual speakers was very impressive indeed.  The venue for the 2014 event is yet to be announced.

 

My next blog entry will deal with some aspects of the 'social side" of the trip.

 

Paul in Bali

September 2013