KUCHING – More than 300 students and teachers from over 30 schools throughout the country will flock to Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus from 5 to 8 February 2018 to take part in the 13th Annual Swinburne Sarawak Inter-School Debating Championship.
The championship, organised by the Swinburne Debaters’ Club, is the largest secondary school debate tournament in Borneo, and one of the largest in the country. Founded with the objectives to provide a platform for Sarawakian students to debate in English and to hone students’ critical thinking and debating skills, the tournament has seen tremendous growth through the years. Six years ago, the first team from Pontianak, Indonesia participated in the event and subsequently, teams from West Malaysia also requested to take part in the championship.
It has since attracted participation from schools in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Penang, as well as international schools in Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. Students from Form 1 to 3 or from Year 7 to 9 debate in the junior category, while those from Form 4 to 5 or from Year 10 to 11 are categorised under the senior category.
In addition to the champions and runners-up of each category, awards will also be given in each category to the Most Improved Team, Most Promising Team, and top 5 Best Speakers in the preliminary rounds and the Best Speakers of English in both categories.
Once again this year, Swinburne’s Sarawak campus will be offering the Swinburne Engagement Awards to debaters who made it to the semi-final and final rounds in the senior category, as well as to debaters ranked the Best Sarawakian Team. In addition, schools from rural areas in the state have been provided transportation and accommodation subsidies for the duration of the tournament.
Defending champions in the senior category St Joseph’s Private School will face challenges from last year’s state champions SMK Lutong, Miri, and SMK Sri Permata whose teams comprise of debaters who represented the country at the World Schools Debating Championship.
According to Swinburne Sarawak’s senior lecturer from the Faculty of Language and Communication and founding organiser of the championship Christina Yin, the committee is pleased to provide the means for Sarawakian students to participate in a debate competition with students from national and international schools.
“Apart from the thinking and debating skills that they learn, we hope that the students will take away with them new friendships and great memories,” said Yin.
Chief Adjudicator Hugh John Leong.
Meanwhile, Chief Adjudicator Hugh John Leong remarked that world-renowned adjudicators from all over the country have been invited to come and provide feedback and fair adjudication which will be an invaluable experience for our Sarawakian debaters.
The Swinburne Debaters’ Club is dedicated to promoting debate and public speaking in English among the Swinburne’s student community and secondary school students throughout the country. Founded in 2005, the club has hosted the prestigious Yayasan Sarawak English Debating Championship and since 2006, the annual Swinburne Sarawak Inter-School Debating Championship.
For more information about Swinburne Sarawak, visit the university’s website (www.swinburne.edu.my), Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).