By Ummi Fauzianul Husna Abd Rahman & Siti Afiqah Amalina
GOMBAK, 27 October 2015: The IIUM Arabic Debate team has made history for the second time when it won the Inter-Varsity Arabic Debate Championship 1437H/2015M recently.
The event held at IIUM from 16 until 18 October was organised by IIUM World Debate and Oratory Centre (IWON) in collaboration with IIUM Debate Club.
The competition was held with the objective to create an atmosphere of Arabic language throughout the debate and to produce students with critical thinking, sensitive to current issues. It also served as a platform to help students to improve their Arabic language skill in their studies and for use later when they pursue their career.
One of the participants, Abdullah Aimanrusydi, who is also the president of the club, said: œThe debate can help students develop a lots of skills such as writing, research, listening, reading and thinking skills. The students would be able to enhance their skills.
A total of 72 participants from 12 different universities participated in this championship. IIUM has sent three teams but only two teams qualified for the final.
IIUM Arabic Debate team managed to get the first and third places while the second place went to Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).
The team members that won the competition consists of Abdullah Aimanrusydi bin Abdullah (KIRKHS), Mohamad Ikmal Hakimi Mohamad Helmi (KIRKHS), Rizka Rivensky (KIRKHS) and Afifah Hanim Muhammad Hisham (KLM).
The competition was sponsored by Persada Global. The first place received a trophy, RM3000 and a holiday package to Hat Yai, Thailand for three days and two nights. For the runner up, participants received a trophy, RM1500 with a holiday package to Perhentian Island. The third place received a trophy and RM400.
In addition, three representatives from IIUM emerged among the top five debaters. They are Muhammad Nurfirman Mohamed (first rank), Nur Rafah Syazwani Rahmat (second rank), and Abdul Rahim Elias (fourth rank).
The Arabic Debate team has participated in competitions like the ASEAN Debate Competition, the Mahrajan Arabic Language in University of Malaya (UM) and the Qatar Arabic Debate. This semester alone the debate team managed to score double victories: the ASEAN Debate Competition and the Inter-Varsity Arabic Debate Championship.***