By Azanis Shahila
GOMBAK, 3 March 2017: The IIUM Debate Club has a new way to attract more women to participate in debates by exposing themselves to the world of debate.
The demonstration debate has been hosted where debaters of both teams are female discussing the motion, “This house believes women in the developing world should disassociate themselves from western feminism”.
The session served as a platform where the audience were able to discuss challenges faced by women in debating.
The subjects of feminism discussed among the six debaters had captured the eyes of the audiences as they were taking heed from them and clapping their hands when there were strong points expressed by the debaters.
Throughout the years, the Debating Club had received opportunities for members to travel to most exciting places around the world – from the beautiful city of The Hague, the Great Wall of China, and the shores of Greece to the breath-taking island of Bali.
Just last year, they were lucky enough to be able to send teams to Bangkok, Jakarta, Melbourne, Cambridge, and the Netherlands. This year, more travel opportunities to travel to places like Mexico, Oxford, Cambridge and Cambodia await them.
Chief Adjudicator of the World’s Championship 2019 and Cambridge IV champion, Ameera Natasha Mooree said, “The opportunity to travel can be yours by coming to the demonstration debate and signing up for the club.”
The debate continued for almost one hour before it ended discussing the issue of western feminism. During the second slot female debaters shared their struggles and challenges faced in sports.
Asian and Australasian champion, Sara Rahim said, “Let’s break the barriers and negative stereotypes regarding being a hijabi, a Muslim and a female.”
The English Debating Club has a long tradition of having women debaters ranking amongst some of the best in the world. Besides, debating has allowed female debaters to achieve success in life as most have now become professionals working with prestigious organisations such as Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), Ernst & Young (EY), and The Star, amongst others.
“You should not fear debating because there are different ways of debating,” said Ameera.
“The more you come to know the people for debate, the more you realise that debating is honestly no different from you trying to persuade friends as the mind becomes more approachable,” she stressed.
