By Marissa Nazeera
GOMBAK, 13 September 2021: As an initiative to provide a platform for younger generations to voice out their opinions on current issues, IIUM Bahasa Melayu Debate Club and the university’s World Debate and Oratory Centre (IWON) have recently organised the 18th Inter-school Debating Championship.
This time around the debate championship held from 10 until 12 September welcomed 34 schools from all over Malaysia with 42 teams and was sponsored by Bank Islam and supported by Messrs. Ainur, Afiqah and Long (AAL) as co-sponsors.
Themed “Dynamic, the Pandemic Generation”, this is the only competition which has found numerous talented debaters from every single school in Malaysia including boarding schools, Maktab Rendah Sians MARA (MRSM), premier schools, private schools and many more.
Also for the first time in 18 years, a new award namely the Anugerah Pendebat Harapan has been introduced. The award was given to Tengku Yassar Ataullah bin Tengku Armidin who is from Sekolah Menengah Sains Banting.
The award is given to the lower form high school students who have shown outstanding debate skills and demonstrated great potential. This is an initiative from the organiser and the sponsor for the debater who had managed to catch their attention during the debate championship.
A much awaited Bahasa Malaysia debate team winner for this year’s Inter-school Debating Championship goes to Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah. Besides, the MRSM Kuantan was announced as the runner-up for the championship.
Nik Muhammad Ziddni from Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah was crowned as the best debater for the final round.
There were also ten debaters who had been crowned as the Best Overall Debaters, namely Muhammad Irfan Daniel from SMS Banting, Ahmad Sufyan from SAM Hulu Langat, Amsyar Hazim and Nik Muhammad Ziddni from SAS, Salahuddin Yusuf from Al-Amin Gombak, Afiq Athmar from MRSM Kuantan, Muhammad Farris and Muhammad Iman Syahmi from SMS Sultan Alam Shah, Muhammad Waseem from SM Islam Al-Amin Gombak and Syathbi from Sekolah Menengah Al-Islah.
The Inter-school Debating Championship was concluded with a speech from IIUM’s Deputy Rector (Student Development and Community Engagement), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkifli Hassan. The CEO of Bank Islam, Haji Mohd Muazzam Mohamed also shared his thoughts during the closing ceremony.
The event was conducted virtually for the first time through Zoom due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. ***