by Shahiirah Junaidi, Psychology, IRKHS
A total of 8 teams from the IIUM Debating Team battled their wits in the 5th Novice Debating Championship.
Held on 18th to 20th April, the annual beginner to intermediate tournament, open to all debaters from higher education and local secondary schools, took place at UiTM Shah Alam.
The Championship’s objectives are to open up opportunities for young debaters from secondary schools and higher education to compete with themselves at the same level. It is also a platform for debating beginners to feel the awe and havoc of a real debating tournament such as the Australs Championship and the highest debating tournament in Asia, the United Asian Debating Championship (UADC).
All participants had to go through six preliminary rounds with basic debating topics revolving around themes such as health, law and women. 21 teams made it to the knockout rounds.
IIUM team 1, 2 and 3 successfully made it the pre-octo and octo finals. IIUM 1 later managed to get to the semifinals, but lost to SMK Damansara Jaya Alpha team when their motion on international relations were not denied.
Despite the defeat, the participating students found the experience rewarding, as they were able to meet new people from other universities and adjudicators.

Third year Political Science student and a participant from Team 7, Nurfarahin, said she felt disappointed for not breaking into the knock-out rounds, but she learnt a lot on how to improve herself.
She looked forward to the next tournament to further develop her skills.
The Novice Championship is one of the most famous debating tournaments in Malaysia, along with Royals Championship and the Seri Iskandar Cup, held by University Teknologi Petronas.