Photo caption: Ameera in another debate tournament in Singapore.
By Shawal Ras
Ameera Natasha Moore, 21, a student of the Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), has been named best overall speaker at the recent Cambridge University Women’s Debate Open.
Ameera, alongside her team-mate, Sara Rahim 19, was the highest ranked team accumulating the most points in all four preliminary rounds and outranked debaters from many renowned universities, which included Oxford University, Durham University, Trinity College Dublin, Vienna University, and the London School of Economics.
IIUM lost in the four-way semi-finals knock-out round against Trinity College Dublin and two teams from Oxford University.
In an interview with The Star Online, Ameera was quoted: “I feel great. I definitely was not expecting (the ranking) as I knew the competition was tough! Yet at the same time, I feel satisfied because being one of the only Asian teams there and to dispel the myth that women can’t talk about sports or international relations, was an experience I’ll never forget.”
Ameera is a two-time English as a Second Language (ESL) winner of the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship, the champion and overall best speaker of the Asian English Olympics Debate Tournament 2014, and an ESL semi-finalist of the prestigious World Universities Debating Championship 2014 held in India.Â
Cambridge University Women’s Debate Open was held in Cambridge University, United Kingdom, on 23 Nov and saw 51 all-women teams from across the world compete. It was held to encourage participation from women in the debating scene and to raise awareness of women’s issue.***
News source: The Star Online