By Wafa Awla
KUALA LUMPUR, 25 August 2015: It is seven years in a row that Pertubuhan IKRAM Malaysia and Musleh Berhad have organised the Malaysian International Students Debating Championship (MISDC) in collaboration with the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the International Centre for Educational Excellence (ICEE).
The recent programme that lasted for four days was held at UTM in three categories: Bahasa Melayu, English and Arabic. It brought together 97 teams from various schools across a few countries.
“This is an annual programme that we have organised since the past seven years. Preparations for this event began at the end of last year. We received many participants this time from countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia itself. A total of 20 teams participated in the Arab category, 38 teams for English category and 39 team for Bahasa Melayu,” explained Nur Athirah Kahar who was also the first woman director for MISDC.
The final round of debate for Bahasa Melayu category has been a fierce fight between Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Ipoh (STAR) and Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). They argued on the motion ‘Pengeboman Bangkok Petanda Barat dan Timur Masih Jauh Terpisah’ which was witnessed by Ustaz Saifuddin Hussin who represented the Director of Islamic Education Division, Ministry of Education.
This year, Malay College Kuala Kangsar was announced the winner for Bahasa Melayu category after beating Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman with a margin of 1.4.
“We never expect to win today. At first, we were a bit worried because this match was held in the evening and it might be difficult to attract attention of the audience and jury. Apart from that, the title of motion was also quite challenging,” said Haziq Haiqal who was also a leader for opposition MCKK team.
“No doubt Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman also has their own specialty and had a good track record in debate arena. But may be this is our luck to win this match today,” said Amer Hazem who was also the best speaker for final Bahasa Melayu category.
They did not deny the fact that the debate has been making them more disciplined and eager to achieve success. The team from MCKK also won debate for the English category after beating Sekolah Menengah Islam Hidayah. Meanwhile, Maahad Tahfiz Negeri Pahang won first place for Arab category.***
Photo courtesy from Musleh ISDC Facebook