IDEA Trains in Malaysia!

With the help of 2 trainers from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), I had the opportunity to work with students from the Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah and a handful of local high school students in Kulim, Malaysia from January 31 to February 4. Fareez bin Zahir and Yem Mohammad – both accomplished debaters and trainers – lent their expertise in British Parliamentary debate to introduce a crop of 45 debaters and 6 adjudicators to the format.

The first evening was a time for icebreakers and activities to put all participants at ease. Picking 5 people – George Bush, Paris Hilton, Osama bin Laden, David Beckham and me (I didn’t pick me! A student did!) – and putting them in a hypothetical crashing airplane with only 1 parachute led to some stimulating debate. The students also shared their expectations and hope for the camp.

On day 2 we leapt into heavier subjects with a session introducing debate generally and two sessions introducing British Parliamentary debate in particular. While Yem and I worked with students in the afternoon, Fareez worked with the new adjudicators to outline how to run and judge a debate. At the end of the day, with the camp divided into 3 smaller groups, debaters practiced their skills by giving public speeches on subjects ranging from global warming to Malaysian national service.

Saturday saw the debaters put all of their newfound skills together and do full debates. Yem and I, feeling particularly mean, assigned debate partners by randomly drawing names out of a paper bag! Debaters then assigned their newfound team a name. Although grumbles could be heard when we revealed our plan, I can see that new friendships were formed from our short camp. As is sometimes the case with beginning debaters, speeches on Day 3 were not always the full 7 minutes and some of the rules of the format were still being discovered. At the end of the day, though, most debaters were prepared – if a bit apprehensive – to participate in the mini-tournament with their new partners at the end of the camp.

The tournament featured 3 preliminary rounds, plus a semi-final and final round. Many students who on Day 1 shared their fears of speaking publicly were giving rousing 7 minutes speeches by Day 4. Some even asked if they could extend speeches to 10 minutes! Topics for the tournament mostly focused on issues relating to Malaysians and Malaysian youth. Preliminary topics centered on lowering the voting age in Malaysia (currently 21), banning smoking in public places and censoring the internet for political content. Those advancing to the semi-finals debated the merits of Malaysian National Service – a system wherein young people go to a 3-month camp run by the government to learn life skills.

The final round topic was “This House would restrict foreign laborers from coming to Malaysia” and featured plenty of entertainment for the sizable audience and three new adjudicators. Eventually, team Paranoid Duo of Nicole and Farah took first place from the Closing Opposition position, while teams Kaiser Crew, Assassins and Left Brain finished second, third and fourth, respectively. A three-way tie for first individual speaker from the preliminary rounds could not be mathematically broken, so Nicole from Paranoid Duo, Rena from Assassins and Thiban from team TZ currently shared a trophy.

The enthusiasm for debate in Kulim is high and we have to thank Lye Wah and Isyati Suparaman from the Polytechnic for arranging everything and helping to put on a fantastic camp. Also thanks to Yem and Fareez for donating their weekend to help spread debate in Malaysia. Thanks everyone and we hope to see you again!