5th KDU Interschool British Parliamentary Debate 2014

Going High-Tech with registration greatly sped up the process and reduced waiting time.
The debators were eager to get started!

The KDU Debate Association (KDUDA) hosted the 5th edition of the KDU Interschool Debates – British Parliamentary (KIDs BP 2014) from the 20th to the 22nd of June 2014. KIDs BP is an annual debating tournament organised by KDUDA with the intention to inspire and spark the holistic development of high school debaters in Malaysia. For the adjudication core, we had Kelvin Manuel Pillay from KDU University College as the Chief Adjudicator. Alongside the Chief Adjudicator, we had Brett Fraser formerly of The University of Alaska and Jasmine Ho Abdullah from UiTM as the Deputy Chief Adjudicators. This year, we received amazing response and participation from 34 schools which made up 100 teams from different states such as Penang, Sarawak, Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and of course, the Klang Valley.

Ready and waiting attentively for the motions, their minds already in high gear
to dredge up the facts for their necessary speeches.

Throughout the duration of the tournament, we observed really intense debates, some of which were equivalent to those of university level debates from high school students ranging from the age of 13 to 18. Out of the 100 teams, the top 32 teams were selected into the Octo finals. From the Octos, the top two teams in each debate proceeded to the Quarterfinals, and then on to the Semifinals and the Finals. The Grand Finals of KIDs BP this year comprised of 2 teams from SMK Sri Permata and one team each from SMK Damansara Jaya and SMK (P) Sri Aman. The motion for the Grand Finals was “This House would punish the use of conscripted soldiers as crime against humanity.”

Motions noted the students’ breakout to find a quiet corner to prepare their speeches for the upcoming debates that would consume both days of the tournament.

After a really thorough discussion from a panel of 7, on a 5-2 split, the win went to Roshan Sivabalan and Siddharta Adaikalaraj from SMK Sri Permata. The Finals Best Speaker went to Roshan Sivabalan. The Champion of KIDs BP 2014 bagged a cash prize of RM1500 and a 100% KDU UC Scholarship for both debaters. The Runner Up received a cash prize of RM800 and a 50% KDUUC Scholarship for both debaters. The finalists on the other hand, received 30% KDU UC Scholarship for each debater.

The Overall Best Speaker of KIDs BP2014 was Amrit Agastia from SMK (P) Sri Aman. Ranked in  the Top 10 speakers were Evan Wong (SMK Damansara Jaya), Deborah Wong Kai Wai (SMK Damansara Jaya), Roshan Sivabalan (SMK Sri Permata), Aishwarya Adaikalaraj (SMK [P]Sri Aman), Kenneth Foo (SMK Damansara Jaya), Kishen Sivabalan (SMK Sri Permata), Siddharta Adaikalaraj (SMK Sri Permata), Eliza Chow (SMK Damansara Jaya) and Tariq Azlan (Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah). The tournament was very successful thanks to the diligence of the organising committee.

Of Course, it was not all just debating and challenge. The evening of the First DAy was filled with fun games, dinner and social activities to help break the ice between the competitors