KDU PRO-AM Debate Challenge 2014 [Updated]

Damansara Open Debate 2014

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.

KDU Pro Ams 2013

The annual debate tournament KDU Pro Ams was held on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of September this year. This is a tournament organised by the KDU where a professional debater is required to team up with an amateur debater in order to take part. This year, 40 teams across Malaysia participated in this event and it was a huge success.

The adjudication core for this tournament consisted of Adrian Cheong from KDU, Emellia Shariff from University Teknologi Mara and Harris Ghazali from International Islamic University Malaysia.

The Finals Winner, Siron Pereira

The eventual winners of this tournament was Sri Permata-KDU consisting of Siron Pereira and Roshan Sivabalan and the runner-up being University Teknologi Mara consisting of Mohammad Mifzal and Muqriz Mustaffa. The overall best speaker award was bagged by Maherrajan Narayanan from International Islamic University Malaysia and the best amateur award was received by Natasha Gideon from University Teknologi Mara.

Mohammad Mifzal from University Teknologi Mara
(Best Speaker)

Also, the best speaker for the final was awarded to Mohammad Mifzal from University Teknologi Mara. Throughout the 3 days of the tournaments, the participants were exposed to a variety of debate topics ranging from politics to economics. 

The motion for the grand finals was ‘Assuming that the technology exists, THW Eliminate the ability of individuals to commit the seven deadly sins’. The main factor of success of organising this tournament was due to the convener for this tournament which was Kelviin Manuel Pillay and also the support from KDU University College. 

This tournament will be held again next year and will be looking to be bigger!

Please check out on the Photo Gallery @ KDU UC Facebook Page!

KDU Participation in Piala Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister's Debating Championship 2011)

 Students with Malaysia's Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak

KDU has once again made its impact as an institution that focuses on developing students as leaders in every sense. Last weekend, the team consisting of Don Siron Pereira (OBU – Law), Adrian Calvin Cheong Qai Cking (UOL – Law), Ranjani Dhanabalakrishnan (UOL Law) and Chai Jin Shern (A-levels – PreU) participated in the Inaugural Prime Minister’s Debating Championships 2011.

The tournament was an invitational one and thus only certain institutions were invited by the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak. The prize money of the tournament accumulated to RM 200,000 and trophies worth up to RM 100,000 for both the English and Malay category. Recognizing this, KDU assembled the most experienced and tough team  in expectation that others will do so as well.

On Saturday the 22^nd of October 2011, the debaters of KDU had a Q & A session with the Prime Minister himself at his residence in Putrajaya. Among the questions asked were the future relations of Indonesia and Malaysia, the development of Higher Education in Malaysia and others. The team then had to put their wits and experience to the test when it came to the tournament itself.

The preliminaries saw them meetings experienced teams from Universiti Malaya, UiTM, UCTI and USIM. The team managed to beat most of them and make it to the quarterfinals. The team was drawn against UCTI on the motion “ THBT Myemail will bring little change”. The panel of 5 judges were not unanimous but found in favour of KDU University College in a 4-1 split.

Teo Soo Pin Debate Challenge

KDU debating enthusiasts, listen up!

Hone your skills and prove your mettle in the upcoming Teo Soo Pin Debate Challenge. For more information, do check out the poster for details. 

KDU College Made an Impact at the Worlds Universities Debating Championships 2009/2010

By: Don Siron Pereira, President of KDU Debate Association (KDUDA)

KDU College is relatively new in the debate scene in comparison to other varsities in Malaysia. However, it has achieved leaps in its first year alone; this was evident in Turkey where the Worlds Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) was held.

In Turkey with Mahherajjan Narayanan, Julius Yee Sher Xern and other new friends.

Julius Yee Sher Xern, Mahherrajan Narayanan and I created the first footprints for KDU in the arena of international debating. The tournament was hosted by Koc University but the venue was in Antalya. The venue that accommodated about 400 teams was the Maritim Pine Beach Resort and it was soon the talk of all the participants. Its luxurious rooms provided an avenue for participants to have a good time at the beach if they wanted to, kick back and relax at one of their three bars or even hit the gym in their spare time.

The tournament saw about 400 teams which translated to about 1700 people. The University of Sydney eventually won the tournament with the London School of Economics, Oxford and Cambridge also in the finals. KDU College, being its first year, managed to garner 13 points after 9 preliminary rounds. The amount of points needed for the quarter finals was 14 points. Although not being able to make it to the quarters, team KDU managed to beat some prominent teams along the way.

As the preliminary rounds progressed, it became evident that our team was given high scores as we continuously met good teams, even in the face of a previous loss. Team KDU managed to be victorious over prominent Universities such as Princeton (USA), Northwestern (USA), Calgary (Canada), Zagreb Law (Croatia), St Johns (USA) and many Asian teams such as Iraq National Debate Team (Iraq), Bina Nusantara (INA) and many others.

Many adjudicators noted that KDU College was indeed a force that is growing. KDU College printed its name in the minds of many big names, making them continuously eager of our results after each round. Being a new team in the tournament, we also made many new friends from around the world thus making KDU known around the world as well. Sustaining this good reputation would mean continuously participating and making KDU proud.

Experience was something that we intended to find and achieve. Indeed, that was what we garnered. The organisation of the tournament, albeit having 400 teams, was immaculate. The rounds started on time, the socials were magnificently beautiful and the food, scrumptious. Post-WUDC the three participants have returned to KDU College to share and teach the members of KDUDA. Continuous training sessions organised almost two to three times a week have only one goal in mind - to win more tournaments this year and to make KDU even more known and feared when speaking about debate.

MR TEO SOO PIN KDU DEBATE CHALLENGE 2009

MR TEO SOO PIN KDU DEBATE CHALLENGE 2009
3rd & 4th April 2009

Our annual KDU Debate Challenge is just around the corner! We look forward to have all of you to come and support the event.

This debate is open to all KDU College students. If students are interested to debate and have not signed up, kindly do so TODAY at the Student Services Centre (PIC: Ms Hannah).

We hope you could bring along your friends to support and learn from this exciting and fun debate challenge!