Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Malaysian Debate Open 2012.

This was the most competitive competition UNIMAS has ever been involved in. Nevertheless, they won 4 and lost to 2 Singaporean teams and a team of MMU Alumni. So other Sarawakian team broke either, though the Swinburne Alumni of Rafie, Justin and Wee Chung almost did. So here's how it went.

Round 1

THBT indigenous people should have free and unrestricted access to universities.

UNIMAS (gov) vs UPSI (opp)

UNIMAS with a close to clear win.

Round 2

THW abolish all laws against public nudity.

UNIMAS (gov) vs NUS (opp)

NUS with a clear win. Its NUS.

Round 3

THS the occupy movement.

OWS (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

OWS with a close win.

Round 4

THW abolish vernacular schools.

UT Mara 4 (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

Close win for UNIMAS.

Round 5

TH prefers Chinese investments to Western Aid in Africa.

UNIMAS (gov) vs JT & co (opp)

Clear win for opp.

Round 6

THW disallow groups that glorify obesity.

UNIMAS (gov) vs HITU 2 (opp)

Clear win for UNIMAS.

Round 7

THBT online hacktivists should be treated like terrorists.

CFS (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

Close win for UNIMAS. At least they can say they beat Riasat and Audi's team.

Definitely going for next years MDO. Definitely.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

National Novice 2012.

And so they wrapped up the last tournament for February with National Novice, a fairly decent outing, making the octos, though they could’ve gone much further if not for technicality. Here's how it started.

Round 1

THW restrict beauty and fashion magazines to adults only.

IIUM 2 (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

A close to clear win for UNIMAS. Good warm up round.

Round 2

THW hold the State liable for ailments due to being homeless.

UNIMAS (gov) vs HELP (opp)

Close to clear win for UNIMAS. Although Ain didn’t appreciate the squirrel of her motion, Unimas won out against a team lacking experience.

Round 3

THBT heads of State should settle border disputes over a game of Warcraft.

UKM Y (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

UKM won in a close debate of a humour round. A disputed decision, but nevertheless they learnt that humour rounds are about who best defends the more illogical burden of proof. Which is why World’s has a completely separate category of competition to incorporate humour into speech.

Round 4

THW not allow religious organizations to preach while providing aid.

UNIMAS (gov) vs IIUM 3 (opp)

UNIMAS wins in a close debate. Not the best of outings, but just enough.

Round 5

THW allow professional sports teams to include all genders.

STF 1 (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

A close to clear win to UNIMAS. A relatively easy win. Then again, these are high school teams.

Round 6

TH supports Seksuality Merdeka.

UNIMAS (gov) vs CFS 2 (opp)

It was a clear win for UNIMAS, but it was an easy burden for the Gov to prove anyway.

5 wins out of 6 preliminary rounds allowed UNIMAS to break at 7th, avoiding pre-octos and going straight into Octo Finals.

Octo Finals

THW allow people to marry any non-human object/ creature.

Taylors University (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

This is a debate UNIMAS should have won, in fact Mai gave them a clear win. However they were robbed on a technicality.

Nevertheless it was a good outing, especially in preparation for MDO.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Royals 2012.

Round 1

THW impose traffic fines based on percentage of the offenders income.

UNIMAS (gov) vs USM (opp)

UNIMAS won in a really close debate.

Round 2

THW recognise animal land rights in developmental projects.

UNIMAS (gov) vs UMP (opp)

UNIMAS lost.  Bad adjudication. But life goes on.

Round 3

THW forbid the pursuit of self learning artificial intelligence.

Unimap (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

Close to clear debate, UNIMAS win.

Round 4

THW disallow workers in essential sectors from striking.

UITM (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

A close to clear loss for UNIMAS.

Of course it was enough to break, but the tragedy of breaking low is meeting a top team. Hence, Uitm, again.

Quarterfinals

THW enforce a nuclear free middle east.

UNIMAS (gov) vs UITM (opp)

A clear win for UITM. Theres only so much one can do.

UITM continued their domination by winning Royals for the Junior and the senior category. 
What else is new?

Last tourney for February, Novice. Hopefully the 6 round prelim will be fairer. 
On a breaking streak so far, lets see if it continues.

A Summary of the Tournaments in 2011.

Kuching Debate League 2011

Round 1

THW withdraw sponsorship from morally reprehensible celebrities.

UNIMAS A (gov) vs INTI B (opp)

A clear win, but they were newbies anyway.

Round 2

THW criminalize abortions.

INTI A (gov) vs UNIMAS A (opp)

A slightly tougher one, but a comfortable win nevertheless.

Round 3

THW assassinate a dictator.

Swinburne B (gov) vs UNIMAS A (opp)

An interesting motion. A tight debate. But they managed to edge a much improved Ashik and co on this one with Fitri and Fitria especially peaking performance wise.

Borneo Cup 2011

Round 1

THBT the government should take away obese children from their parents.

UITM Sabah (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

A clear win.

Round 2

THW support Malaysia's move to develop nuclear energy.

UMS 3 (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

UMS won.

Round 3

THBT poachers of endangered species should be given the death penalty.

Swing 1 (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

UNIMAS won.

Easy win. The 2nd round loss seemed to put them on track to face weaker teams.

Round 4

THW ban cars from the city.

UNIMAS (gov) vs UMSKAL (opp)

UNIMAS won. It was close.

The adj. that gave the loss the last time was single chair again, and this time he seemed impressed. The best performance they had as a team.

Round 5

THW lower the voting age to 18.

UNIMAS (gov) vs UTMARA 2 (opp)

UNIMAS won. Clear win. It was the young team, but at least they get to say that they beat UT MARA.

UNIMAS broke 5th with 4 wins and 1 loss.

Quarterfinals

THBT full time students should take part in mandatory charity work.

UNIMAS (gov) vs UMS (opp)

UMS won. Close. The team as a whole just happened to under-perform that day. So close to the semis. Would have earned a meeting with eventual winners UTMARA (the main team).

Overall the experience was great, the seafood by the sea at Tanjung Lipat was great, boat-races and shisha at Jesselton Point (where we found out that adjudicators can be very cool people) and the general holidaying and not giving a damn about school work was awesome. Debatewise, UNIMAS did good to actually break, given the competition, but they could've done better.

ICRC IHL Debate 2011

Round 1

THBT all trade in arms should be banned.

UNIMAS (gov) vs Buchellabon (opp)

Clear win to opp, the team with Stiffler and Yunus and a law lecturer.

Round 2

There is no justice to be found in truth and reconciliation commissions.

KDU 4 (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

UNIMAS with a clear win.

Round 3

Australia should stop dumping its refuge problems on its Asian neighbours.

UNIMAS (gov) vs CFS 2 (opp)

Maybe a little biased against the opp, but UNIMAS took it fairly easily.

Round 4

The ICC should indict Basher Al-Assad,

UT MARA 3 (gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

A close debate with the 2-1 split going to the gov, but for once UNIMAS pushed a big team all the way.

Round 5

THW reject the privatization of war,

UNIMAS (gov) vs Rhetoriks 1 (opp)

Clear win for Unimas. Surfy adjudicating can be quite intimidating.

Didn't break, but all in all was a good showing for UNIMAS, ranking 11th out of 44 teams.

Taylors IV

ROUND 1
THEME: SPORTS
THIS HOUSE CONDEMNS THE PRACTICE OF COUNTRIES GRANTING CITIZENSHIP ON THE BASIS OF SPORTING ABILITY.

1) KDU (eventual winners) OG
2) UNIMAS CG
3) UKM OO
4) HELP CO


ROUND 2
THEME: PLAYTIME
THIS HOUSE BELIEVES THAT ALL PLAY AND NO BREAK MAKES JACK A DEAD BOY.

1) UITM 2 OG
2) UITM 1 CG
3)KDU       CO
4)UNIMAS OO


ROUND 3
THEME: ANIMALS
THIS HOUSE WOULD RATHER GO NAKED THAN WEAR FUR.

1)UITM 4  OO
2) CFS PJ   CG
3) UNIMAS OG
4) KDU       CO


ROUND 4 (SILENT)
THEME: THE INTERNET
THIS HOUSE WOULD BAN ONLINE ANONYMITY.

Found out later that UNIMAS got 1st in this round. However ranking 17th, therefore didn't break.


Kuala Lumpur Open Challenge 2011

Round 1

THBT the concept of race should be consigned to the dustbin of history.

1) Mara 2  OO
2) Mara 1   OG
3) UNIMAS CG
4) UCTI BMD  CO

Round 2

THW drill, baby drill.

1) IIUM 1  CO
2) UNIMAS OO
3) Alpaca   CG
4) Swing   OG

Round 3

THW pay for justice gone wrong.

1) Mara 3  CG
2) Mara 4  OG
3) UNIMAS CO
4) Unius     OO

Round 4

THW celebrate lulzsec.

1) UNIMAS OG
2) NUS    OO
3) IIUM 1 CO
4) UNNES CG

The first time the time came in first, the fact that NUS and IIUM were in the same room made it all the more better.

Round 5

THW welcome an isolationist America,

1) NTU B OO
2) Mara 5 CG
3) UKM 2 OG
4) UNIMAS CO

A very tight debate where Unimas could have ended up 2nd, and thus broken to quarts. Instead they ranked 37th. One round can make all the difference.

MMU Ramadhan IV

The last competition of the longest semester break ever, was a decent showing for Unimas, almost breaking, short only on speaker scores.

Round 1

TH supports harsher punishment for the London rioters.

1)UTP 4 CO
2)CFS 2 OO
3)UNIMAS OG
4)Talidox CG

Round 2

THW televise the trials of politically high profile defendants.

1) MMU 1 OO
2) UNIMAS CG
3)UniKL    OG
4) Star 3    CO

Round 3

TH supports punishing sports teams for racist behavior of fans during games.

1) KDU exodus CG
2) CFS 3 OO
3) UNIMAS CO
4) UTP 6 OG

Round 4

THW abolish funding for the conservation of critically endangered species.

1) UNIMAS OO
2) Anti-Talidox CG
3) Tiger Boys OG
4) Star 1        CO

Prime Minister's Cup 2011

Round 1

THBT allowing all foreign students to work part time will be good for Malaysia.

IIUM(gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

Clear IIUM win. No surprises there.

Round 2

THBT Malaysia should grant residence permits to outstanding foreign students to achieve K-Economy.

UNIMAS (gov) vs Unisza(opp)

Clear UNIMAS win.

Round 3

THBT the Malaysian Government should favour women entrepreneurs for all women SMEs or contracts worth below RM 10000,

Swing(gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

2-1 split to Unimas. Thanks Yunus :)

Round 4

THW not allow the sale of subsidised petrol in cities with a good public transport system,

UM(gov) vs UNIMAS (opp)

A tight debate with UM winning 2-1, again, thanks Yunus.

Round 5

THBT the Malaysian Government should include cosmetic surgery as part of its medical push.

UNIMAS (gov) vs UTHM(opp)

UNIMAS should have taken this one, it was a clear win. But the bad luck of having 2 bad adjudicators(which the chair of that round did concede) meant that it was 2-1 to UTHM and UNIMAS had no chance of breaking.

UT Mara eventually emerged champions, as usual, with IIUM runners up. Target next year, semifinals.

KDO 2011

Round 1

THBT social networks sites should listen to their users.

UPNM                OG  3
UNIMAS 2             OO  1
Uitm Sarawak 4  CG   4
USIM 1              CO   2

Clear win.

Round 2

THW establish women only battalions in the army.

UNIMAS 3            OG   3
CITU 2               OO  4
CFS 3                 CG  2
UNIMAS 2             CO  1

Round 3

THBT celebrities should not be allowed to have children.

UNIMAS 2   OG 3
UT Mara   OO 1
San Beda  CG  4
SUTS 4    CO  2

Humour round. Add that to having Shafiq as your OO being OG becomes a difficult job.

Round 4

THW not bail out under performing states in times of economic crisis.

San Beda 1  OG    4
CFS 1         OO    1
UNIMAS2 CG 3
CFS 3         OO    2

Economic motions suck.

Round 5

THW ban  artists from performing in this country if they offend local sensibilities.

CFS 3              OG    4
Suts 4               OO    1                                                                                                                               UNIMAS 2           CG    2
IIUM Kuantan   CO   3

Managed to break at 5th place, along with UNIMAS 1 and UNIMAS 3.

Quarterfinals

THBT natural disasters are man-made.

UNIMAS 2            OG  1
CFS 2                OO  3
UNIMAS 1            CG   2
Uitm Sarawak 3 CO   4

Semifinals

TH does not support remakes, remixes and reboots,

UNIMAS 2  OG  3
UTMara   OO  1
UNIMAS 1  CG   4
CFS         CO   2

Two UNIMAS teams made the semis, but that's as far as we went unfortunately.

NIEW Great Gender Debate 2011

After so long, UNIMAS finally made it to a Grand Final in a national debate competition. And to think it almost never happened. Just goes to show you that a little initiative can go a long way.

Round 1

THW pay educated men & women to stay at home

1) IIUM 1  CO
2) UNIMAS OG
3) UMK    OO
4) USIM 1 CG

Round 2

THBT the Burqa has no place in modern countries.

1) UM 1    CO
2) UNIMAS CG
3) Unimap OO
4) USM    OG

Round 3

THBT the State TV should provide equal coverage to male and female sports.

1) UM 2 OG
2) UNIMAS OO
3) UMT 1 CG
4) Unimap CO

Very close between first and second, but it seemed it was going to be their destiny to turn up second throughout the tournament.

Round 4

TH will no longer prioritize women in rescue operations of civilians from war zones.

1) UT Mara  CO
2) IIUM 1    OO
3) UM 2       CG
4) UNIMAS OG

The curse of the OG strikes again. What are the odds that of the few teams that have to repeat roles, it would be them, and of all roles they repeat, its OG. Having people like Arinah, Senad, Mai and Aerie to rebut whatever you say and having no way to defend yourself as the debate progresses. The 4th was inevitable.

Nevertheless they broke 6th, and were in same room as IIUM and UM 1.

Semi Finals

THBT unequal pay is a justifiable reality.

Unimap OG
UNIMAS OO
UM   1 CG
IIUM 1 CO

Shock of all shocks, UNIMAS and UM went through at the expense of IIUM. Maybe saving the debate after OG messed it up made all the difference.

Grand Finals

THW legislate mandating a minimum of 30% female quota in corporate decision making posts.

1)UT Mara CO
2)UNIMAS OG
3) MMUM OO
4) UM 1     CG

Again the curse of the OG struck again. That and the nervousness of being in the first ever Grand Finals of a competition and the awkwardness with the mike made it all the more tougher to be OG. But some preemptive arguments and a lack of engagement from OO kept the case relatively unscathed, even CO spent most of their time dealing with UM's "non extension". Those combined factors made Unimas a little lucky to come away 2nd as OG, which is not easy to do at all.

RM 3500, a huge mock cheque, trophies and publicity to boot. Not bad for 3 days' work.

UITM IV

Round 1

THW stop the media from publishing alleged criminal conduct by political candidates unless formal charges are pressed.

1) UTMARA OO
2) CFS 4       OG
3) WSDC      CG
4) UNIMAS A   CO

Its difficult to extend a case when Shafiq and Ain are your opening, hence a 4th is probably deserved.

Round 2

THW prosecute mothers who took addictive substances while pregnant.

1) UNIMAS A    OO
2) GIS      3     CG
3) Uitm Lundu  CO
4) UniKL         OG

Not the best team performance, but the benefit of getting last in the first round is that you don't have to do much to be first the the next round.

Round 3

THBT illiterates should not be allowed to vote.

1) CFS 4     CG
2) GIS 3      OO
3) UNIMAS A OG
4) SSP 2      CO

A 2nd would have been fairer, but such is the plight of an OG team.

Round 4

THBT the UN Security Council should sign a treaty to reduce military spending in their respective countries.

1) UNIMAS A    CG
2) Mara BC     OG
3) USM           OO
4) GIS 3          CO

It was frustrating to have an OG that turned this into an economics debate, but then again, it gives you enough room to extend into a whole new debate.

They had 7 points, which was the minimum to break, but not enough speaks. Nevertheless it was a good outing for Unimas teams, particularly the juniors who got the exposure that was necessary before Royals.