We beat Harvard?! 6 awesome things about Malaysian debaters

Malaysian debaters, their achievements and controversies have been grabbing a lot of attention lately. By now you have probably lost count of how many times you’ve seen the phrase “Syed Saddiq” or “Asia’s top debater“:

In the past few months, Syed Saddiq has criticised the DPM’s daughter, slammed Prime Minister Najib as a “national disgrace“, criticized DAP, been called the “freedom of speech crusader“, and more recently founded the youth group Challenger—Change Led by The Young Generation. His debating achievements have gotten him an invitation to debate about 1MDB and Tabung Haji, and he has also challenged MP for Kinabatangan Bung Moktar to an open debate.

If anything, perhaps this is a window for others to peep into the Malaysian debate scene. What is so great about being a debater? What makes debaters think its OK to break the chain of cat videos on our news feed? Got free gift onot if I join debating? If I debate and become damn good, will politicians start asking me to run in the next election?

Here are 6 facts you need to know about the Malaysian debating scene:

1. Syed Saddiq’s drama is not the first time we have faced controversy.

While a lot of us have been hearing about Syed’s case recently, it’s actually not the first time a Malaysian debater has been in the public eye.

In March 2013, KDU University College held the Datuk CQ Teo Debate Challenge. The topic for the grand finals was “This house believes that the people and not the cardinals should elect the pope”. The event was covered by The Star, and some people got very, very angry that such a “sensitive” issue should even be debated, and quickly took to Facebook and Blogspot to voice their anger.

From a debater’s perspective, however, questioning is the basis of knowledge and wisdom. I mean, if people never questioned, we might still think that the earth is flat SMH. We are proud to debate even the most controversial issues, and challenge our own beliefs; despite set backs, we will keep questioning, and keep debating. Read a full defense here.

2. We’re also surprisingly well-supported by our gomen.

This might come as a surprise to many, but debating as a co-curricular activity is very well funded and supported. A PR rep for Malaysian Institute of Debate and Public Speaking (MIDP) told CILISOS.MY that typically, the gomen invests between RM200,000-300,000 per year in facilitating debate tournaments and workshops for our schools and universities.

Besides that, the Ministry of Youth and Sports also funds the annual Malaysian National Intervarsity Debating Championship (Nationals). Moreover every time we achieve something spectacular, our Prime Minister wastes no time in extending his congratulations. Way to go Malaysia! It seems like debat itu memanglah budaya kita.

3. Our training regime is quite nerdy. 

We debate about almost everything! Philosophy, economics, geopolitics, law, social rights, pop culture etc. Some might ask: uhhh so if I prefer to chill and watch TV only, can I still be amazing? The answer is: most probably not.

A typical debater spends about 4-6 hours per week training. Leading up to big tournaments, most debate clubs double or triple the hours they clock. Moreover, every debater is expected to read daily: be updated about the latest conflicts in the middle east, know the policies proposed by each US presidential candidate, understand the flaws in our education system, be able to criticize white-washing in Hollywood etc.

Basically, it is a lifestyle of no slacking. Like in every other sport, there is no short cut to success, only endless hard work.

“Training for me isn’t done best if you spend 8 hours reading or training. I think it’s best done if you’re consistent with your efforts. It’s more about spending at least 10 minutes everyday reading the news or building arguments.” – Jasmine Ho, renowned Malaysian debater

4. We even have a chant!

You know how you hear chants whenever you turn on a football match? Well, at international tournaments, Malaysia even has a chant to cheer each other on! It goes:

“You’ll never beat Malaysia!”

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a video of the chant being… er… chanted, so here’s a random gif of two cats fighting:

Regardless of institutional loyalties, we are all Malaysians first, and we are always proud of each other’s achievements. This camaraderie is applauded by many of our international friends.

It is further immortalized into the hashtag ‪#‎youllneverbeatMalaysia‬. Look it up on Facebook and Twitter, and you see will how KAW the Malaysian pride is.

5. Malaysia is pretty darn good. REALLY. We beat Oxford, Yale, Cambridge and even Harvard! 

Our achievements were never too shabby, but 2015 was beyond what any of us have imagined. We pretty much took the debating world by storm and made history.

• The Worlds University Debating Championship (WUDC) is the single largest debate competition in the world (equivalent to the Olympics). At the 2016 edition, Malaysian teams took three out of the top 48 spots!
• The team from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), made up of Jasmine Ho Abdullah and Mifzal Mohammed, ranked SECOND in the whole world at WUDC 2016, beating debaters from Harvard, Cambridge, Yale, Oxford and many more. It was the highest an Asian team has ever ranked in the 35 years of WUDC history!
• We are also dominating the Asian debating circuit. How did you think Saddiq earned the title of “Asia’s Best Debater”? In 2015, Malaysian teams were the runner up and champion of the United Asians Debating Championship (UADC). We also took the award of overall best speaker and second overall best speaker in Asia.
• Its not just our university debaters that can send chills down your spine. Our school debaters are just as good! They were the Asian champions both in 2014 and 2015, beating powerhouses such as Phillipines and Singapore.

And if that blew your mind, you’ll be shocked to know that….

6. … some of our best speakers hardly spoke English at first! 

We are a group of very diverse people, of various ethnicity, age, education system and nationality—even more diverse than the ingredients in your favorite nasi goreng mamak. If you think you need a powderful British accent, or be a law student to debate—hah! Think again.

Introducing Behrad Taadoli, an Iranian student from the Asia Pacific University (APU). In the 2015 edition of WUDC, Behrad and his teammate were ranked 24th in the world. (And guess who ranked one spot below them? Oxford!)

When he first started debating in 2011, Behrad could hardly speak English, and no one would have imagined him to be a great debater. It did not stop him from trying: for two years, he went through countless English books to learn new vocabulary, making notes and memorizing each word, their pronunciation, meaning and usage.

He spent up to seven hours a day burying himself in books and notes, fueled by sheer determination. The more people made fun of his English and looked down on him, the more motivated he became to prove them wrong. Here’s a video of him at a debate (skip to 8:40):

The most beautiful thing about this is that there are many debaters out there who are just like Behrad, who only got the chance to practice the English language when they started debating. Want to debate in English, but worry about your Chinese/Tamil/Malay upbringing? Do not worry, you will find good company in the circuit.

There’s more to debating than just winning an argument

We are immensely thankful for all the support that we are receiving, but more importantly, we hope more people can join us in celebrating the culture of debating.

Debating is not just for aspiring lawyers; the skills it gives can benefit you for a lifetime. Many ex-debaters have testified that debating has helped them speak well and think critically. Those skills then helped them secure scholarships and jobs, ace every interview, and excel in their careers.

Listen to more testimonials about debating in this promotional video for the Malaysian National Intervarsity Debating Championship (Nationals) 2015, featuring our very hansem Minister of Youth & Sports, YB Encik Khairy Jamaluddin.

If you are interested to find out more about debating, you can contact:

1. The Malaysian Institute of Debating and Public Speaking (MIDP). They offer debate training classes, organize debate related events, and are having a nation-wide campaign in training and accrediting debate adjudicators for the Tan Sri Datuk Wira Abdul Rahman Arsyad English Language Debate Competition, the largest public school debate tournament in Malaysia.
2. Nous Academy and Events. They offer training in presentation and problem solving skills, public speaking, and debating. You can also find them on Facebook, or contact Sheikh Muhammad Faizal Shah or Khadijah Shamsul, co-founders of Nous, at +60122676795.