Dear all,
This year's International Varsity Debate hits cyberspace as it continues to spread the use of Mandarin around the world. Organised by Singapore's MediaCorp and China's CCTV, this highlight on the international debating calendar will also see a record number of 21 teams from non-native speaking countries battle it out.
The Inter-varsity Debate series started in Singapore in 1986. Apart from the fast and furious repartee that's already a hallmark of this competition, this year's International Varsity Debate will go high tech and sport a new look. Organizers promise there will be fireworks on stage and the key to that is the choice of debate motions which will move away from the philosophical and academic.
The teams are from six countries - US, UK, Russia, Australia, South Korea and Egypt. In the Asian category, teams from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia will compete. Only the best will be chosen to take part in the international contest.
From July 32 teams from various Chinese universities will fight to represent their country. These rounds will be broadcast over the Internet, with teams and judges doing their verbal sparring from their respective locations. This year will also see a record 21 foreign teams taking part in their own non-native speaker category. To stretch their abilities, they will duel with debaters from Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University.
All semi-finalists will fly to Beijing in October, where online viewers will be able to vote for their favourite teams. It was known then as the Asian Inter-Varsity Debate, and was organised by Singapore's national broadcaster. But in the last 14 years, it has evolved into a collaboration between MediaCorp and its Chinese counterpart.
"This is the eighth debate series organised by Mediacorp and CCTV, and I think we have reached a new milestone. I believe this year's debate will offer more and will be on a bigger scale," said Woon Tai Ho, Managing Director of MediaCorp News. "This time, the topics will be closer to the hearts of the youth and will be related to news affecting our lives. It will also include unresolved political and social issues, as well as hot topics of the day," said Xie Qing, Executive Director of the 2007 International Varsity Debate.
Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Source: Channel NewsAsia
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