The CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debate is a unique debating opportunity that any eligible school should be anxious to attend. It provides a unique opportunity for competition, acting as a veritable “tournament of champions” as well as featuring a unique theme that the debating community should embrace more, “peace.” This is especially important at this time for American debating universities.
There are a number of elite schools that are eligible to attend the CIMB WUPID. Most of them get a chance to debate against a few other elite schools from time to time at tournaments in their region, or every year they might have a chance to debate some of them at WUDC. But, these opportunities are rare and punctuated by debates against other fine teams that are not among the global elite. At CIMB WUPID, however, debate after debate will be against the finest teams in the worlds, and the elimination rounds should be some of the finest debates anywhere in the world. Each round will consist of an incredibly impressive foursome of debate teams. Such an event would only happen in the later elimination rounds at WUDC. This will be a unique opportunity to debate the best and become even better in the process. Such an opportunity just before WUDC in Bangkok is ideal for teams hoping for a strong finish at WUDC. CIMB WUPID is, without a doubt, a tournament of champions. A strong
CIMB WUPID showing, against the best in the world, is something any debate program can be extremely proud of.
Every debater knows many quotations from Winston Churchill, but one of my favorites is, “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.” It is a quotation I remembered reading in one of the first real international relations books that I saw as a very young man and it remained in my mind. It also seeded in me the idea that debate and discussion are not only better to be in than a battle, but that they just might, with effort and time, come to be a technique that might be used to replace battle. While in previous eras some deliberative establishments were mocked as just “talking shops,” now we see that such activities can be very useful in avoiding conflicts that cost sacred blood and valuable treasure. The CIMB WUPID has come out bravely with the theme of peace, and backs it up with the best debating universities in the world. This juxtaposition is a continuation of a theme that I have dedicated my life to. Events in a region such as Korea, on the brink of war with peace
never negotiated, have themes such as “replacing weapons with words,” that has also been used with inner city American students from communities rife with gang violence and at various training programs in different parts of the world. We see around us the follies and difficulties of the pre-emptive use of arms while at the same time seeing the successes of pre-emptive use of discussion between those who disagree, such as the progress in the six party talks with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea about nuclear issues. We are not naïve, instead we are hopeful. We make a personal commitment to this process by supporting the CIMB WUPID. I think it is one of the most important things that those invited to attend can do. Stand and debate with us in a celebration of the possibilities that debate can promote peace and decrease the need for war.
Finally, I want to share some thoughts with American institutions that have been invited but have not yet confirmed. There is a growing movement in America towards British parliamentary debate in the WUDC mold. Many schools committed to American parliamentary debating are now embracing the WUDC format, a number of schools doing non-parliamentary debating are beginning to adopt WUDC style debating (such as a group of schools from New England who are beginning this fall) and American schools are doing better and better at WUDC. I urge all invited American schools to attend so that they can fully join this elite community at a tournament of champions while embracing a powerful theme for the 21st Century, peace. With the rewards that come with placing in the top universities in the world comes the responsibility to represent. I strongly believe that American debaters can show their talents, but to do so they should take this chance to debate the best of the best.
I am proud to have been invited as the external observer to CIMB WUPID. I intend to learn from the best and share my hopes for a better future. I urge all of you who are eligible to attend this wonderful and timely opportunity, the CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debate.
Written by:
Alfred C. Snider aka Tuna
University of Vermont
World Debate InstituteHe can be contacted at alfred.snider@ uvm.edu

To the international debating community,

As Deputy Chief Adjudicator of the CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debate, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all invited teams to join me in Kuala Lumpur in December for what I am confident will be a magnificent debating and personal experience.

The invited colleges make up the cream of academic institutions across every continent and have proven themselves to be the strongest participants at the annual World Universities Debating Championships. It is from the halls of these illustrious colleges and from the ranks of their debating societies that future national leaders will emerge. By participating in a debating competition with the concept of peace as its core principle I hope that the barriers and divides that seem to be re-emerging between nations will start to be undermined in the short term between college students and long term between national leaderships.

At the same time the committee has been actively assembling a strong adjudication panel to suitably cater for the needs of the top debating teams in the world. The sponsors and organizers have worked tirelessly to attract a core team of adjudicators from around the world and can also rely on a strong pool of local judges following the staging of the World Debating Championships in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in recent years. Five preliminary rounds, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will provide a top class debating experience. With the World Championships in Thailand a week later there is no better way to prepare than to attend the CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debate.

I look forward to meeting you all at the competition. I promise you that the motions will be tough but fair, the debating competitive but fun and the experience one of the most memorable of your life.

Yours peacefully,
Colm Flynn, Founder, World Debate Website
He can be contacted at colm_flynn@yahoo. com

If you have read everything at the WUPID official website, you have watched all the videos at www.youtube.com/hngsc2007 and you have read all the postings at this blog 100 times this is another link for you to get more info check it out!! http://wordpress.com/tag/cimb-wupid/

 

According to an ancient English folklore, reaching the end of days, there will come an adjudicator. Born from the balls of the dragon, he will kill all the enemy of debates, evil and all which is an insult to everything that is sacred. He will restore accountability and integrity to the debate realm. This adjudicator…is slaughtered by Omar.

Chief Adjudicator Dr Omar is one of the longest serving chairpersons for the World Universities Debating Council and has adjudicated in nearly all the Worlds Finals in the past 7 years. His debating experience and know-hows is downright overwhelming. He has coached several instituions and has played a key role in developing debating talents not only regionally but also internationally. He brings with him years of experience and will ensure that the adjudication panel upholds the highest level of profesionalism. Below is a note from the the man himself:

To the international debating community

As the Chief Adjudicator of the forthcoming CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debates, I would like to thank those teams that have already committed to this very important event and strongly encourage those still to register and represent their institution and country in Kuala Lumpur in December to do so soon and thereby facilitate the organization of CIMB WUPID 2007.

The schedule of events that surrounds the debate competition will feature invited speakers of international repute that have made key contributions in the cause of furthering peace in the world. With the debating rounds pitting the brightest intellects from the best universities against each other in considering the issues and initiatives that are relevant to humanity’s quest for lasting peace and harmony, we harbor the sincere hope that, together, we will make a real difference and stimulate the power of peaceful intent before the year is out.

The adjudication team assembled for you brings together a breadth of experience and debate-related ’savvy’ representative of East and West, North and South. This will ensure a fair competition of the highest quality, and, quite incidentally, make my own role considerably less stressful.

Our sponsors are eagerly awaiting your arrival and the collective engagement of all in what they feel is a vital contribution to Malaysia’s efforts to seek a pathway towards peace; one that we can tread together and stay true to.

I look forward to your arrival too, and thank you in advance for your efforts. Together we can find the way, the means to follow it and the shared vision that will keep us valiant.

In peace,

Omar S.

Participants of the CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debate (CIMB WUPID) 2007, will be receiving RM20 worth of stored value-ticket courtesy of KL Monorail – which is plenty than enough as participants will be needing to travel via the monorail for only two (2) days.

As participants will be staying at Novotel Hydro Majestic, the nearest monorail station is a 5 minute walking-distance to Raja Chulan station. From the station, they will move on to Medan Tuanku station which is just 2 stations away. UniKL (venue for the preliminary rounds), will just be across the street.

Click here for the map – follow the purple route.