The three-nation Bahas Muhibah 4PM debaters with the guest-of-honour, Masagos Zulkifli (5th L) and the president of 4PM, Izzudin Taherally (4th L) after the Bahas Muhibah 4PM debating event. Picture: Courtesy of Irwan Haji Abu Bakar
Ugan Brunei
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BAHAS Muhibah 4PM, an annual Malay language debating event, turned out to be something unexpected this year.
Held for most of the time at the National University of Singapore (NUS) from May 28 to 31, the writer and five other members of the Brunei delegation have not just witnessed a very exhilarating event but went through a period of extremely commendable comments islandwide.
The story goes like this: the Brunei delegation arrived at Changi International Airport greeted by the event chairperson, Rahayu Mahzam, senior officer-in-charge, Fadillah Razali and other members of the executive committee. Tagging along were the three members of the Malaysian debating delegation, all males and studying at university level.
My initial thoughts were, could our young debaters stand against them and the Singaporean team they will meet the next day?
Going back, I realised that Bahas Muhibah 4PM was and is actually an event filled with debate combining three nations together, debating on a common topic. This year, the topic in Malay was translated as Social networking is detrimental. Something very relevant to the present situation in that we have Facebook, Twitter, Friendster and so on being prevalent among computer users and chatters all over.
One more thing, the event itself was actually a demonstration in debating styles and techniques used in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam performed in front of 16 pre-university (junior college) teams islandwide.
With the theme "Serumpun Sebahasa, Seia Sekata", it served very well as a useful lesson since for the whole period of Bahas Muhibbah 4PM, all the six of us who voluntarily became chairpersons, timekeepers and even adjudicators of over half of the 32 match-ups witnessed varying debating styles used by Singaporean pre-university students which needed improvement and careful polishing. In time, they will catch up with the resolute attitude of the Malaysians and the entertaining tones and styles of the Bruneians.
The actual event lasted for an hour at the Prince George's Park Auditorium.
Nuratikah Haji Daud at the proposing corner and Mohammad Yadiy at the opponents corner were approached by many "fans" at the end even though the Malaysian Abdul Muiz was officially adjudged the best speaker by the three adjudicators, including the writer. Cikgu Zaimah Haji Abdullah, their coach hailing from Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Saadatul Bolkiah School, Lumut received due credit for her commitment towards the commendable performance of her charges.
In fact, Mohammad Yadiy, 16, and Nuratikah, 15, had created the enviable record of being the youngest participants ever of all three nations to be involved in the event and they were not even yet studying in pre-university level.
Furthermore, the participants of the actual Bahas Muhibbah 4PM were as young as 17 at press time.
Meanwhile, Nurul Wafaa and Mohammad Abdul Hafiz, hailing from Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College were nevertheless, active participants in their own right. They acted as chairpersons as well as adjudicators when needed and they performed rather convincingly.
The writer as well as Cikgu Zaimah also chipped in to become either the chief adjudicator or adjudicator in their respective match-ups assigned for them.
In retrospect, Bahas Muhibah 4PM was an interesting experience since it exposes the system used in the annual international-level World Schools Debate in choosing teams to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Done in a round-robin format, each of the 16 teams has the opportunity to meet four sets of opponents in two days.
Furthermore, it was heartwarming to note the respectable initiatives done by some of the Singaporean teams to approach the Bruneian delegation, asking for points and tips in order to perform as well as conduct Points-of-Information (POIs) and use Malay pantuns to strengthen their cause.
The Bruneians in their capacity as minor ambassadors were more than generous and ready to provide selfless assistance to those in need.
The Malaysian delegation, too, were never out of ideas to provide the entertainment aspect to the debating sessions, cynical at times but nevertheless meaningful and useful.
All things aside, the Bruneian delegation has managed to achieve, in more ways than one, the true meaning of solidarity in upholding the sanctity of the Malay language, in the form of pantuns as well as Malay debates this year.
It is fervently hoped that the delegation for next year would perform as well, if not better.
The Brunei Times
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