I apologise. It was NYP not NP. The sources are extracted from
the copy of Weekend Today on the July 26-27. Ok i managed to skim
the more salient and relevant parts of the article for your perusal
due to the fact that i cannot find any online sources.
DEBATING
STORM
When NYP returned home early from an international debating
tournament, the institution had no idea it would leave university
debaters across the globe up in arms.
The strong reaction was sparked by the perception that the
polytechnic was trying to censor- and censure- one of its students,
who gave a speech that was critical of the Singapore
Government.
Now, from Canada and Britain to Asia and Australia, various
debating communities have expressed concern about the World
Universities Debating Championships, which will be held here in
December, the first time Singapore is hosting the event.
Scotsman Andy Hume, a previous world champion, said the issue is
whether or not the debater would be able to stand up in a debate to
castigate the Singaporean model of democracy. Recent moves by the
Government to open up drew scant notice as murmurs of government
regulation rumbled throughout several debating fora.
The episode began on July 6 with the NYP student's speech in hte
public speaking competition at the Australasian Intervarsity
Debating Championships in Malaysia. After getting the topic "What
the Matrix means to me", he decided to speak about democracy in
Singapore, and suggested it was found wanting. Another debator, Mr
Ravi Viswanathan of NTU, described the speech as "funny,
entertaining and tongue-in-cheek." He added: " I don't think it was
very pointed."
The NYP student, a foreigner who has been here for 17 years, made
it to the finals of the competition. But according to the student,
the NYP authorities told him the next day that he would be
withdrawn from the competition. The following day, NYP's debaters,
who did not make it to the knockout stages of the tournament, were
told that they were returning home- one day before the championship
finals.
However, NYP's director of academic services, Mr Anthony Woon,
stressed that the student's political speech was not the reason for
the polytechnic's early departure.
"As far as we are concerned, the debates were over for us and the
school term had started. We didn't want students to miss lessons,"
he told TODAY.
But what about the fact that the student had qualified for the
finals of the public speaking event, which was part of a larger
competition? The team's decision to return home apparently came as
a surprise to the organising committee from Multimedia University,
the tournament hosts, and the Australasian Intervarsity Debating
Association (AIDa).
On behalf of the two bodies, the AIDa secretary drafted a letter to
NYP expressing their "disappointment" at the polytechnic's decision
and their concerns regarding the impact such a decision would have
on debating in Singapore.
