YOGYAKARTA – The English Debate Society (EDS) from Universitas Gadjah Mada has made good achievements in several competitions. The first is the National Newbie Debate Competition, held at UNY Yogyakarta from 16-18 May, the second English Fiesta competition at Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang on the same day, and United Asian Debating Championship at Nanyang Technology University, Singapore, from 25 May- 2 June.
Aryanda Putra Tony, member of the EDS UGM, said he and his fellow student, Nalaputi Basoeki, from Agricultural Technology, represented UGM in the National Newbie Debate Competition and beat teams from Universitas Indonesia and Universitas Sanata Dharma in the final.
Meanwhile, Ganjar Denis, (Faculty of Economics and Business 2012), Noel Hasintongan (Biology 2013), and Aufia Espressivo (Dentistry 2012) have beaten Universitas Brawijaya in the final of English Fiesta at Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang.
Internationally, at the United Asian Debating Championship organised by Nanyang Technology University, UGM Law student, Romario Hasintongan, and his team beat Japanese, Philippines, and Malaysian teams. “This is my first experience in an international event, and thankfully, we won,” he explained.
Mario added that he was also named best speaker. In his opinion it is not easy to win the competition. “We had to train everyday till late night,” he said.
He said he had been pressured during the training, but it paid off in the end, especially that he and other members of the team were supported by the university.