KUCHING – SMK Green Road and SM Lodge emerged as Senior and Junior Champions respectively at the 21st Swinburne Sarawak Inter-School Debating Championship (SSIDC), held from 13 to 16 April 2026 at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus.
In the Senior Category, SMK Green Road, debating on the opposition side, defeated SMK Lutong on the motion “This House would grant children the legal right to sue their parents for ‘sharenting’”. In the Junior Category, SM Lodge, also on the opposition side, won the debate against SMK Green Road on the motion “This House would ban all social media access for children under the age of 16”.
Embarking on its third decade of debating excellence, SSIDC 2026 welcomed almost 300 students and teachers from across Malaysia and as far as Jakarta, reinforcing its standing as one of the largest English debating tournaments for secondary schools in the country. The tournament continues to nurture critical thinking, public speaking skills, and intellectual exchange among secondary school debaters.
Some 250 students from 33 schools took part in the tournament, with participants travelling from across Malaysia – from SMK Kapit No 2 and SMK Balai Ringin to SM Sains Rembau in Negeri Sembilan, Catholic High School in Selangor, and Sabah Tshung Tsin Secondary School and Vision International School in Sabah – as well as four schools from Jakarta.
All the debate teams were vying not just for the title of Champion or Runners-Up in both categories but also for awards that recognise the efforts of debaters such as the Most Promising Team and the Most Improved Team.
“These two awards show clearly how important the learning experience is for us here at Swinburne. It’s not just about the glory of becoming Champions, it’s about learning and improving, thinking clearly and critically, and delivering strong and coherent arguments on a very public platform,” said Dr Christina Yin, the founding advisor of the inter-school tournament.
“What a privilege it’s been all these years, bringing students together from all over the state, other parts of the country, and even the region here to Swinburne Sarawak. I truly hope this legacy continues for many more decades to come!” she added.
Other awards included Best Overall Debater in the Final, Top 5 Debaters in the Preliminary Rounds, and the Best Sarawakian Team.
The Senior Champion team from SMK Green Road, with Encik Jamal bin Sabang (second from right), Swinburne Sarawak Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer Ir Professor Lau Hieng Ho (right), and others.
The tournament format followed the Asian Parliamentary Style and – to give younger debaters a fair chance – the teams were divided into Junior (Forms 1-3) and Senior (4-5) categories. The four-day event featured two days of six preliminary rounds that all debaters participated in, followed by knockout rounds on Day 3 and finals for both categories on Day 4.
This year’s themes were Culture, Economy, Education, Environment, Health, International Relations, Law and Order, Malaysia, Media/Cinema, Sports, Technology, and Youth/Society. Students prepared by reading widely and developing debatable topics that could be presented as motions during the tournament.
This year’s Chief Adjudicator, Adrian Kamarn anak Ignatius Nyaleng, was himself a novice debater when he first participated in SSIDC in 2020 as a Form 3 student from SMK Lutong. When he enrolled in Swinburne Sarawak’s School of Foundation Studies in 2023, he immediately joined the Swinburne Debaters’ Club and became involved in debate training and organising debate and public speaking competitions.
“SSIDC was my first foray into the world of debate tournaments. Back then, we had simple and direct motions such as ‘This House supports the rise of Formula E’. Today, SSIDC has raised the standard of debates in English, with motions such as ‘This House supports the creation of the Enhanced Games’,” he remarked.
The Junior Champion team from SM Lodge, with Encik Jamal bin Sabang (second from right), Swinburne Sarawak Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer Ir Professor Lau Hieng Ho (right), and others.
The Award Presentation Ceremony for SSIDC 2026 was graced by Encik Jamal bin Sabang, Assistant Director, Student Development Section, Sarawak State Education Department, representing the Director of the Sarawak State Education Department.
The event’s Platinum sponsor this year was the Australian High Commission to Malaysia, while the Gold sponsor was the Natural Resources and Environment Board. Other long-standing sponsors were the English Language Centre and John’s Pie.
The Swinburne Debaters’ Club is one of Swinburne Sarawak’s oldest student clubs and has consistently organised SSIDC since 2006 – even during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting the tournament on various online platforms in 2021 and 2022.
Last year’s Senior Champion team was SMK Batu Lintang, defeating SM Sungai Maong on the motion “This House opposes the resurgence of ‘emo culture’ in the entertainment industry”, while the Junior Champion team was SMK Lutong, defeating SM Lodge in a close debate on the motion “This House would criminalise the development of AI weapon systems”.
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