Big win for Pakistan at first Asian KPDC

Big win for Pakistan at first Asian KPDC

It was a big win for Pakistan when their team were declared winners of the first Asian Karl Popper Debate Championship and all three members of the team emerged the top speaker, runner-up and fifth.

Zainab Shahid cheering with teammates Aleena Ali and Murtaza Chaudhry behind her

Zainab Shahid, aged 17, leapt out of her seat when Pakistan 2 was declared winner as her teammates Aleena Ali, 17, Murtaza Chaudhry, 18, and their coach Haider Khan cheered. They beat the Nepal 2 team in the grand finals which was held in Pattaya on May 18.

“All our hard work paid off. Great,” said Ali.

A beaming Khan said: “I’m so proud of my team. They were brilliant. They exceeded all expectations.”

Team Nepal 2 was represented by Yondeen Sherpa, aged 16, Isha Raut and Akrish Adhikari, both aged 17. They are all doing their A-levels at the same school Ratubangala in Katmandu.  Their coach is Tilak Pathak from Katmandu.

The motion for the grand finals was: Foreign workers should be given the right to vote in local elections in the country where they are working for a significant period.

Judges in the grand finals panel were Logandran Balavijendran (Malaysia), Sharmila Parmanand (Philippines), Elvira Seitkasinova (Kazakhstan), Sharon Porter (US), Lam Le (Vietnam), Ferdinand Borongoy (Philippines), Vuthy Panchakrong (Cambodia) and Harry Choi (DPR Korea). The panel was chaired by Angie Goh Sze Ying (Malaysia).

The verbal drama kept the audience glued to the stage. There was total silence during cross-examinations as everyone in the main hall wanted to catch every razor sharp questions and equally clever responses.

The mood was serious throughout the finals as the six speakers pounded away their arguments interspersed with facts and data, and the audience listened with rapt attention.

For one brief moment, however, there were chuckles from the audience when Sherpa from the Affirmative side asked, during her cross-examination of Shahid, asked:

“If someone stole your purse, do you report to the local police or the chief of army?”

Shahid responded: “But if you want to change the law on stealing, don’t you want to go to Parliament?”

Noel Selegzi, Program Director of OSF Youth Initiatives presented the challenge trophy to teams Pakistan 2 and Nepal 2.

Earlier in his speech, he said: “You come from a wide range of countries – a wide spectrum from closed to open. This forum is to prepare you to discuss critical issues in a responsible manner. We see debate as a means to promote open society.

“We decided to hold this forum to give more people opportunity to come to the World Youth Forum and you’re the experiment to see how it would work regionally,” he added.

IDEA Asia Youth Forum Director Chirada Na Suwan presented the prizes to the top speakers of the tournament.

Apart from Pakistan 2 and Nepal 2, the other two teams that made it to the semi-finals were: Philippines 1 (Joseph James Bacayo, John Alfred Dalag and Jacques Ian David Estola) and Vietnam 1 (Truc Quong Lam, Anh Lu Thuc Phuong and Phuong Thy Le Thai).

The teams that qualified for the quarterfinals were: Mongolia 3, Nepal 2, Pakistan 2, Philippines 1, Team Peacock, Thailand 1, Vietnam 1 and Vietnam 3.

Those that made it to the octofinals were: Cambodia 1, Malaysia 1, Mongolia 1, Mongolia 3, Nepal 1, Nepal 2, Nepal 3, Pakistan 2, Philippines 1, Team Brilliant, Team Peacock, Team Universe, Thailand 1, Vietnam 1, Vietnam 2 and Vietnam 3.

The top speakers and their ranking are:

1^st        Aleena Ali (Pakistan 2)                                   467 points

2^nd       Yondeen Sherpa (Nepal 2)                              466 points

3^rd        Zainab Shahid (Pakistan 2)                            464 points

4^th        Isha Raut (Pakistan 2)                                       459 points

5^th        Murtaza Chaudhry (Pakistan 2)                      459 points

6^th        Yuhaniz Abdul Malik (Malaysia 1)                 456 points

7^th        Kim-Anh Ngoc Dam (Vietnam 3)                   454 points

8^th        Jacques Ian David Estola (Philippines)         452 points

9^th        John Alfred Dalag (Philippines)                      450 points

10^th      Viktoriya Kho (Mongolia 3)                              448 points

About 164 young people from 10 Asian countries attended the Asian Karl Popper Debate Championship 2012. This is the first time IDEA is holding the event at Asian level after 17 years of hosting international youth forums.

The tournament saw the participation of 86 young judges and coaches and 78 debaters between the ages of 14 and 19.

The Asian KPDC 2012 is held in partnership with United Thailand at the Thammasat Pattaya Center in Chon Buri and Rangsit University in Bangkok.

It was held from May 14 to 18, the first part of the two-week long IDEA Asia Youth Forum 2012. The forum also included a four-day educational workshop and Mixed Team Tournament.

The International Debate Education Association or IDEA is a global network with over a decade of experience of teaching debate to young people.

The theme for the Asian KPDC 2012 was Crossing Borders: Migration in Asia.

http://ayf2012.netii.net/big-win-for-pakistan-at-first-asian-kpdc/

 

Sheltering the marginalised: The Pakistani Mother Teresa

Sheltering the marginalised: The Pakistani Mother Teresa

 

Josephine offers shelter to the children of slave-labourers.

 

LAHORE: Meet Josephine, a 34-year-old divorced mother of two. She runs an orphanage outside Lahore, where she gives shelter to children and has become a saviour to those bonded by labour.

 

“I visit brick kiln factories, where single parents and the elders of orphans make these little ones work to pay the debt they have taken,” says Josephine

Her task is not an easy one, as she has to convince the guardians that they are better off with her. “I am currently pursuing a mother of five to give her children to me because her husband died and now she has to work day and night along with her children to pay his debt.”

 

Brick kiln owners are the main hurdle and have threatened her. “They say if I can pay their loan, I can take the children, otherwise they will work till the loan is paid.”

 

In Pakistan, although illegal, slavery in brick kiln factories is common knowledge and it originates from a vicious circle of debt which sucks in labourers. Josephine has surveyed these factories for a year and has been able to convince almost 20 families to give their children to her.

 

She only helps the Christian minority currently because she feels they are more marginalised. “Most of the workers at these places are of Christian faith, and that is why I contact the local pastor of the area and take him along too, to get easy access.”

 

Trained to be a nun but not allowed by her parents to leave the country, Josephine now uses what she has learnt to mother the orphans.

 

She has rented an upper portion of a house, 20 kilometers outside Lahore, for Rs5,000 per month, where she lives with her own two offspring plus another 10 boys and 7 girls.

 

“I do not have any funding source. I teach at a local private school, and with whatever money I get, I try to give these children their lives back.” Along with this, she receives help from her brothers and the school principal where she is employed, but things are still hard. “Thankfully the principal has acknowledged my efforts, and has waived off fee for these children.”

 

Surprisingly, ever since she started the orphanage, she has been asked by a number of parents to take their children away. “People are so poor in these villages that they want to get rid of the children even they are not in debt.”

 

But she rejects them saying that she doesn’t want those who are orphans to feel different while living with such children who have parents.

 

The children in Josephine’s care were not allowed to go to school due to their slavery status, now they have learnt how to read and write.

 

http://tribune.com.pk/story/325758/sheltering-the-marginalised-the-pakistani-mother-teresa/

25 Countries 1900 Participants. One (1) Winner – A Girl from Pakistan - Saeeda Mir

25 Countries. 1900 Participants. One (1) Winner – A Girl from Pakistan

Saeeda Mir gets first position in International Essay Competition

Saeeda Mir won the first prize in an International Essay Competition. She competed the 1900 participants around the 25 countries of the world and stood first. Saeeda has been offered a lifetime scholarship in the United States.

 

Gilgit: Saeeda Mir, a resident of Sultanabad, Gilgit has won the first prize in an International Essay Competition.

 

Saeeda is currently pursuing a degree in BSc at Margalla Girls College, Islamabad. Nineteen hundred students from around the world participated in the competition.  As first place winner, Saeeda has been offered a lifetime scholarship in the United States.

 

The Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan and GB assembly members have sent messages of felicitation to Saeeda and her family members.

 

In his message the Chief Minister said that this is indeed a great achievement and a great honor for Gilgit-Baltistan.

 

http://pamirtimes.net/2010/10/17/sadia-gets-first-position-in-international-essay-competition/

 

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLScw6BkiT4