1.1. This tournament is named the Debating Championship MUSLEH Trophy.
1.2. These rules are accepted for the Debating Championship MUSLEH Trophy.
1.3. The definition of the rules are the copyright of the Debating Championship MUSLEH Trophy Secretariat as the tournament's officials.
1.4. Officials have the right to change any rules seem necessary before the tournament begins.
2. DEFINITION
2.1. "Tournament Director" and "Panel of Judges" means the people who were elected by the organizing committee.
2.2. "School" means all schools who are entering this competition.
3. PARTICIPATION
3.1. Each school can send a maximum of two (2) teams for each category for this competition and escorted by one teacher for each team from each school.
3.2. Each team are allowed to enter only one (1) category.
1.2. These rules are accepted for the Debating Championship MUSLEH Trophy.
1.3. The definition of the rules are the copyright of the Debating Championship MUSLEH Trophy Secretariat as the tournament's officials.
1.4. Officials have the right to change any rules seem necessary before the tournament begins.
2. DEFINITION
2.1. "Tournament Director" and "Panel of Judges" means the people who were elected by the organizing committee.
2.2. "School" means all schools who are entering this competition.
3. PARTICIPATION
3.1. Each school can send a maximum of two (2) teams for each category for this competition and escorted by one teacher for each team from each school.
3.2. Each team are allowed to enter only one (1) category.
4. QUALIFICATION
4.1. In order to qualify, a debater must be a student currently studying at the school which they are representing. Confirmation of the student must be done by the Principal of that school.
4.1. In order to qualify, a debater must be a student currently studying at the school which they are representing. Confirmation of the student must be done by the Principal of that school.
4.2. Participants can only debate for the team who registered them.
5. TOURNAMENT SYSTEM
5.1. This competition uses the power match system for the early rounds. This system is used to determine the team competing and also to determine their role as government or opposition.
5.2. The early rounds consist of three (3) rounds. The draw of groups will be done randomly. After the first debate session, the position of each team will be determined by these following criteria:
- Win/Lose
- Jury
- Margin
- Points
5.3. As for the second round, the teams that won in the first round will be grouped together in one group and the teams that lost will be grouped together in another group. To determine the teams for the next round will be determined according to the positions in each group.
5.4. After each debating session, positions of each team will be determined using the same system above.
5.5. By using the power match system, there is a chance that a team will meet the same team more than once.
5.6. The draw for role (government/opposition) in the first round will be done randomly.
5.7. The draw for role (government/opposition) in the next rounds will be determined by their role in the previous rounds. Usually, determination on role of a team is according to how much that team had become the government.
5.8. The draw for role (government/opposition) in the semi-finals and final is made according to votes or the toss of a coin in front of each team captain.
5.9. After all matches in the early rounds is done, the team qualified to the quarter-finals will be determined according to the positions in power match. Positions will be determined according to these criteria:
- Win/Lose
- Jury
- Margin
- Points
5.10. Top four (4) teams will qualify to the semi-finals.
5.11. The semi-finals will use the knock-out system.
5.12. The draw for the knock-out round is as follow:
6. PREPARATION TIME
6.1. The draw for role as government/opposition will be done 30 minutes before the debating session begins. Any on going time is included in the 30 minutes given. All teams are advised to be on time.
6.2. Any team who fails to attend 15 minutes after the debating session starts will be disqualified and considered lost.
6.3. Only four (4) registered debaters are allowed to make discussions during preparation time. No outside help are allowed.
7. DEBATING STRUCTURE
7.1. Debating will be done in Malay, English and Arabic ala Malaysian parliament.
7.2. Each round consists of two (2) teams which are the government (in favour) and the opposition. Each team consist of three (3) debaters and one reserve.
7.3. The government team consists of the Prime Minister and two (2) government members while the opposition team consists Opposition Leader and two (2) opposition members.
7.4. Each debater must give a substantive speech. The conclusion speech by the government team and opposition team can be delivered by either the main speaker or the the second debater from each team.
7.5. The time limit and speech order for each debater is as follow:
7.7. As for the conclusion speech, the bell will be sounded once at the first 3 minutes and twice when the time of speech has ended.
7.8. A debater who exceeds the time limit until 30 second will be given a warning by the Yang Di Pertua Dewan (Speaker). The debater will be asked to finish their speech and can be given a penalty.
8. ROLE OF EACH TEAM
8.1. The role of the government is to make a motion. They have to define the motion, give evidence/case that support their motion and decline any challenge from the opposition about their motion.
8.2. The role for the opposition team is to object motion. They have to asnwer the government's definition and if necessary, make a new opposing argument to object the motion made by the governmet.
9. JUDGING
9.1. Every debating session will be judged by one judge panel. The number of judges must be odd.
9.2. In the early rounds, one judge will become the Yang Di Pertua Dewan and will be addressed as Sir/Maam Yang di Pertua. In the final round, the Yang di Pertua will not be selected form the panel of judges.
9.3. The Yang di Pertua Dewan is responsible to invite debaters to make their speech, supervise the manner of the event, make decisions about any aspects of debating procedures involved.
9.4. Judges must:
10. MARKS
10.1. Each substantive speech will be given a maximum of 100 marks according to:
10.3. Manners will be judged in the aspect of:
10.5. The conclusion speech will be a given a maximum of 50 marks according to the marking ratio of the substantive speech above.
10.6. The main marking criteria is the persuasive value which means how much the argument is really convincing and give support to the team's motion and debating aspects.
10.7. The use of outside help (books, charts, magazines etc.) during the debating session is forbidden.
10.8. All contestants must behave during the competition.
11. NEW FACTS
11.1. New facts are not allowed during the substantive speech of the third debater and conclusion speech of any team (government or opposition). New examples are not considered as new facts. Facts are considered new except:
12. DEFINITION
12.1. The government is responsible and have the right to give the definition of the debating motion.
12.2. he opposition side can:
13. EXPLAINATION
13.1. Explaination/intersection in this contects means explaination requested by the opposing side to correct the speaking debater or to rise a crucial fact. Explaination/intersection must be simple and is connected with what is being discussed by the debater.
13.2. The speaking debater has the right either to accept or reject the requested explaination. However, a continuous rejection or acception of the requested explaination that can affect the argument have to be taken seriously by the judge. It is recommended that each debater accept at least two (2) requested explaination. However, this competition does not limit for each debater to accept requested explaination.
13.3. Explainations must not be more than 15 seconds. The bell will be sounded after 15 seconds had passed. If the explaination/intersection has not finnished, the debater who is giving the explaination/intersection must sit down immediately.
13.4. Explaination cannot be requested before the end of the first and last minute of any substantive speech. The bell will be sounded once to indicate the beginning and also to indicate the end of time to request explaination. Explaination cannot be requested during conclusion speech.
13.5. Only members from opposing this are granted to request explaination. The debater must give an appropriate signal if they wish to intersect like standing up,raise their hand, make a request and etc.
13.6. The speaking debater can either accept or reject the requested explaination by giving a physical signal or inform by speech. If rejected, the debater who requested the explaination must sit back down and wait for another oppurtinity.
13.7. When explaination is accepted, the speaking debater cannot answer the question until the debater who requested it has not finished the question or the time given for 15 seconds has not yet finished (which come first). A debater cannot cancel the explaination which was accepted by the opposing team.
14. OBJECTION DURING DEBATING SESSION
14.1. Objection in this contects means objection made by a debater to the Yang di Pertuan Dewan during the debating session to attract their attention regarding the violation of rules such as:
14.3. If the objection is accepted, the Yang di Pertua Dewan can order the involved debater to obey the rules and the time used to make the objection will be counted as a part of the speech of the debater. Otherwise, if the objection is rejected, the debater will be given an extr time to replace the time used during the objection was made.
15. APPEAL
15.1. The judge's decision is final.
15.2 If there is any technical appeals, please inform them to the Competition Officials or the organising committee as soon as possible after each debating session.
15.3. If the organising committee found any mistakes atau errors during the handling of debating sessions (technical matters only), action will be taken so that it will not effect any side's importance. If necessary, the judge and contestants will be informed so that it will not be repeated again.
16. DEBATING MOTION
16.1. The debating motion of Malay and English will be given during registration day while the motion for Arabic will be given together with the competition's rules.
6.1. The draw for role as government/opposition will be done 30 minutes before the debating session begins. Any on going time is included in the 30 minutes given. All teams are advised to be on time.
6.2. Any team who fails to attend 15 minutes after the debating session starts will be disqualified and considered lost.
6.3. Only four (4) registered debaters are allowed to make discussions during preparation time. No outside help are allowed.
7. DEBATING STRUCTURE
7.1. Debating will be done in Malay, English and Arabic ala Malaysian parliament.
7.2. Each round consists of two (2) teams which are the government (in favour) and the opposition. Each team consist of three (3) debaters and one reserve.
7.3. The government team consists of the Prime Minister and two (2) government members while the opposition team consists Opposition Leader and two (2) opposition members.
7.4. Each debater must give a substantive speech. The conclusion speech by the government team and opposition team can be delivered by either the main speaker or the the second debater from each team.
7.5. The time limit and speech order for each debater is as follow:
- Substantive Speech
- Prime Minister/main speaker: 7 minutes
- Opposition Leader/first opposition: 7 minutes
- First Government Member/second in favour speaker: 7 minutes
- Second Oppositon Member/second opposition: 7 minutes
- Second Government Member/second in favour speaker: 7 minutes
- Third Opposition Member/third opposition: 7 minutes
- Conclusion Speech
- Conclusion by Opposition: 4 minutes
- Conclusion by Government: 4 minutes
7.7. As for the conclusion speech, the bell will be sounded once at the first 3 minutes and twice when the time of speech has ended.
7.8. A debater who exceeds the time limit until 30 second will be given a warning by the Yang Di Pertua Dewan (Speaker). The debater will be asked to finish their speech and can be given a penalty.
8. ROLE OF EACH TEAM
8.1. The role of the government is to make a motion. They have to define the motion, give evidence/case that support their motion and decline any challenge from the opposition about their motion.
8.2. The role for the opposition team is to object motion. They have to asnwer the government's definition and if necessary, make a new opposing argument to object the motion made by the governmet.
9. JUDGING
9.1. Every debating session will be judged by one judge panel. The number of judges must be odd.
9.2. In the early rounds, one judge will become the Yang Di Pertua Dewan and will be addressed as Sir/Maam Yang di Pertua. In the final round, the Yang di Pertua will not be selected form the panel of judges.
9.3. The Yang di Pertua Dewan is responsible to invite debaters to make their speech, supervise the manner of the event, make decisions about any aspects of debating procedures involved.
9.4. Judges must:
- Reach a verdict of win/lose. A tie is not allowed.
- Don't intersect or give any comments during the debating session.
- The panel of juries cannot discuss. They must make their own decision.
- If a verdict is not reached, then the majority will be used. Changes on any decisions is not allowed after the votes are given.
10. MARKS
10.1. Each substantive speech will be given a maximum of 100 marks according to:
- Points: 40 marks
- Style/presentation: 40 marks
- Technique: 20 marks
10.3. Manners will be judged in the aspect of:
- Effective arrangment and the speech structure of the debater.
- Effective arrangement and case structure of the team as a whole.
- Contiunuity of facts.
- Team work.
10.5. The conclusion speech will be a given a maximum of 50 marks according to the marking ratio of the substantive speech above.
10.6. The main marking criteria is the persuasive value which means how much the argument is really convincing and give support to the team's motion and debating aspects.
10.7. The use of outside help (books, charts, magazines etc.) during the debating session is forbidden.
10.8. All contestants must behave during the competition.
11. NEW FACTS
11.1. New facts are not allowed during the substantive speech of the third debater and conclusion speech of any team (government or opposition). New examples are not considered as new facts. Facts are considered new except:
- Has been used in any previous arguments.
- Acts as a decline to the opposing team.
12. DEFINITION
12.1. The government is responsible and have the right to give the definition of the debating motion.
12.2. he opposition side can:
- Fully accept the government's motion; or
- Fully decline the motion and give an alternative motion.
- The opposition side can only fully decline the government's motion only if:
- The government's motion has no strong connenction with the motion's real meaning.
- The government's definition is "truistic" which mean it cannot be objected with a rational argument.
- The government's definition is too specific or just include time and place that don't make sense.
13. EXPLAINATION
13.1. Explaination/intersection in this contects means explaination requested by the opposing side to correct the speaking debater or to rise a crucial fact. Explaination/intersection must be simple and is connected with what is being discussed by the debater.
13.2. The speaking debater has the right either to accept or reject the requested explaination. However, a continuous rejection or acception of the requested explaination that can affect the argument have to be taken seriously by the judge. It is recommended that each debater accept at least two (2) requested explaination. However, this competition does not limit for each debater to accept requested explaination.
13.3. Explainations must not be more than 15 seconds. The bell will be sounded after 15 seconds had passed. If the explaination/intersection has not finnished, the debater who is giving the explaination/intersection must sit down immediately.
13.4. Explaination cannot be requested before the end of the first and last minute of any substantive speech. The bell will be sounded once to indicate the beginning and also to indicate the end of time to request explaination. Explaination cannot be requested during conclusion speech.
13.5. Only members from opposing this are granted to request explaination. The debater must give an appropriate signal if they wish to intersect like standing up,raise their hand, make a request and etc.
13.6. The speaking debater can either accept or reject the requested explaination by giving a physical signal or inform by speech. If rejected, the debater who requested the explaination must sit back down and wait for another oppurtinity.
13.7. When explaination is accepted, the speaking debater cannot answer the question until the debater who requested it has not finished the question or the time given for 15 seconds has not yet finished (which come first). A debater cannot cancel the explaination which was accepted by the opposing team.
14. OBJECTION DURING DEBATING SESSION
14.1. Objection in this contects means objection made by a debater to the Yang di Pertuan Dewan during the debating session to attract their attention regarding the violation of rules such as:
- The use of rude actions or words in debating session; or
- Introduction of new facts during substantitve speech of the third debater; or
- Conclusion speech; or
- Any debater who exceeds the 30 seconds time limit given.
14.3. If the objection is accepted, the Yang di Pertua Dewan can order the involved debater to obey the rules and the time used to make the objection will be counted as a part of the speech of the debater. Otherwise, if the objection is rejected, the debater will be given an extr time to replace the time used during the objection was made.
15. APPEAL
15.1. The judge's decision is final.
15.2 If there is any technical appeals, please inform them to the Competition Officials or the organising committee as soon as possible after each debating session.
15.3. If the organising committee found any mistakes atau errors during the handling of debating sessions (technical matters only), action will be taken so that it will not effect any side's importance. If necessary, the judge and contestants will be informed so that it will not be repeated again.
16. DEBATING MOTION
16.1. The debating motion of Malay and English will be given during registration day while the motion for Arabic will be given together with the competition's rules.
