1st United Asian Debating Championships, Bangkok

Greetings from the first United Asian Debating Champions, hosted by Assumption University in Bangkok. This tournament was especially important because as the Asian debate community came together after 5 years of separation, the crisis peaked in Bangkok - a stark reminder of the importance and relevance of debate. We were based about 30 minutes from the center of the protests, but the tournament progressed largely unaffected. The tournament ended yesterday.

For the first time, we broke 24 teams to represent the larger pool of participants. Teams 9th to 24th debated in a pre-octofinal break round.

Results

Champions of the first UADC - Ateneo de Manila University 2 (Walter Wong, Cecile Gotamco, Danielle de Castro)
Finalists - Nanyang Technology University 1 (Parvathy Prem, Anindya Dutta, Satya Venugopal)
Ateneo won 6-5 on the motion, THW Abolish ethnic based parties.

Semifinalists

• National Law School India 1 (Vipul Nanda, Kalrav Rakesh Mishra, Shivam Singh) - lost 4-3 to Ateneo 2
• Ateneo de Manila University 1 (Angelica Mangahas, Vincenzo Tagle, Stephanie Co) - lost 6-1 to NTU 1

Quarter Finalist

• International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) 1
• Mahidol University (MUIC) 1
• University of Technology MARA (UT MARA) 2
• University Philippines Manial (UPM) 1

Octofinalists

• Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) 3
• National University of Singapore (NUS) 2
• National University of Singapore 1
• National University of Singapore 4
• RV College of Engineering (RVCE) 1
• University of Colombo (FOLC) 1
• University of Santo Tomas 1
• University of Technology MARA 1

Pre-octofinalists

• De LaSalle University (DLSU) 1
• De LaSalle University 2
• De LaSalle University 3
• Delhi University (DU) 1
• EWHA Womens University (EDiS) 1
• Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) 1
• Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 4
• University Philippines Deliman (UPD) 2

EFL Results, Speaker, Adjudicator and Team tab, and videos to follow.

Motions

Round 0 – Ban

• THW ban websites that do your assignments for you
• THBT that governments should totally ban smoking
• THW ban hymen reconstruction surgery

Round 1 – Religion

• THBT the right to free speech does not extend to offending religions
• THBT religious organizations should pay taxes on donations received and assets owned
• THBT the Pope should be prosecuted for the crimes of Roman Catholic priests

Round 2 – Medical Ethics

• THBT Doctors should be obligated to report suspected cases of domestic abuse
• THBT Doctors should not be forced to perform medical procedures that are against their faith
• THW Ban treatments that claim to cure homosexuality

Round 3 – Post Conflict

• THBT post conflict societies should recruit rebel soldiers into state armies
• THBT that it is justified to represent fallen regimes as absolutely evil in history textbooks
• THW confiscate property of those who cooperated with oppressive regimes after the fall of the regime

Round 4 – Big Cities

• THW pay youth to not move to urban centers
• THW place a prohibitive tax on car ownership
• THW impose curfews in high crimes areas 

Round 5 – Media

• THBT that western liberal democracies should ban online anonymity
• THBT the willingness to participate in formal public election debates should be a pre-requisite for candidates running for national office
• THW ban advertisements that use sex to sell products

Round 6 – Pop Culture / Art

• THBT Harry Potter has done more harm than good for literature
• THBT that important characters in movies should be portrayed by actors of the same ethnicity
• THW impose a minimum age for pop stars

Round 7 – International Relations

• THBT it’s time the US recognize Hamas as a legitimate representative of Palestine
• THBT the NLD should not boycott the elections in Burma
• THBT the leaders of nations that stockpile agricultural products for economic gain while global hunger persists should be charged with crimes against humanity

Round 8 – Social Dilemmas

• THW compel children to care for their parents
• THW allow minors to apply to be recognised as adults before they reach they age of majority
• THBT individuals who have undergone cosmetic surgery should be required to disclose it to anyone whom they want to have children with.

Pre-Octos - WTO

• THBT Russia should be admitted as a full member into the WTO now
• THBT the WTO should hold all countries to uniform labour standards
• THBT the WTO dispute regulation mechanism should allow disregarding intellectual property as a form of retaliation to unfair trade practices

Octofinals - Environment

• THW make environmental protection a legitimate defense in the prosecution of destruction of property
• THBT The environmental movement should publish outright lies about the extent of environment harm to promote their cause
• THBT governments should only subcontract to environmentally friendly companies

Quarters Finals and EFL Semifinals – Immigration

• THBT ASEAN nations should accept Burmese refugees
• THS accept migrants even if they do not respect laws banning polygamy
• THW give asylum to sexual minorities

Semis – Sexy Time

• THBT gay parades do more harm than good to the gay community
• THW fund sex change operations
• THBT women should withhold sex with their partners to get them to end violent rebellion against the state

EFL Finals – Crime and Punishment

• THW create a DNA registry of all criminals
• THW physically castrate rapists
• THBT prisoners sentence to life without parole should be allowed to choose the death penalty

Finals – Asia and Unity

• THW Abolish parties based on ethnicity
• THW create an Asian Parliament
• THBT China’s rise to power is in the best interest of Asia

(Finals motions the adjudication core wanted to run but didn't)

• THBT Asia should have a common currency
• THBT Asia should have the same electric socket configuration
• THBT Asians should all drive on the same side of the road