City University English Debating Team
香港城市大學英文辯論隊

British Parliamentary Debate WUDC Activities Executive Committee Member List Photos E-mail

City University English Debating Team opens its doors to all UGC-funded students who show interest in debating and capability in logical thinking. We believe one may stand from different viewpoints and exchange ideas through debating. Members also actively participate in weekly trainings and international competitions to compete with elites from all over the world.

We are a group of enthusiastic and active students who continuously seek to challenge our own stance of things, hoping to sharpen our minds to understand the reasoning and the consequence of all matters and actions.

The style of debate our team practices is mainly British Parliamentary ("BP"). Motion is given on the day of debating and each team would have 15 minutes to prepare for the speeches. Each speaker in the team has to give a 7 minute speech on issue of world's significance.

British Parliamentary Debate

Many university level institutions in English speaking nations sponsor parliamentary debate teams, but the format is currently spreading to the high school and middle school levels as well. Despite the name, the Parliamentary style is not related to debates in governmental parliaments.

BP Basics:
In BP there are 4 teams (2 debaters in a team, so 8 debaters in total) in each round. Two teams represent the Government, and two teams represent the Opposition. The Government supports the resolution, and the Opposition opposes the resolution. The teams are also divided into the Opening and Closing halves of the debate. The teams are organized like this in the room:

Government (Proposition) Opposition
Upper house (upper half) Opening Government (OG) Opening Opposition (OO)
Lower house (lower half) Closing Government (CG) Closing Opposition (CO)

There are two speakers on each team. Each speaker has a title. The titles are:

OG: Prime Minister OO: Leader of the Opposition
Deputy Prime Minister Deputy Leader of the Opposition
CG: Member of the Government CO: Member of the Opposition
Government Whip Opposition Whip


The speaking order is as follows:

  1. Prime Minister First Speaker, OG
  2. Leader of the Opposition First Speaker, OO
  3. Deputy Prime Minister Second Speaker, OG
  4. Deputy Leader of the Opposition Second Speaker, OO
  5. Member of the Government First Speaker, CG
  6. Member of the Opposition First Speaker, CO
  7. Government Whip Second Speaker, CG
  8. Opposition Whip Second Speaker, CO

Debates are presided over by a Speaker, who is often the Chair of the adjudicator panel. The Speaker keeps time and calls debaters to the floor.

All teams are given 15 minutes to prepare for the topic at hand. Each debater has 7 minutes to speak. The first and last minutes are protected time. This means that no POIs may be offered during this time. The Speaker will give a signal at the end and the beginning of protected time, at the seven-minute mark, and at the end of grace. The Speaker will probably not give time signals otherwise, so it is recommended that debaters bring a stopwatch to time themselves or their partner.

(With reference to http://parliamentarydebate.blogspot.com/2007/08/british-parliamentary-debate.html)

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World Universities Debating Championship

The World Universities Debating Championship ("WUDC") is the world's largest debating tournament, and one of the largest annual international student events in the world. It is a parliamentary debating event, held using a variant of the British Parliamentary Debate format. Each year, the event is hosted by a university selected by the World Universities Debating Council. The tournament is colloquially referred to as Worlds. Think of the Olympics, for Debate.

The worlds are usually held during the beginning of the new year. However, WUDC 2022 is currently scheduled to commence in July.

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Activities

  • Academic Year 2022/23
    • Philippines: Diliman Debate Open (December 2022)
    • Japan: Japan British Parliamentary (December 2022)
    • Malaysia: Sunway Debate Open (December 2022)
    • Bali, Indonesia: Asian British Parliamentary Championship (January 2023)
  • Academic Year 2021/22
    • China: Strait Debate Open (September 2021)
    • Macau, China: MUST Supernova English Debate Tournament (April 2022)
    • Belgrade, Serbia: Worlds University Debating Championship (July 2022)
  • Academic Year 2020/21
    • South Korea: World Universities Debating Championship, Korea 2021 (July 2021)
    • Monash, Australia:Monash Australs 2021 (July 2021)
    • Taiwan, China:Taiwan Debate Open 2021 (May 2021)
    • Taiwan, China: Taiwan Debate Open 2020 (May 2020)
    • Philippine:Philippines Debate Open (May 2021)
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint Universities Debating Championship (JUDC) (March 2021)
    • Malaysia: Malaysian Debate Open 2021 (March 2021)
    • Hong Kong, China:Hong Kong Pro-Ams (June 2020)
    • Macau, China:MUST Supernova English Debate Tournament 2020 (March 2020)
    • Macau, China:UM Novice Debating Championship 2021 (February 2021)
    • Shenzhen, China:Guangdong Debate Challenge 2020 (November 2020)
    • Hong Kong, China:Hong Kong Intervarsity Novice Workshop and Tournament (October 2020)
    • Bali, Indonesia:United Asian Debating Championships 2020 (December 2020)
  • Academic Year 2019/20
    • Macau, China: UM Novice Debating Championship 2020 (February 2020)
    • Macau, China: MUST Supernova English Debate Tournament 2020 (March 2020)
    • Seoul, South Korea: Seoul Open 2020 (July 2020)
    • Taiwan, China: Taiwan Debate Open 2020 (May 2020)
    • Shanghai, China: Shanghai International Debate Open 2020 (April 2020)
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint Universities Debating Championship (JUDC) (March 2020)
    • Bangkok, Thailand: World Universities Debating Championship, Thailand 2020 (January 2020)
    • Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Debate Open 2019 (November 2019)
    • Hong Kong, China: Newcomers' Competition and Workshop 2019 (October 2019)
    • Macau, China: Macau Asian Parliamentary Debate Open 2020 (April 2020)
    • Taiwan, China: North-East Asia Open, Taiwan (TBC)
    • Guangzhou, China: Guangdong Debate Challenge (November 2019)
    • Shenzhen, China: Shenzhen Debate Open (TBC)
  • Academic Year 2018/19
    • Seoul, South Korea: Seoul Open (July 2019)
    • Taiwan, China: Taiwan Debate Open (May 2019)
    • Shanghai, China: Shanghai International Debate Open (SIDO) (April 2019)
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint Universities Debating Championship (JUDC) (March 2019)
    • Cape Town, South Africa: World Universities Debating Championship,Cape Town 2019 (December 2018)
    • Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Debate Open 2018(November 2018)
    • Hong Kong, China: Newcomers’ Competition and Workshop (October 2018)
    • Macau, China: Macau Asian Parliamentary Debate Open (April 2018)
    • Bandung, Indonesia: United Asian Debate Competition, Bandung, Indonesia
    • Guangzhou, China: North-East Asia Open, Guangzhou
  • Academic Year 2017/18
    • Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Debate Open (November 2017)
    • Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Pro-Ams (March, 2018)
    • Shanghai, China: Shanghai International Debate Open (SIDO) (April 2017)
  • Academic Year 2014/15
    • Hong Kong, China:Hong Kong Debate Open (November 2014)
    • Shah Alam, Malaysia: World Universities Debating Championship (December 2014)
    • Hong Kong, China:Dual Culture Cup (January 2015)
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint Universities Debating Championship (March 2015)
    • Macau, China: Macau Asian Parliamentary Debate Open (April 2015)
    • Taipei, Taiwan: Taiwan Debate Open (May 2015)
    • Bali, Indonesia: United Asian Debating Championship (June 2015)
  • Academic Year 2013/14
    • Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Debate Open (November 2013)
    • Solbridge, South Korea: North East Asian Open (November 2013)
    • Chennai, India: World University debating Championships (December 2013 - January 2014)
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint University Debating Competition (JUDC) (February 2014)
    • Tokyo, Japan: International Christian University Tournament (ICUT) (March 2014)
    • Singapore: United Asian Debate Competition (May 2014)
  • Academic Year 2012/13
    • Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Debate Open (November 2012)
    • Seoul, South Korea: North East Asian Open (November 2012)
    • Berlin, Germany: World Universities Debating Championship (December 2012 - January 2013)
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint University Debating Competition (JUDC) (February 2013)
    • Tokyo, Japan: International Christian University Tournament (ICUT) (March 2013)
  • Academic Year 2010/11
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint Universities Debating Championship (JUDC) (October 2010 - May 2011)
    • Botswana: World Universities Debating Championship (December 2010 - January 2011)
    • Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Debate Open (October 2010)
    • Macau, China: North East Asian Open (October - November 2011)
    • Beijing, China: FLTRP Cup (May 2011)
    • Macau, China: United Asian Debating Championships (May 2011)
  • Academic Year 2009/10
    • Hong Kong, China: BP Beginner Workshop by Mr. Loke Wing Fatt (Sept 2010)
    • Hong Kong, China: Joint University Debating Competition (JUDC) 2009-2010
    • Singapore: Singapore NTU Dorothy Cheung Debating Championship (27/3- 28/3/2010)
    • Macau, China: Macau IMP Workshop (1/4-5/4/2010)
    • Beijing, China: FLTRP Chinese National English Debating Competition (15/5-25/5/2010)
    • Xian, China: Xian China BP Open (27/5- 30/5/2010)
    • Macau, China: Friendly Match with Macau University (20/6-21/6/2010)

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    Executive Committee Member List 2023 - 2024

    WONG Kwan Yin Mendoza (Captain)
    CHUNG Wai Yan (Vice-Captain)
    DOTDOT Alfs Bryan Pabellan (Treasurer)
    CASTANEDA Yani Kaye Linsangan (Administrative Secretary)
    CHUNG Wai Yan (Information Manager)

    Photos

    Bali Asian British Parliamentary Championship 2022

     

    Asian British Parliamentary 2019

     

    Guangdong Debate Challenge 2019

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