ID :
389055
Thu, 11/26/2015 - 08:29
Auther :

Malaysian PM Najib Meets With Champion Debaters From UiTM And IIUM

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak (left) Thursday met with the four students from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and International Islamic University Malaysia who emerged as champions in the prestigious Cambridge Intervarsity Debating Competition recently. Najib spent about half an hour with the students at the meeting held at Parliament building where he congratulated them on their success and gave them words of encouragement to do well at the World Universities Debating Championship to be held in Thessaloniki, Greece at the year-end. The four winning debaters, Mohd Mifzal Mohd Murshid Kieron and Jasmine Ho from UiTM and Ameera Natasha Moore and Sara Rahim from IIUM told reporters that they were touched by the recognition and encouragement from the prime minister. Mohd Mifzal, 22, said Najib's encouraging words would spur him to work harder not only at debating, but to also collaborate with the 1Malaysia for Youth (1M4U) community to help improve the debating skills of the country's youth. "I am so happy to meet the prime minister. We will train harder including reading a lot more on current issues and taking part in more debating contests in facing the upcoming world debating competition," he said. His teammate, Jasmine, 22, said she was delighted to hear from the prime minister himself that he would be supporting a lot of debates and would ensure that debating in English would be given importance in this country. UiTM created history by being the first Malaysian university to win in the four-cornered final by beating a team from the Trinity College of Dublin Historical Society and two teams from University of Toronto's Hart House A and B. Ameera Natasha, 22, and Sara, 20, of IIUM, expressed their gratitude for the recognition from the prime minister and making time to meet with them. "It is important that the prime minister recognises that what we're doing is healthy not just for the debating community, but also for the future of Malaysia. I think debating is one of the best ways to sharpen the minds of our youth," she said. Ameera Natasha and Sara defeated the Tel Aviv University team from Israel and Leiden A and Leiden B from the Netherlands to emerge as champions in the English as Second Language (ESL) category. Among the tertiary institutions that entered 128 teams in total for the debating competition were Harvard University, Oxford University, The London School of Economics and Cornell University. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA

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