The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recently organised the MACC Chief Commissioner's Cup 2024 Anti-Corruption Debate Competition for Higher Education Institutions (IPT) in collaboration with the Malaysian Universities Debating Council (MADUM), UTP, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), and the Anti-Corruption Student Force (AMAR).
The three-day event held at UTP covered all stages, including the preliminary round, quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals. The final round was also broadcast live on Astro AWANI, DBP, and UTP's social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Haji Azam Baki officiated the event and later presented the prizes to the winners.
In his remarks, UTP Vice Chancellor, Professor Dato' Ir Ts Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib emphasised that UTP consistently instils the values of integrity in its students, producing versatile global graduates.
"This debate competition is the best platform not only to foster the value of integrity but also to hone the students' critical thinking skills and encourage them to voice their opinions on important issues such as corruption and integrity. We at UTP are proud to host and collaborate in this commendable effort,” he added.
The debate competition was conducted entirely in the Malay language, following the 'Asian Parliamentary Debate' format. Each team consisted of three main debaters and one reserve debater, divided into the Government and the Opposition.
A panel of 60 judges, experts in public speaking, language style, and current corruption-related issues, evaluated the competition. The judges were from MADUM, DBP.
This year, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia was crowned the champion. The three debaters who acted as the opposition on a motion titled "This House Refutes the Involvement of Relatives or Allies for State Assemblymen, Members of Parliament and Administrative Members in the Procurement of Tenders and Projects from the Government" took home prizes in the form of round trophies, accompanying trophies, RM14,000 in cash, books by DBP and certificates of achievement.
The UKM team's victory became even more meaningful when one of its debaters, Hafiz Hafizi Norependi, was announced as the best debater in the final round. He took home a cash prize of RM2,000 and a certificate of achievement.
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya’s team emerged as the runner-up, taking home prizes in the form of an accompanying trophy, RM8,000 cash, books and certificates of achievement.
Also present at the event were International Islamic University Malaysia Deputy Rector and MADUM Deputy Chairman Professor Dr Akmal Khuzairy Abdul Rahman, DBP Director General Dr Hazami Jahari and MACC Community Education Division Director TPj Nazli Rasyid Sulong.
