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Article contributed by Noor Arianti Osman, with photos by Mohd Yunus Zakariah, courtesy of H & G Strategic Communications.

The Bar Council Human Rights Committee (“BCHRC”) celebrated the 62nd International Human Rights Day on 10 Dec 2010 by raising public awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities. 

One of the events carried out was the Bar Council Human Rights Debate 2010 themed “Against All Odds – Making a Difference for Human Rights”.  The event was held from 9 to 12 Dec 2010 at KDU University College, Section 13 Campus. The Debate, which was successfully inaugurated in 2008, is the first debating tournament in the world to be hosted by a statutory body of legal professionals.  The event attracted participants from national and international universities, schools and the general public to discuss issues related to national and international human rights norms and principles.  The 2010 Debate was also unique, in that RM25,000 of the prize money was donated equally to five organisations caring or advocating for persons with disabilities from all over Malaysia.  They were the National Autism Society of Malaysia, Persatuan Insan Istimewa Kelantan (INSANI), Persatuan Orang-Orang Cacat Anggota Malaysia (POCAM), Persatuan Orang-Orang Cacat Penglihatan Islam Malaysia (PERTIS) and Tabung Amanah Makmal Kanak-Kanak Istimewa of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Faculty of Education. 

A total of 18 institutions, represented by 56 debaters in 28 teams, from Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and Singapore, participated in the Debate, which was conducted based on the British Parliamentary debating format.  Some of the topics mooted were “Religious organisations should NOT be allowed to sponsor political campaigns”, “Celebrate Wikileaks”, “Gender is a choice, not an accident” and “Child labour in Third World countries”.

The motion for the grand final event, which took place at the Bar Council Auditorium, was “Free tertiary education must be given to persons with disabilities”.  It was debated between teams from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and World Universities Peace Invitational Debate-National University Singapore (“WUPID-NUS”), and Malaysian Institute of Debate and Public Speaking and Cuepacs Institute of Nominal Studies (“CINS”).


The WUPID-NUS team, represented by Alvin Tan and Robin Teo, came out as champion for the tournament.  The runner-up was the CINS team, represented by Praba Ganesan and Suthen Thomas.  Suthen Thomas was also awarded best speaker for the final round. 

The Debate, which aimed to promote free speech, create greater awareness regarding human rights standards and advocate the important principles of international human rights law, was a success.  Furthermore, it was able to combine intellectual discourse while taking into regard different views and perspectives. 


BCHRC would like to record its appreciation to all the sponsors – the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, High Commission of Canada, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Messrs Saha & Associates, and National Society of Human Rights of Malaysia (HAKAM) – for their generous contributions.  A special word of thanks also goes to the Chairperson of the Debate’s Organising Committee, Khaizan Sharizad (Sherrie) bt Ab Razak, and H&G Strategic Communications, for organising the event.