UM Cantonese Debating Team and Mandarin Debating Team recently won the Championship and Third Place respectively at the 2023 Youth/Student Debate Contest

 The UM Cantonese Debating team (CDT) and the Mandarin Debating team (MDT) recently won the Champion and the third place respectively at the 2023 “Courtesy Living Charter” youth/student Debate Contest. Chou Chi Lok from UM CDT won the Best Debater Award in the final round.

Organized by the Municipal Affairs Bureau and co-organized by the Debating and Speech Culture Association of Macao and the Student Union of the City University of Macau, the contest aimed to create an interactive platform for young people and students in Macau to exchange ideas and share their feelings, thereby enhancing their language expression skills and promoting critical thinking. Through debates, participants further understood the importance of “good listening” and “neighborhood mutual assistance” in a civilized society, and cultivated etiquette and moral behavior in daily life. The contest also encouraged students to take an interest in participating in social affairs and to think about the direction of Macau’s future public policy development, promoting the inheritance of Chinese excellent etiquette culture.

The contest had two categories: Cantonese and Mandarin. The Cantonese category included debating teams from the University of Macau, Macau University of Science and Technology, City University of Macau, Macau Youth Team, University of Macau College Alliance, and University of Macau Shiu Pong College Team. The Mandarin category included debating teams from the University of Macau, Macau University of Science and Technology, City University of Macau, Macao Institute of Tourism Studies, and Macao Polytechnic University.

In the Cantonese category, UM CDT defeated the Macau Youth Team 3:2 in the preliminary round, and then faced the University of Macau College Alliance in the final round. The final topic was “Good listening helps the development of a civilized society”. The University of Macau sent Hong Sam Leng, a third-year student from FLL and MCMC, as the first speaker; Lei Ka Chon, a second-year student from FBA and CKLC, as the second speaker; Chou Chi Lok, a first-year student from FAH and SPC, as the third speaker; and Hoi Sin Teng, a fourth-year student from FLL and CKLC, as the final speaker. In the end, the University of Macau defeated the University of Macau College Alliance 5:0 with the highest score of the entire competition, winning the championship. In this competition, Qiu Yao Yuan, a second-year student from FSS and SPC, won the Best Debater Award in the preliminary round, Chou Chi Lok won the Best Debater Award in the final round.

In the Mandarin Category, UM MDT scored 3:2 to the Macao Polytechnic University in the preliminary round and entered the final round. The preliminary round team consisted of Cai Weiqi, a FED postgraduate student; Ling Zhexu from FSS and HFPJC; Chi Jingyu from FBA and MCMC and Wei Danyue from FBA and MLC. Wei Danyue won the Best Debater Award in the preliminary round. The debate topic for final round was “Government is more important than citizens in developing a harmonious society/Citizens are more important than the government in developing a harmonious society”. MDT sent Zhao Ziyi from FSS and HFPJC, Xiong Yunjie from FED and MCMC, Weidanyue from FBA and MLC, Chen Xinyue from FED and LCWC. MDT ultimately won the third place in the contest.