At the non-profit organization Anomali, high school and university students are trained in the English language first before they participate in the debates. (Photo courtesy of Anomali)
Not many people believe that debate can change the world. But that’s exactly what a group of young Indonesians are attempting to do.
Thirty-year-old Reggy Hasibuan founded Anomali, a nonprofit organization, with some friends in March 2003. They had been active debaters here and overseas for some years and felt like they should be sharing their skills with young Indonesians.
Reggy, who studied international relations at Bandung’s Parahyangan University, said debating had taught him to think critically.
“But it’s more than just that. Debating also taught me how to carry an argument, create a speech and put forward a case,” he said.
“Our goal is very simple, and that is to teach Indonesia’s high school and university students as much as possible about debating and encourage them to have their own English debating clubs,” Reggy added.
Riza Kuddah, 25, is an English teacher at a university in Surabaya, East Java, who also volunteers for the organization.
Riza outlined what he said were the five key reasons debating could benefit young people. He said that debating nurtured creative thinking, forced people to research topics, was an effective way to practice English, could be a good medium to make new friends and helped people learn how to deal with problems from a different perspective.
“Today’s young people are mostly passive. They just wait,” he said.
According to Riza, debating requires students to be proactive and reactive in addressing problems.
“A good debater has to be active once he or she is presented with a problem.”
Ruth Gracia Nainggolan, 16, a high school student from Jakarta, said that Anomali had motivated him to become a better debater.
“Being a debater is actually so much fun. You can express whatever you think about a problem that you have,” Ruth said.
“The best part is when you have to defend your opinion and always be able to build up good arguments,” she added.
Riza said, “It’s very important that a debater uses many angles in looking at a problem, that’s so essential.”
Not only is English the official language in debating, but according to Riza, only by using English can Indonesian students explore the world. “English has always been our main challenge, as there are still many young Indonesians who lack English proficiency,” he said.
For that reason, Anomali drills its students with lessons in the English language before they join the debates.
“But we don’t expect our students to speak perfect English. As long as they can say something pretty clearly in English, that’s fine,” Reggy said.
“We always tell our students not to worry about grammar, we want them to focus on conversational skills instead,” Riza added.
Anomali currently has two youth empowerment centers, located in Malang, East Java, and Bandung.
“But they’re not like meeting halls or anything, but at least we have a place for the volunteers and officers to brainstorm and discuss things,” Reggy said.
Anomali is run by 20 main members and five full-time officers. So far, Anomali has helped five schools in Malang, Surabaya, Bandung, Jakarta and Balikpapan in East Kalimantan establish their own English debating clubs.
In addition to the debating clubs, Anomali is trying to spread its wings by launching two other programs that focus on the urban environment and interfaith dialog at its center in Malang.
“I think the most interesting topic for everyone is politics. The debating can become quite heated when talking about politics,” Riza said.
On the flip side, students steer clear of the environment.
“That’s because the environment is a very complicated issue so most people try to avoid it,” he said.
Anomali:
Bandung
Anomali West Java
Jl. Tugu Asri II C-39 Padasuka
Bandung 40192
Malang
Anomali East Java
Jl. Semarang 12
Malang 65145
www.anomali.or.id
debatergila@anomali.or.id
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