YSA team wins inaugural debate festival

Here’s another first for YSA.

Its three-member team emerged champion of the first Debate Festival. Organised by Singapore Khalsa Association, the series was held over a six month period, starting in September last year.

Comprising young professionals, the YSA team won all its preliminary rounds and the semifinal convincingly before meeting the team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in the grand final on 27 February 2005. The motion for the final was that the House proposes reserving jobs for older workers.

The YSA team called upon the government to for a legislation to reserve employment for older workers. This, it believed, was important to bring about a mindset change among employers on the need to consider older Singaporeans for work. It argued that incentives would not bring about such a mindset change. It also proposed greater training and retraining opportunities for these workers so that they remain employable.

The YSA team, led by Harveen Singh Narulla, emerged victorious, following a unanimous decision by the panel of adjudicators. One of its debaters, Christopher Yuen, was also chosen as the best speaker in the final.

It was indeed a sweet end to an interesting competition. YSA is proud of its young talented debaters