The pilot episode of Youth Parliamentary Debathon was aired on the 27th of May 2022 and it was remarkably intense. The topic titled “Implementation of Parental Leaves?'' was debated heatedly by 10 debaters from all over Malaysia. The session was moderated by the Student Activist, Nurul Rifayah Muhammad Iqbal. 

Organised by the KiniEvents and proudly supported by our Changemaker Partner, The Body Shop Malaysia, Youth Empowerment Partner, Taylor’s College, Ministry of Youth and Sports as Supporting Partner, Malaysian Institute of Debate and Public Speaking (MIDP) as Soft Training Skill Partner, Experiential Design Team (EDT) as Metaverse Partner. Joining us this year as Co-Partners are UNDI 18, Institute for Research & Development of Policy (IRDP), Malaysian Youth Association of Diplomacy and Policy (MYADP), UNDI Sabah and The Risers. Last but not least, our Media Partners on board, Malaysiakini, KiniTV, Cilisos Media, Astro Awani and SAYS.

The debaters who participated in this session were aged between 16 to 25 years old and they have highlighted many weaknesses to do with the current law on Parental Leaves in Malaysia along with how the current Parental Leave is only applicable to parents with newborns. 

On top of these issues, the debaters have also proposed suggestions that can combat the issues with inequality in the current parental leave system and also for stakeholders to take extra initiatives to learn about their workers’ rights as well as to ensure by implementing additional parental leave will be able to strengthen economic growth from the rising female labour force participation by making it easier for women to stay in the workforce after giving birth. The statements by the debaters are still votable until the 26th June 2023. 

Muhammad Amirul Bin Aseri, a 20 years old student from UNITAR International University was awarded the Best Debater for this motion topic’s session. He was deemed outstanding by the panel of judges because he had strongly highlighted how the current Parental Leave is insufficient and it undermines gender equality and hampers parent-child bonding. He had excellently answered other debaters’ questions that were directed to him.

The Best Debater was selected by representatives of the organiser and the partners. The panel of judges were Molly Fong, Chief Executive Officer of The Body Shop Malaysia, Ts Wong Chee Kong, the Head of School for School of Diploma Studies from taylor’s College, Chia Ting Ting, Chief Commercial Officer of Malaysiakini Group; and Yan Cheng, Executive, Corporate Training & Engagement from Malaysian Institute of Debate and Public Speaking (MIDP).

The judges collectively agreed that the young debaters had some great points such as the lack of parental leave will cause the collapse of family institutions and contradicting to that, too much parental leave can reduce productivity thus also causing their work quality to deteriorate.

Vote for the debaters’ statements and also your favourite debaters from now until 26th June 2022. To better understand the debaters’ statements and suggestions, you can watch the replay of the session here. The Most Popular Debater Award winner will be announced on 29th June 2023.

Recruitment to participate as a debater for the 2nd motion topic of Youth Parliamentary Debathon 2023 is now OPEN and all submissions must reach the organiser by 23rd June 2023 (Friday). No payment is required for the submissions.

We look forward to receiving your entries and don’t miss out on the golden opportunity to debate as a nation leader yourself!