NUS team records historic first title for Singapore at Australasian debate competition
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The NUS team comprising (from left) Mr Cavan Tay, Ms Rei Ya Yeo and Mr Justin Tay, defeated a team from the Australian National University in the grand final.
PHOTO: NUS ENGLISH DEBATE TEAM
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SINGAPORE – A team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has been crowned the champions of the South China Australasian Intervarsity Debate Championships (Australs) – a first for Singapore in the tournament’s 50-year history.
On July 12, the NUS TTY team comprising Cavan Tay, Justin Tay (no relation), and Rei Ya Yeo defeated a team from the Australian National University in the grand final of the Australs to emerge champions of the 50-team tournament.
“This championship win felt larger than ourselves,” the trio told The Straits Times in a statement on July 13.
“Australs specifically has always been dominated by larger and more established institutions primarily from Australia, with strong alumni networks and an impressive institutional record of wins.
“As an Asian team in the competition, there was definitely a sense of being the underdog, which made our series of wins... exceptionally exciting.”
The 2025 edition of the annual competition was held in Guangzhou, China.
In the grand final, the two teams clashed on the topic of whether Pacific Island nations should prioritise buying land from neighbouring developing countries over seeking permanent residence in developed countries as a response to rising sea levels.
The NUS TTY team debated for the negative in a heated match that lasted over an hour.
Five out of seven judges voted to declare them the winner.
There was further joy for Mr Cavan Tay, 26, an incoming year 4 student majoring in business administration, who became the first representative from Singapore to pick up two individual gongs – Overall Best Speaker and Best Speaker In The Grand Final – at the Australs, in addition to the championship win.
Teammate Justin, 23, a politics, philosophy and economics major, was feted as the competition’s Best Reply Speaker.
The trio added: “For all of us, the win still feels surreal, and hasn’t completely (sunk in) yet.
“The emotion at the forefront of our minds was pride and gratitude, pride to be the first Singaporean team ever to bring home the Australs Championship title, and immense gratitude to our support system of fellow NUS debate seniors, alumni and present members who cheered us on every step of the way.”
This marks the NUS English Debate Team’s third consecutive victory at a major debate competition.
Its teams had also triumphed at the United Asian Debating Championship 2025, also in Guangzhou, in June, and Krabi Asian British Parliamentary 2024, in the southern Thai province in October 2024.
Its next big competition is the World Universities Debating Championships, which will be held in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia in December.
NUS had sent two teams to compete at the Australs in 2025.
The NUS CDL team – which comprised speakers Lee Wei Le, Ian Dylan Chai and Rdu Dillon – saw its run end in the semi-finals, but still had reason to celebrate with Mr Chai and Ms Dillon ranked among the top 10 speakers.
The Straits Times has contacted NUS for more information.
