Arul is a good debater, says Rafizi

PETALING JAYA: Arul Kanda Kandasamy has been described as “the legend of Malaysian debating circles” by PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli.

According to him, Arul, who is 1Malaysia Development Bhd CEO and president, had led a debating team that repeatedly won the Prime Minister’s Cup (PPM) in the 1990s.

The Pandan MP mentioned this in a blog post on Sept 1, 2010, in which he was paying tribute to his late friend Adlan Benar Omar, or Ben.

“In the ‘90s, the PPM was won repeatedly by RMC (Royal Military College) helmed by one Arulkanda Kandasamy,” he wrote.

The PPM was a contest held between boarding schools that began in 1974 at the Royal Malay College, Kuala Kangsar, and it was launched to fulfil the wishes of the late Tun Abdul Razak who wanted to see the boarding schools create dynamic and intelligent leaders.

Ten schools took part initially – Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim in Kedah,  Sekolah Tun Fatimah in Johor; Sekolah Alam Shah in Kuala Lumpur, the Royal Malay College in  Kuala Kangsar and Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Perak, Sekolah Datuk Abdul Razak in  Negeri Sembilan and  Kolej Tunku Kurshiah in Negeri Sembilan, Sekolah Seri Puteri and the Royal Military College in Kuala Lumpur and Kolej Islam Klang in Selangor.

By 2015, 70 boarding schools and military colleges took part in the preliminary rounds, the semi-finals and finals of the PPM at Sekolah Menengah Sains Batu Pahat, Johor, the school that won the 42nd PPM.

Rafizi wrote of how he crossed paths with Arul Kanda as a student in the United Kingdom.

“Later on, we crossed path as the three of us were all in UKEC (United Kingdom & Eire Council of Malaysian Students) in the UK – and Arul Kanda (the legend of the Malaysian debating circles) used to marvel endlessly at Ben’s debating prowess,” Rafizi wrote.

In a text message on Saturday, Arul admitted that he was indeed the youngest and best overall speaker in the PPM contest when he was a Form One student.

“I was the youngest ever winner of the International Plain Speaking Award in Form Two, representing Malaysia in Australia, and the rest was PPM history until Form Five,” he said.

On Saturday, Arul said that he would meet Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua for a live televised discussion or debate without any conditions.

“I look forward to having this discussion so we can debate all the questions Pua has,” he said.

Arul also thanked RTM for agreeing to facilitate the live debate.

After the announcement, Pua posted his thanks to Arul on Facebook for accepting the challenge and withdrawing his earlier condition.

On Wednesday night, Arul appeared on Bernama TV for an interview, which prompted Pua to say only “recycled” answers were given.

Pua, then challenged Arul to a “live talk show” which he would host and ask the questions.

Arul responded by saying he was agreeable to it, but only if Pua first stepped down from the Public Accounts Committee.

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