Highlights/ Achievements

TAR UC Uncovers Young Writing Talents

The winning smiles… From left, Dr Karthiyani Shanmugam, Dean of FSSH, Khalishah Iman, Zoey Wong, Yun Ting, Yi Ren, Prof. Ir Dr Lee, Joyjane Ling and Olive Aarya.

 

Keona, with her passionate poetry recital.

 

Vasan plucking his guitar and tugging the heartstrings of the audience with his songs.

 

The first-ever Short Story Writing Competition was organised by the Department of English Studies under the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (‘FSSH’) to unearth talented writers among young Malaysian students from the age of 16 to 20, The objectives of this competition, to provide opportunities for students to hone their writing skills and to encourage budding writers to come forward and explore their creativity, are in line with the two Bachelor’s degree courses offered by the department, which are the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) English with Drama, as well as Bachelor of Arts (Hons) English with Education.

Students from all secondary schools in the Klang Valley were invited to participate in the competition, and under the expert judgement of renowned writer and independent filmmaker, Mr Amir Muhammad, who acted as the chief judge, six short stories were identified as the most outstanding pieces, among close to 100 entries received.

In his speech during the prize giving ceremony held on 2 August 2019, Prof. Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei, President of TAR UC, praised the winners for achieving an admirable feat, having displayed this talent in writing compelling stories eloquently in the English language at such a young age, and encouraged them to continue writing creative stories that can touch the hearts of their readers.

Among the performances during the prize giving ceremony included a heartfelt recital of a self-composed poem entitled Trees, by Keona Durga Jainudin, a first year student in the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) English with Education course, followed by a rendition of two self-composed songs by a third year student, Vasan Wei-Sheng a/l M. Saravanan, who is currently pursuing the Bachelor of Science, Microelectronics with Embedded Technology course.

Meanwhile, the consolation winners were Olive Aarya Anoop from Rafflesia International School, Khalishah Iman binti Kamarudin from SMK Cyberjaya, and Zoey Wong from Sri Kuala Lumpur Secondary School, all of whom walked away with book vouchers worth RM200.

The second runner up, Joyjane Ling Ai Leen, also from Rafflesia International School, won RM500 in cash, while the first runner up, Lai Yun Ting, from Kuen Cheng High School was presented RM700 in cash. The winner of the competition, Wong Yi Ren from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Aminuddin Baki, walked away with a cash prize of RM1000.

It is hoped that this competition will serve to inculcate not only good writing skills, but also good reading habits that will help hone the skills of these young writers.

        
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