KUCHING, Aug 23: Faith Foo, Katrina Ling Dezhi and Kendra Liew were crowned as the overall winners in the Green Microfiction Challenge 2021 English short story writing competition last Saturday (Aug 21).
Kendra won the 13 to 15 age category with her ‘V101: Mission Hope’ while Katrina won the 16 to 19 age category with ‘Honeymoon Phase’ and Faith Foo with ‘Dry Thoughts in a Dry Season’ for the 20 to 24 age category.
At the online awards presentation ceremony, the overall winners read their winning stories out loud and fielded questions from the audience alongside the judges who also discussed the merits of the stories including plot twists, character development and the unique worlds that provided the settings of the microfiction pieces.
Speaking at the ceremony, Pro Vice-Chancellor and chief executive officer (CEO) of Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus Professor Lau Hieng Ho, said the writers do not need to focus only on the science or the economics of conservation, but also on imagination, creativity and stories that take them into different worlds and perspectives.
Meanwhile, Swinburne’s School of Foundation Studies senior lecturer and Green Club Advisor, chief judge and co-organiser Dr Christina Yin expressed her support for the Green Microfiction Challenge.
“The competition produced stories from young writers that were remarkable in the variety and depth of understanding of conservation issues and creative twists of plot, tone and character.
“Their voices spoke out for our environment and wildlife in unique ways. With such knowledge, understanding and creativity, the youth are a driving force to make positive change to conserve this Earth we live in,” she said.
The competition which was organised by Kuching Beach Cleaners, Sarawak Eco-Warriors, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak campus, and Swinburne Sarawak Green Club with the support from Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aimed to encourage aspiring young writers to write for the conservation cause.
According to Sarawak Eco-warriors, the competition ramped up a total of 148 entries from young writers all across Malaysia. A unique single-word prompt was released on five separate days and participants had to write an environment-themed short story in 500 words or less based on the prompt within 24 hours.
“The five single-word prompts were ‘Rafflesia’, ‘Taboo’, ‘Sprout’, ‘Reef’, and ‘Hope’ and each of these produced one daily winner in each of the categories.
“From these, an overall winner for each category was selected by the panel of judges, language lecturers from Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus,” it said in a statement today.
The full winning entries, as well as honourable mentions can be viewed at https://www.kuchingyounggreen.
To find out about or to participate in more conservation events and activities, follow the organising team on Instagram; Swinburne Sarawak Green Club at @swinsarawakgreenclub, Kuching Beach Cleaners at @kuchingbeachcleaners and Sarawak Eco-warriors at @sarawakecowarriors. — DayakDaily
