KUCHING – A dystopian world where spilling water is punished with the death sentence; a honeymoon enjoyed by coral carving their love on a captive human; and an alien team trying to save the human species by planting trees on a denuded Earth. These were the stories that crowned Faith Foo, Katrina Ling Dezhi, and Kendra Liew as the Overall Winners of their respective categories in the recent Green Microfiction Challenge 2021.
The English short story writing competition was organised by Swinburne Sarawak, Swinburne Sarawak Green Club, Kuching Beach Cleaners, and Sarawak Eco-Warriors with the support from Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The competition ramped up 148 entries from young writers all across Malaysia. Aspiring writers participated in three age categories: 13 to 15 years (Category A), 16 to 19 years (Category B), and 20 to 24 years (Category C).
A unique single-word prompt was released over five separate days where participants had to write an environment-themed short story in 500 words based on them within 24 hours. The nature-themed prompts of ‘Rafflesia’, ‘Taboo’, ‘Sprout’, ‘Reef’, and ‘Hope’ produced one daily winner each.
From these, the panel of judges selected an Overall Winner for each category. These prompts reflected on native wildlife, and the inclusivity of people and cultures into environmental conservation as well as create enthusiasm and optimism for the future.
The overall winning stories were “V101: Mission Hope” by Kendra Liew in Category A, “Honeymoon Phase” by Katrina Ling Dezhi in Category B, and “Dry Thoughts in a Dry Season” by Faith Foo in Category C. At the online Awards Presentation, the Overall Winners read their winning stories aloud 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.
In Category A, second place went to Joshua Chong Qi Xiang for his story, “The Last Sprout Saver” and third place went to Rebecca Ting Fu Ning for her story, “The Diary of Chmumr, Alien Universe”. Consolation Prizes in this category went to Wenny Lai Carter for “The Holy Rafflesia of the Shrine of Aria” and Lucas Wong Qin Le for his piece “The Future”.
Second place in Category B went to Overall Winner, Katrina Ling Dezhi for her story, “Coming Out” while third place went to Tan Tzy Lynn who penned “The Museum of Vanished Things”. Katrina also took Consolation Prize with her story “How It’s Made: Brussel Sprouts” along with Natasha Lee Phey Ying whose story was called “Human Error”.
In Category C, Overall Winner Faith Foo also took second place for his story, “Truths of Integrity” while third place went to Tan Fong Jian for his story, “The Forest People”. This category was dominated by Faith and Fong Jian as each won a Consolation Prize as well, Fong Jian for “A New Era” and Faith for “Over-Caffeinated over Coral City”.
“We do not need to focus only on the science or the economics of conservation,” remarked Swinburne Sarawak Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer Ir. Professor Lau Hieng Ho at the online Awards Presentation. “But also on imagination, creativity, and stories that take us into different worlds and perspectives.”
As explained by Organising Chair Mark Liao who is also the founding President of the Sarawak Eco-Warriors, the competition aims to encourage aspiring young writers to write for the conservation cause. Not only did this competition give creative writers an avenue to explore new ideas, it also promoted a heightened awareness of the related issues, as the writers had to delve deep into these issues to be able to produce impactful stories.
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,” said Yin.
The winning entries, as well as daily honourable mentions can be viewed at https://www.kuchingyounggreen.com/microfiction.
For more information or participation in conservation events and activities, follow the organising teams on Instagram for Swinburne Sarawak Green Club (@swinsarawakgreenclub), Kuching Beach Cleaners (@kuchingbeachcleaners), and Sarawak Eco-Warriors (@sarawakecowarriors).
For more information about Swinburne, visit its website www.swinburne.edu.my, Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).