Ten winning stories published into ‘Borneo Tales’ anthology
SANDAKAN: Ten winning stories were awarded with cash prizes and acknowledgement by Future Alam Borneo and Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre on March 15.
The winning entries came from students of secondary schools in Sandakan and were published into an anthology entitled ‘Borneo Tales’.
“The project started off with a series of creative writing workshops held in July 2017 among secondary school students. Conducted by award-winning writers and illustrators - Heidi Shamsuddin, Lim Lay Koon and Gina Yap Lai Yoong - the workshops inspired creative writing among students who were then encouraged to join the Borneo Book Project writing competition,” said Anton Ngui, chairman of Future Alam Borneo.
Eighteen entries were received from more than 10 schools, a good response since it was the first creative writing competition held in Sandakan by Future Alam Borneo. Ten winning entries were shortlisted and put together to be published as an anthology, with illustrations by Sabahan artists.
The judging panel included Anton Ngui, Julia Morse, former British Council educator in Sabah, and Gina Yap Lai Yoong, president of the Malaysian Writers Society.
The project is also supported by the Embassy of the United States of America, Kuala Lumpur. This included cash prizes totaling RM2,000 awarded to all 10 winning teams.
The prizes were given away by Gina Yap Lai Yoong and founder of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Dr Wong Siew Te, at a prize giving event held at San Da Gen kopitiam.
Borneo Tales will be available for sales at the beginning of April 2018. Proceeds from the book sales will go towards organising future writing workshops and opportunities of publishing for students to continue expressing their creative flair in writing environmental-themed stories.