Heart-wrenching tale wins top prize
FIFTH former Tong Yan Yin’s heart-wrenching tale about a teacher who helps a pupil who is a victim of abuse, has been named the Grand Winner of the 2018 Oxford Big Write competition.
Yan Yin, 17, who is studying at SMK Gelang Patah, Johor, won a cash prize of RM2,000.
Her winning essay won her school a stack of books published by Oxford Fajar to the equivalent of her height.
Based on this year’s competition theme, “Hero”, Yan Yin’s story, “Not Your Typical Hero” is about a teacher who identifies a young pupil who is a victim of child abuse. The teacher intervenes and helps the pupil despite encountering resistance for her action.
“Such competitions offer a wonderful opportunity to showcase your writing skills!” she said.
Open to Malaysian students aged 15 to 17, the competition was held from March 1 to May 6 and attracted 1,357 entries from 285 schools. SMK Tinggi Perempuan Melaka submitted 395 entries and won a certificate and trophy for the highest number of entries.
Oxford Fajar managing director Sharmini Nagulan said: “This initiative is aimed at providing students with fun and engaging ways to learn and explore the English language through creative writing.”
“We recently conducted a Perceptions of Impact study on the inaugural 2017 Oxford Big Write Campaign (which encompassed the Creative Writing workshops, the Big Write competition and the Winners’ Camp), and the study showed that the campaign positively increased students’ enjoyment of learning the English language,” she said.
These findings, she added, together with the positive responses received, gave the company the impetus to continue with this campaign. This is also in line with the objectives of the Education Ministry’s Highly Immersive Programme to improve English proficiency.
One of the competition judges Sharon Bakar said: “I am pleased with the quality of entries for this year’s Oxford Big Write competition. Overall the students demonstrated better writing skills, creativity and talent for story-telling.”
Others on the judging team were University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus Post Graduate Certificate Higher Education Programme director Assoc Prof Datin Dr Cynthia Yolanda Doss and Oxford Fajar’s ELT section editorial manager Ooi Guat Kuan.
Yan Yin was one of the top 10 finalists of the competition who were rewarded with an opportunity to take part in the Oxford Big Write Creative Writing Camp.