Nine people have been selected as the winners of the 2015 Young Humanitarian Writers Competition, organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and The National Press Club Malaysia in cooperation with the Malaysian Red Crescent Society. The competition is the first of its kind in Malaysia and aims to raise awareness of today's most pressing humanitarian challenges.
The competition was launched in June to mark the 156th anniversary of the Battle of Solferino, which led to the creation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and international humanitarian law.
In keeping with the spirit of the Movement and humanitarian law, the theme for the 2015 competition was "Respecting life and human dignity." The goal was to encourage young people to discuss and better understand issues related to humanitarian law, work and principles.
The nine winners were selected from more than 130 entries submitted by writers from around the country aged between 18 and 30. The panel of judges comprised academics, media professionals and experts in communications and international humanitarian law.
The head judge, Prof. Ainul Jaria Maidin of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), was impressed by the entries, noting that they were diverse, creative and, in general, encouraging in terms of the level of humanitarian awareness they showed.
Another judge, Massila Hamzah of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), expressed the hope that more talented young writers would participate in the future because the competition offered them an outlet to express their concerns about pressing humanitarian issues across the globe.
"It encourages young writers to get informed," she said.
Here is the list of winners:
Non-journalist (Malay language) category
First prize: Siti Nur Zulaiha Binti Lailee @ Azman, from Johor
Second prize: Syahrir Azfar bin Saleh, from Selangor
Third prize: Mohd Ariff bin Mohd Noor, from Sabah
Non-journalist (English language) category
First prize: Chin Kah Loong, from Kuala Lumpur
Second prize: Darryl Tan Jie Wei, from Selangor
Third prize: Raihan Binti Mohd Ramlee @ Mohd Yacob, from Kelantan
Journalist category
First prize: May Chiam, The Star
Second prize: Yasmin Binti Abdul Manan, Bernama Kuala Lumpur
Third prize: Mohd Noor Iqram Bin Rosli, Bernama Kelantan
First prize winners will receive electronic gadgets worth 1,500 Malaysian ringgits (RM) and RM 500 in cash. Second Prize winners will receive electronic gadgets worth RM 1,000 and RM 500 in cash. Third Prize winners will receive RM 500 in cash. The cash prizes are awarded by the National Press Club.
For further information, please contact:
Chin Lili, ICRC Kuala Lumpur, tel: +60 3 2084 1807 email: lchin@icrc.org
Muharyani Othman, National Press Club, tel: +60 3 2694 0525 email: yaniothman9@gmail.com
Jayanthy M. Maruthan, Malaysian Red Crescent, tel: +60 3 21417872 email: jaya@redcrescent.org.my
