The Sun "Malaysia and Me" writing contest

The Sun is running a "Malaysia and Me" writing competition for Malaysians between the ages of 15 and 30. If you are a student or youth, this is an excellent chance to participate in an important conversation about the future of our country. Details follow after the jump.

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HAVE you something interesting to say about your country and you? On any aspect that inspires you or delights you or even annoys you?

If you do, share it with your fellow Malaysians by taking part in the
theSun-1MDB ‘Malaysia and Me’ Writing Competition which closes on July
29.

The top three prizes are RM5,000, RM3,000 and RM2,000. There are also 10
Consolation Prizes of RM500 each.

If you are a Malaysian between the ages of 15 and 30, you are eligible to
take part, and can send in as many as three entries.

Your entry must be your own original work, and it must not have been
published before.

The competition is organised by theSun in conjunction with Merdeka 2011,
with the aim of encouraging literary expression by Malaysian youths.
We’ve kept the boundaries open by calling it simply a “writing
competition”. This means you can write in any genre you wish.

Exercise your imagination. You can of course write an essay to address
the ‘Malaysia and Me’ theme. But if you feel you can best express it
in a poem, go for it. Or if you want to write a letter to your country or
anyone in particular, that’s also fine. So is writing a short story or
even a short play with dialogue and action.

Just be sure to keep to a maximum of 1,500 words. There is, however, no
minimum.

The judging will be done by an independent panel of professional experts,
and they will be looking for the most creative entries. With substance
too, of course.

To ensure impartiality in the judging, the names of the participants will
not be made known to the panel. As such, you must make sure that your
name does not appear on any part of your entry. It should appear only in
the entry form, together with other required particulars and the title of
your entry.

Do take note that the title of your entry must also appear on every page
of your entry.

Entry forms are available in the printed edition of theSun and online at
www.sun2surf.com.

You can e-mail in your entries or send them by snail mail, but each entry
must be accompanied by an entry form.

All entries must reach the office of theSun no later than 6pm on July 29,
2011.

You can find out more about the competition in theSun newspaper or log on
to www.thesundaily.my