A Literary Competition: Your Singapore Through Their Eyes (PROSE/POETRY/PLAY)

Introduction

“Your Singapore Through Their Eyes: A Literary Competition”, or YSTTE, is a student initiative of Nanyang Girls’ High School, under the auspices of the school’s National Education Committee. This writing competition is open to all students between the ages of 7 to 16. Students will be given free rein to pen their literary creations on the theme of “What makes Singapore, Singapore?”.

The aims of this competition are to:
· Allow students to polish their literary skills in creative writing
· Provide young students with the opportunity to look at Singapore in another perspective
· Let these young students realise the uniqueness of Singapore and her culture in their own way
· Promote national identity from an early stage
· Allow students to unreservedly put across their views of Singapore

Judging of Entries
1. Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
a. Relevance to community, significance towards national identity (25%)
b. Originality and completeness of storyline (30%)
c. Organisation, development of ideas expressed and usefulness or appropriateness of examples where relevant (25%)
d. Consistency of language usage, proper use of grammar, spelling, punctuation, variety in sentence structure and range of vocabulary. (20%)
2. Top 30 entries will be short-listed to be published in a book anthology ‘Your Singapore through Their Eyes’.
3. The 30 short-listed entries will be submitted to professionally qualified Language Arts teachers for a final round of judging.

Style Guides
1. Entries can be in any form, including prose, poetry or play.
2. They must be typed in:
a. Font type: Arial;
b. Font size: 12 point;
c. 1.5 line spacing;
d. 1 inch margin on all sides and
e. Single sided print on A4 paper

Administrative Procedures
DO:
1. Write the title of your essay at the top right hand corner of each page of your manuscript.
2. State the total number of words written at the end of your manuscript.
3. Number each page.
4. Submit 3 copies of the manuscript if you are sending hard copies.
5. Attach the official application form, properly and completely filled, during submission of manuscript.

More information can be found in http://www.ystte.com/.

Mysterious Poet No.6

Artistic surrounding
Full of displays
Unique artwork
Painted patterns of arts
Humorous in different angles
"What are they doing?" heard a voice from a distance
"No idea. Exploring", came a reply.
Chaotic from a distance
Foggy and raining.
Causing darkness in the art room.

An overdue poem... Mysterious Poet No.5

The school life and a quiet observation

In the little corner,
The still air hangs
Heated with the seasons,
relaxed and a mess.

In that little corner.
I could hear the voices.
loud, soft, indistinguishable.
a low treble tone, a pitched melody resounds.

Melting in, mixing together,
The roar was deafening, yet soft.
In the isolated corner,
where dusty pictures hung,
with dirty benches and not much people around.

Yet in the calm,
there was a sense of chaos,
scraping of chairs and the teacher's shouts,
It was a balance,
a scale - without sound.

It invokes a sense of thoughtfulness,
Even a reluctant curiosity,
As I stare across to the other end,
I saw life around me.

The inquisitive looks, I smile;
were from people all around,
Yes, I was just a lone girl sitting about,
But I knew it was just curiosity,
we all had it - oh well.

The crackling of papers interrupted my thoughts,
As the snuffling of shoes caught my attention,
A flow, a rush,
a flood of students,
The disturbance, the chaos
It was one I would remember.

Upon occasion I witness
disruptive disbehaviour,
A normal occurance to me,
one I, well, hold dear.

It was school life,
present in everyone's memories,
That was part of the charm,
A doorway as always.

While I am sick... (Dedicated to my Lit pupils in 4E2 '08)

dear Lit kids
Fallen ill
I now have

I must go

Leaving you
Far behind
In the cold

Read pages
from 74
to the end
119

Attempt them

Questions on
77 and
78 too

Hop on next
to 82.
And once done...

Fill 96,
97 and
99 with
your brilliance

101
102
Must be done

115
116
119

And that's the
Very end.

Thanks!


P/s: For those who have troubles comprehending the poem above, here's a simpler version. Read from Page 74 to Page 119. Attempt questions on the following pages: 77, 78, 82, 96, 97, 99, 101, 102, 115, 116 and 119.

Reminder: the upcoming Lit CA will test you on To Kill A Mockingbird and the Unseen. =) Good luck! Try to write at least 3 pages with different well-supported points, substantiated with evidence and explanation. Remember to think of the wider implications like themes and impact on society. Impress me! =) Hehehe...

Leap of Faith

A saint once decreed
That a man must agree
To a woman
proposal
today
Give me a sign
Whether to meet me at eight
At the
same place you sit
And fulfill the tradition of february 29

It was a leap of faith.

Mysterious Poet No.4

Given a task
by my teacher
To look at my
surroundings
and jot them down.
I stood there blankly looking at everyone
cos my mind is confused
But, I was surprised
by my friends who
had already started.

Canteen Observation

From far above they look like red ants,
Running and crowding to get their meal.
Getting to the place as soon as they can,
Squeezing themselves in the blazing land.

Tables groaning,
Chairs squeaking.
Munching and giggling,
Cutlery clanking.

Strolling and blocking other's way.
Dragging feet with tired faces.
Crowded at a corner,
Punching messages on the overworked phone.

The atmosphere seems so wild
Smell of meat being fried
Once everyone left,
The place is in empty silence.