THE CICAK.com

50 Years, 50 Heroes: Young Malaysians You Need to Know

This is our second annual writing competition.

Theme
50 Years, 50 Heroes: Young Malaysians You Need to Know.

About
theCICAK, a Malaysian political and pop culture magazine, is on a global search for 50 young Malaysian heroes in conjunction with the country’s 50th Independence Day.

Participants will write about and photograph an unsung Malaysian hero who has persevered against all odds to succeed, or has helped his or her friends, family, society or country in unique ways. Be sure to include the challenges your hero faces, and how he or she will overcome them. Make your hero REAL to readers by including his or her goals, passion, ambition and life-experiences. And be creative!

The top 50 stories will be published in a book. Prizes worth RM1,000 will also be awarded to the winners.

We are looking for heroes who have not been highlighted in the press. The stories need to tell us what it means to be Malaysian. Fuzzy, warm narratives are nice. Introspective stories that make us think are good. And politically-charged articles are great!

This competition aims at documenting young Malaysian voices due to the lack of proper youth, ethnic, religious, class, gender and sexual minority representation in mainstream media. theCICAK’s goals are to create awareness and discussion on issues that affect Malaysian youth and remind Malaysian policymakers that young people should be taken seriously.

theCICAK will collaborate with Inkyhands, an online Malaysian literary magazine. The competition is supported by Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat (KOMAS), an organization that promotes community and public education through documentary film-making. A US$2,500 grant from the Swarthmore Foundation at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania will fund the competition.

Prizes

A) Top Three Stories (selected by judges)
First prize, RM500, published in theCICAK and The Star
Second prize, RM200, published in theCICAK
Third prize, RM100, published in theCICAK

B) Most Outstanding Hero (selected by theCICAK readers)
RM200, published in theCICAK

C) Top 50 Stories, including the article with the Most Outstanding Hero will be published in a book.

Judges

1. Jeff Ooi, award-winning Malaysian blogger
2. Marina Mahathir, newspaper columnist and women’s rights activist
3. Nicholas Wong, editor of Inkyhands and published poet
4. Poh Si Teng, director and co-founder of theCICAK

Project Details

1. Participants must be between the ages of 15 to 25.
2. All works will be published under the writers’ real names. No awards will be granted to those who choose to publish their articles under pseudonyms.
3. The chosen hero must be between the ages of 12 to 29.
4. The hero must be a real person, not a fictional character. Writers who are caught falsifying, fabricating or plagiarising information will be DISQUALIFIED.
5. Submissions must be accompanied with at least one photograph of the hero.
6. Participants will also interview other sources (a minimum of two other people). These sources need to illustrate and add substance and colour to the story.
7. Please include a source list with the names, phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses of people you interviewed – theCICAK will need to verify the information in your article.
8. Articles can be written in English or Bahasa Melayu.
9. Submissions SHOULD NOT exceed 1,000 words.
10. Multiple submissions are welcomed.
11. theCICAK reserves the right to revoke prizes from recipients who have not made reasonable attempts to uphold professional standards of accuracy. theCICAK may request to see the interview notes of sources and research materials for the written articles.
12. DEADLINE for entries: 15 July 2007. Send your entry or entries to: write4thecicak@gmail.com with “Heroes” in the subject heading. Those who want to submit non-email entries should contact the organisers.

Here are some examples of the heroes that theCICAK is looking for:

1. A 6A and 4B SPM scorer who could not secure a government scholarship but still manages to find other opportunities for him or herself.
2. A young pasar malam entrepreneur who is trying to make ends meet by selling bootleg goods or nasi lemak.
3. A poor fisherman’s son or daughter who has to work doubly hard to do well in school and help feed his or her family.
4. A student who is distributing condoms and information promoting safe sex.
5. A transgender student who is trying to start a club promoting non-discrimination toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.

Check out the award ceremony and read the entries for last year’s competition.

If you would like to participate, collaborate, sponsor or promote this competition, please contact us:
write4thecicak@gmail.com