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Youngsters do bards of old proud
MAKING A POINT: Ahmad Muhammad Qomar is one of the 29 finalists of the Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students Competition, a national English creative writing competition
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MAKING A POINT: Ahmad Muhammad Qomar is one of the 29 finalists of the Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students Competition, a national English creative writing competition. The student from IMMIM Islamic boarding school in Makassar, South Sulawesi, took to the stage at AMINEF hall in Central Jakarta on Saturday. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira) Shelly Andari of SMAN 1 state high school in Pandaan, Pasuruan, East Java, claimed top prize at the Fulbright-sponsored national creative English writing competition held at Balai Pustaka, Central Jakarta on Saturday.
Shelly's story, titled A Little Indonesian, found accord among the judges.
"I'm just so glad, I didn't expect to win," she said, adding that she wanted to achieve further scholarship grants so she could afford to study abroad.
The competition, also known as W.O.R.D.S (Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students), was the first ever held by the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF).
Run by teachers under the Fulbright Teaching Assistantship Program, the competition gathered 29 high schoolers nationwide to showcase their English writing talents through story writing, lyrics, poetry and monologue, which the students then read aloud on stage.
Shelly previously had won Rp 1.5 million (US$163) in scholarships for writing and performing the story of a young girl selling umbrellas on a rainy night in a big city.
Rulita Ocsifanny from SMAN 4 state high school in Denpasar, Bali, finished second with her poem Broken Indonesia, which illustrated various problems faced by Indonesia, including corruption and greed.
"But fixing what's broken can never be one man's burden," she read in the final passage of her poem.
Afif Afandi from Raudlatul Ulum Islamic boarding school in Pati, Central Java, achieved third place for his story, Mother Pertiwi, which told the story of a mother and her children, named after Indonesia's provinces, and the eventual departure of one of the children from home.
Rulita and Afif bagged Rp 1 million and Rp 500,000 in scholarships, respectively.
Hanadia Pasca Yurista of SMAN 3 state high school from Semarang won the best performance award for her monologue, Hoping For A Beautiful World (Where Is My Beautiful Indonesia), while M. Jaka Prawira of SMAN 2 state high school in Bandung was deemed most creative writer for his poem, Identity Crisis.
Michael McCoy, AMINEF's Executive Director and one of the judges, said the students had shown great pride in being Indonesian.
"I think what jumped out at me most was when God (in the story) offered one girl the choice to be a Japanese or an American, because those countries are wealthy, but she said she would rather be an Indonesian," he said.
Bradley McDonnel, a Fulbright Research Scholar and another of the judges, said the children did a terrific job.
"Their stories reflected a mixture of hope and optimism and frustration... but I also think they reflected a love for the environment and respect for the value of diversity," he said.
"I would love to see this kind of competition every year," he added. (anw)
