Inspired by Robin Moore, the author of ‘The Green Berets’, who once said ‘inside of us is a natural-born storyteller, waiting to be released’, the Department of Languages and Linguistics (DLL), Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) organised a “Digital Storytelling Competition”, from 1 to 31 May 2021, with the aspiration to help participants build their confidence in speaking English, as well as to provide a platform for them to share lessons learnt from Malaysian Folklore.

The competition saw participation from both primary and secondary school students, who took up the challenge and presented their choice of a Malaysian Folklore through a video presentation on their personal YouTube page within the given duration.

“Apart from having able to practise the language and be proficient in it, I believe storytelling is a good way to build one’s confidence in speaking English. Not forgetting that a good story is also told with a lesson in mind. We want the participants to enjoy speaking the language, so what better way to do this if not by telling stories they love?” enthused Organising Chairperson and DLL Head Siti Ummaizah binti Meor Musa.

Meanwhile, FAS Dean Dr Lee Lai Meng agreed that the competition helped promote the use of English in a creative way. “Children need to be confident and comfortable in speaking a language. Storytelling allows them to be both, as they choose a story they are familiar with and tell it in the most creative way possible,” commented Dr Lee.

The winners for each category are as below. Click here to view the winners’ victory speeches

Lower Primary (7 – 9 years)
Winner: Elise Cheong
Second place: Faith Lai Yi Xuan
Third place: Saisharan a/l Tamilarasan

Upper Primary (10 – 12 years)
Winner: Ean Cheong
Second place: Lim Mi Chi
Third place: Kirtigan Yogarajah

Lower Secondary (13 – 15 years)
Winner: Poh Yu Xin
Second place: Khaw Lian Sheng
Third place: Vincent Boo Kai Theng

Lower Primary
Consolation prize winners were Rishi Varrmen Tamilarasan, Pavindran Nair Ramesh Nayar and Lean Li Roy.

Since the competition was also an initiative by DLL to raise funds for the UTAR Hospital, three of the winners, namely Lai, Elise and Ean donated part of their prize money to the project. The department successfully raised a total of RM1,184 for the hospital project.

Ean was overjoyed as he did not expect to win first place in his category with his story ‘The Unlucky Pak Kaduk’. He mentioned that although it was his first time winning a prize money, he was still happy to donate part of it for a good cause. Meanwhile, Poh expressed her hope to participate in more of such competitions because they are able to help participants discover their talents and potential in storytelling.