Little did I know that my presence at the Science and Technology Fiction Writing Workshop up north in Alor Setar for the whole of last Saturday, would leave me all worked up and full of excitement.
I had wanted to attend it purely because I thought I could use some pointers and ideas for future writings. Then I realized that the organizers (Kumpulan Utusan and University Teknologi Malaysia) had something else up their sleeves. The workshop was a sort of preparation for writers who would want to be contesters for their Writing Competition, i.e. Science and Technology Fiction Novel Competition. The prizes are really tantalizing!
First prize winner will be awarded RM 15,000 plus equally interesting amounts for others down the line. All that I knew was that the whole idea of the workshop was to bring about the awareness of the importance of Science and Technology in the society – which was why I was motivated to sign up my name about a month earlier.
I learnt many things though…from the various speakers. These are things that I would like to share…
Dr. Amida@Hamidah bt. Abdul Hamid or more affectionately known as Anis (a retired professor in the field of Philosophy, Rhetoric and Thinking Skills from Universiti Malaya, who is still actively giving lectures and evaluating manuscripts) in her presentation entitled “You Want to Write Science and Technology Fiction Novels?”
Ethos, Pathos, Logos are the basic axis for any form of writing, originating from Greek philosophy.
Ethos means our capability as writers. Therefore, our empowerment in the particular language that we will be writing. It should be very powerful then!
Ethos, Pathos, Logos are the basic axis for any form of writing, originating from Greek philosophy.
Ethos means our capability as writers. Therefore, our empowerment in the particular language that we will be writing. It should be very powerful then!
Pathos is our target. Who the written material is intended for. Teens? Adults? Or people in the specialized fields that the article is written for.
Logos – is our material i.e. manuscript or articles. In this case, our manuscript would have the approprioate plots, with elements of science and technology.
Only thing is, we should open up the three basic elements to include Our Creator as the origin of the whole written material i.e. a manuscript which would awaken a sense of greatness of God amongst readers.
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar (senior professor from UTM, Skudai, winner of various awards for his creations Dendam Siber and Wira Persona Avatari) shared his experiences in his slot “How to Fictionalize Science and Technology”
Your creation should be based on knowledge, imagination and manipulations of those two. Scientific knowledge is systematic, originating from research, which is tested and proven.
Hard Si-Fi –physical and biological sciences. Soft Si-Fi – social sciences. It is suggested that manuscripts produced should be based upon Hybrid Si-Fi – a combination of both thoughts/ emotions and scientific facts.
Various explorations may be done by writers i.e. self- explore, explore the different worlds (space travel, virtual world), culture and cross culture, time zones, dimensions. In fact, creative writers may coin some new terms and words!
Mohamed Saleeh Rahaad (Vice President, Society of National Writers, Malaysia or PENA, who is also a senior lecturer of Arts, Universiti Malaya) has this to say in his talk “Values, Ideology and Literary Structures in Science Fiction”.
Contents – materials and good plot. Form – approach and Ideology.
Must be in balanced in all aspects. A scientific and technological based novel should not be merely entertaining. It has to possess some form of ideological values as an alternative to combat the advent of western based values which are psychologically imposed on passive minds unabatedly and silently.
Your creation should be based on knowledge, imagination and manipulations of those two. Scientific knowledge is systematic, originating from research, which is tested and proven.
Hard Si-Fi –physical and biological sciences. Soft Si-Fi – social sciences. It is suggested that manuscripts produced should be based upon Hybrid Si-Fi – a combination of both thoughts/ emotions and scientific facts.
Various explorations may be done by writers i.e. self- explore, explore the different worlds (space travel, virtual world), culture and cross culture, time zones, dimensions. In fact, creative writers may coin some new terms and words!
Mohamed Saleeh Rahaad (Vice President, Society of National Writers, Malaysia or PENA, who is also a senior lecturer of Arts, Universiti Malaya) has this to say in his talk “Values, Ideology and Literary Structures in Science Fiction”.
Contents – materials and good plot. Form – approach and Ideology.
Must be in balanced in all aspects. A scientific and technological based novel should not be merely entertaining. It has to possess some form of ideological values as an alternative to combat the advent of western based values which are psychologically imposed on passive minds unabatedly and silently.
We have enough of onslaughts from these western culture, silently colonizing our minds. The Killing Fields, Tarzan, Robinson Crusoe, Tom and Jerry, Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Soloman’s Mines, Rambo, Black Hawke Down to name a few. Our youngsters hearts especially (as passive readers and viewers fo films), are made to accept indirectly that “West is Best!” i.e. ruled by consent.
The Killing Fields, Black Hawke Down, shows the heroic deeds of the American soldiers in Asia, whereas the fact is that, the Americans lost their grip in Vietnam. Malaysian military forces had more rigour in their operational handlings of Somalia. Tom and Jerry cartoon has cleverly entwined the concept of Zionism. Black cat (anything coloured and black) are bad, whereas the tiny mouse, even though small in size (like Israel), is smart. Anything bright coloured are good.
The message of white supremacy i.e. white skinned heroes are civilized and great, if compared to natives. Tarzan embodies this concept, a white skinned man, having the capability to conquer beasts of the forest, including the black skinned natives. Even his wife Jane is white. Why not just marry a native woman of the forest? Was it because of the fear of tainting his white skinned blood?
Citizens of the third world are liabilities (white man’s burden). Colonial writers of Malaya Anthony Burgess in his book ‘Somerset Mom’, has local characters sidelined, ‘made dumb’, voices unheard. Even if they spoke, their voices are those without any significance. White man play tennis, while the locals just watch from the sides of the courts, only having the capability to pick up the balls once in a while.
On the other hand, folk tales having elements of confining the minds of locals to stupidity (Lebai Malang, Pak Pandir) were republished and made available in all the libraries throughout Malaya in the 1920’s. Stories of local warriors with their fighting spirits were subjugated and hidden away. It was said that thousands of such manuscripts were sunkened in a ship? However, such manuscripts are available today at the University Leiden (Netherlands) where thousands of manuscripts describing the greatness of local warriors struggles against the colonials.
Therefore, to fight we need similar weapons, cultural weapons. Weapons that are not confined to creativity but must also be intellectually sound. And this is where scientific and technology fiction novels may play their roles.
A creative scientific novel should not only be entertaining but also be able to excite and enrich the minds of local readers with up-to -ate and futuristic scientific knowledge interleaved with psychological and ideological principles in the narration.
The Killing Fields, Black Hawke Down, shows the heroic deeds of the American soldiers in Asia, whereas the fact is that, the Americans lost their grip in Vietnam. Malaysian military forces had more rigour in their operational handlings of Somalia. Tom and Jerry cartoon has cleverly entwined the concept of Zionism. Black cat (anything coloured and black) are bad, whereas the tiny mouse, even though small in size (like Israel), is smart. Anything bright coloured are good.
The message of white supremacy i.e. white skinned heroes are civilized and great, if compared to natives. Tarzan embodies this concept, a white skinned man, having the capability to conquer beasts of the forest, including the black skinned natives. Even his wife Jane is white. Why not just marry a native woman of the forest? Was it because of the fear of tainting his white skinned blood?
Citizens of the third world are liabilities (white man’s burden). Colonial writers of Malaya Anthony Burgess in his book ‘Somerset Mom’, has local characters sidelined, ‘made dumb’, voices unheard. Even if they spoke, their voices are those without any significance. White man play tennis, while the locals just watch from the sides of the courts, only having the capability to pick up the balls once in a while.
On the other hand, folk tales having elements of confining the minds of locals to stupidity (Lebai Malang, Pak Pandir) were republished and made available in all the libraries throughout Malaya in the 1920’s. Stories of local warriors with their fighting spirits were subjugated and hidden away. It was said that thousands of such manuscripts were sunkened in a ship? However, such manuscripts are available today at the University Leiden (Netherlands) where thousands of manuscripts describing the greatness of local warriors struggles against the colonials.
Therefore, to fight we need similar weapons, cultural weapons. Weapons that are not confined to creativity but must also be intellectually sound. And this is where scientific and technology fiction novels may play their roles.
A creative scientific novel should not only be entertaining but also be able to excite and enrich the minds of local readers with up-to -ate and futuristic scientific knowledge interleaved with psychological and ideological principles in the narration.
Madam Nor Azah Abdul Aziz, Senior Editor Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn. Bhd. in her presentation “Whoosing on in the Competition Track”:
The competition is analogous to a high speed track. There are regulations that need to be observed. Whatever, focus on winning!
In order to win, you need to –accelerate, accelerate, accelerate!
Hence, you need a good vehicle – your high speed car. Must be in really good shape and your endurance as the driver (in this case, you as a writer). Need to make preparations. Brainstorming and research!
Winners, besides acquiring tropies, monetary gains, will have their work packaged i.e. published, royalty every year, promotions in magazines, newspapers, electronic media, book session on TV, book stores nationwide etc.
Isn’t this the ultimate dream of an aspiring writer? To have this mileage in his/her career as a writer? More coverage means more publicity and more opportunites to get across the messages in their writings. Therefore, more readers!
The aspects that a manuscript would be judged i.e. manuscripts will be scrutinized upon the elements in earlier talks i.e. language, theme, characters, strengths, ideologies, infrastructures (even though manuscripts should embody all these integrated as a whole package).
“Remember! All manuscripts should reach us before the 31st of Ogos 2009!” said Madam Norazah.
“My mind is about to explode!” said S suddenly, who was sitting beside me.
A lawyer by profession, S had attended a writing workshop which I conducted at Seberang Perai Selatan 2 months ago. She was the one who informed me of this workshop and together we went. She drove while I sat beside her all the way to Alor Setar.
“Really? So, something in your mind has been stirred up?” said I, in jest.
”Yes! I have got ideas. So many ideas! Can’t wait to start working on them!” she said gleefully, rubbing the palms of her hands.
While I too, could not help brushing away the visions, flooding up my own mind.
(For more details of the competition:http://www.penerbit.utm.my/www.mybooks.com.my )
The competition is analogous to a high speed track. There are regulations that need to be observed. Whatever, focus on winning!
In order to win, you need to –accelerate, accelerate, accelerate!
Hence, you need a good vehicle – your high speed car. Must be in really good shape and your endurance as the driver (in this case, you as a writer). Need to make preparations. Brainstorming and research!
Winners, besides acquiring tropies, monetary gains, will have their work packaged i.e. published, royalty every year, promotions in magazines, newspapers, electronic media, book session on TV, book stores nationwide etc.
Isn’t this the ultimate dream of an aspiring writer? To have this mileage in his/her career as a writer? More coverage means more publicity and more opportunites to get across the messages in their writings. Therefore, more readers!
The aspects that a manuscript would be judged i.e. manuscripts will be scrutinized upon the elements in earlier talks i.e. language, theme, characters, strengths, ideologies, infrastructures (even though manuscripts should embody all these integrated as a whole package).
“Remember! All manuscripts should reach us before the 31st of Ogos 2009!” said Madam Norazah.
“My mind is about to explode!” said S suddenly, who was sitting beside me.
A lawyer by profession, S had attended a writing workshop which I conducted at Seberang Perai Selatan 2 months ago. She was the one who informed me of this workshop and together we went. She drove while I sat beside her all the way to Alor Setar.
“Really? So, something in your mind has been stirred up?” said I, in jest.
”Yes! I have got ideas. So many ideas! Can’t wait to start working on them!” she said gleefully, rubbing the palms of her hands.
While I too, could not help brushing away the visions, flooding up my own mind.
(For more details of the competition:http://www.penerbit.utm.my/www.mybooks.com.my )
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