What happens when you put a group of youths in a room over the weekend and ask them to come up with an article ready for publication?
Not just on any topic but on issues facing the nation. How do they grab the readers’ attention from the first paragraph and ensure that their writing is coherent, concise, engaging and readable?
Aliran held its first Young Writers Workshop last weekend with the support of the Canadian High Commission. Twenty budding writers sacrificed their weekend to participate in the two-day session bearing the theme ‘Writing about Good Governance and Democracy’.
We had no idea what to expect but in the end, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the participants’ writing, the range of topics covered (from the ‘feudalistic’ YB culture to the design of public toilets) and the potential waiting to be tapped!
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It was an interactive, hands-on experience, with each participant expected to produce an article for publication on the Aliran website.
The four workshops we have planned are targeted at youths (19-35) with the hope that they will one day enrich the discourse on the issues confronting the nation through their writing.
If you missed the first workshop in Penang, don’t worry: three more workshops will be held in Penang, Petaling Jaya and Ipoh. But hurry, only limited seats are available and these are being snapped up.
Workshop 2 (Penang)
24-25 January – Writing about deepening democracy: Creating space for youth in federal, state and local governments
Venue: Rainbow Paradise, Beach Resort, Penang
Lead facilitators:
Dr Francis Loh – Aliran President, political scientist, researcher and writer
Nicholas Chan – Aliran member, Aliran TA Online writer and researcher
In this workshop, participants will distinguish between the various levels of government. We will explore the centralisation and decentralisation of government and its impact on civil society, in particular, the youths. Participants will then be better equipped to engage with different levels of government to effect change and to write about their aspirations.
Lunch and two tea breaks will be provided free. (A nominal registration fee of RM10 per workshop will be collected.)
To register, fill up the form here.
For details on Workshops 3 and 4, go here.
In solidarity
Anil Netto
19 January 2015
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
