Promising young writer: Erynn’s love for visiting beaches inspired her to write about issues such as overfishing, climate change and plastic pollution.
PETALING JAYA: Visiting the beach is among Liew Erynn’s favourite holiday activities.
She enjoys exploring marine life, from snorkelling to witnessing turtle hatchings and releasing baby turtles back into the ocean.
These visits, while providing much-needed respite, have also got her to think about issues such as overfishing, climate change and plastic pollution and how these could be tackled.
As a budding writer, she has found an avenue to raise awareness on these topics in the best way she knows – writing.
And that was precisely what the 13-year-old from Puchong, Selangor, wrote about in her short story submission for the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) 2024.
As it turned out, it was all worth the effort – Erynn clinched the top prize in the competition hosted by the Royal Commonwealth Society of the United Kingdom.
Named Junior Winner, she will head to London next month for Winners’ Week for educational and cultural activities before attending a special awards ceremony hosted by Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace.
She will be joined by three other students – another Malaysian, Evangeline Khoo Ke Ying, who was named Senior Winner; Christabelle Yeo from Singapore and Victor Kiyaga from Uganda, the Senior and Junior Runners-up respectively.
Their entries stood out among the record-breaking 34,939 submissions from across the Commonwealth regions.
Erynn’s win this year marks a progression from her Gold Finalist Award in 2021, and Gold Awards in 2022 and 2023.
She explores the extent to which sea pollution has affected mankind and marine life in her short story, The Indian Ocean Queen’s Troubles, which featured talking sea creatures along with her own illustrations.
“I chose to emphasise sea pollution from the sea creatures’ points of view and how heart-wrenchingly they are affected by it.
Fantasy lover: Evangeline is an enthusiastic fan of literature, with a love for fantasy and imagination.
“In fact, I perceive it as a great alternative to create awareness among the young generation who are oblivious to the destruction caused due to one’s negligence and ignorance,” she said.
The Tzu Chi International School Kuala Lumpur student said it affected her when she saw filthy beaches and murky seas.
“I just cannot digest seeing nature’s greatest creations being exploited and ravaged due to irresponsible acts. The choice is in our hands to bring about positive changes in conserving nature’s beauty,” she said.
She expressed gratitude to her mother Sandra Lee and teacher Yamuna Jakanadan for their unwavering support throughout her writing journey.
“I am also immensely grateful to the QCEC for allowing me to doodle apart from crafting my essay,” she said.
In the Senior category, Evangeline, 15, told the story of plastic from its point of view in her short story titled Ungrowing Growth.
The student at SMK Menjalara, Kuala Lumpur, is an enthusiastic fan of literature, with a love for fantasy and imagination.
She has participated in various competitions, including storytelling and choral speaking in both Malay and English.
Open to all Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and below, the annual QCEC – the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools – invites participants to write on a theme inspired by the Commonwealth’s values and principles while also working towards developing key literacy skills and fostering an empathetic and open-minded world view.This year’s theme, “Our Common Wealth”, challenged participants to consider how they deal with adversity and how community and culture can be used to encourage resilience and hope in a world with a growing number of global issues.
While several awards were given for both the Junior (under 14) and Senior (ages 14 to 18) categories, only one winner and one runner-up were named in each category.
Last year, 15-year-old Kong Yong Sin from SMK Tinggi Kluang, Johor, was named the Senior Runner-up, earning her the rare opportunity to be honoured by Queen Camilla.
Past winners include Malay-sian-born Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mei Fong, Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and late British author Elspeth Huxley.
