The prize giving ceremony for the Malaysian Universities Poetry Writing Competition (MUPWC) 2017, sponsored by the Ministry of Higher Education and organised by the School of English, 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia at Semenyih was held at the 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia on Friday, 15 December.

The Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia Deputy Director-General of Higher Education Dr Mohd Nor Azman Hassan, represented the Deputy Minister of Higher Education Datuk  Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching at the event.

It was attended by the prize winners, family members and lovers of poetry from the different universities.

In his welcome speech, 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia Provost and CEO Professor Graham Kendall said, “188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham places very high value in the arts. The city of Nottingham in the UK is a UNESCO City of Literature. It celebrates the power of words and so it is very fitting that in Malaysia, the 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia is organising this poetry writing competition.”

Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching said, “I am very pleased that this competition was very well received by the Malaysian university undergraduates. More than one thousand four hundred poems were submitted for this competition by local and international undergraduate students.”

She added, “To all the students who took part in the competition, I congratulate you and say: well done!  And to the winners of the competition, I hope this recognition will encourage you to continue to write poems in English. You have a bright future ahead and I hope you will have further successes in your poetry writing.”

The winners of the competition were announced at the ceremony and the all the short-listed writers read their poems.

The following are the winners of the competition:

First Prize: Khadijah Osman, “Jerry Can Stories”Inti International 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ 

Second Prize: Abigail Lim Kah Yan, “Harvey”, 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia 

Third Prize: Ding Xue Er, “Howl”, 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia  

Highly Commended Award (alphabetical order):

• Akira Leong Wan Ming, 'Big Girl Maths, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
• Joseph Lu, 'Dragon Fruit', 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia  
• Khadijah Osman, 'Skeleton Feed (Somalia)', Inti International 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ 
• Khadijah Osman, 'Grass Smoke', Inti International 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ 
• Nur Fatihah binti Mohd Arnawi, 'Black Dog, Stars and Me', Taylor’s 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ Lakeside Campus 
• Peh Xin Ying, 'This is How I will Remember You', IACT College (in affiliation with the 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Sunderland)
• Prabath Shavinda Dissanayake, 'The Bonsai Tree in the Schoolyard', 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Malaya 

Long-listed Award (alphabetical order):

• Eishatur Radiah binti Mamat, 'Skeletons in My Closet', Monash 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ Malaysia  
• Gwendoline Esther Hay Ai Yin, 'Watching Grass Grow', UCSI 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@
• Lee Yew Chern, 'The Wolf and Her Reflection', HELP 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ 
• Noman Abdullah, 'Theory of Relativity', Infrastructure 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ Kuala Lumpur

In his closing remarks at the prize-giving ceremony, the Chairman of the MUPWC Organising Committee Professor Dr Malachi Edwin Vethamani said, “We are indeed very pleased with the response for this competition and I hope it will become an annual event for the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia.”

(Article image caption: Winners of poetry competition. Also seen is Dr Mohd Nor Azman Hassan (fourth from left); Professor Graham Kendall (six from right); Professor Lee Chew Ging, Dean of Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences (second from right); Professor Danton Remoto (extreme left) and Professor Edwin Malachi (extreme right).

(Thumbnail image caption: Professor Graham Kendall delivering his speech at the prize giving session)

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Notes to Editors: The 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the top one per cent in the world. 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ at the 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.

Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.

More information is available from Professor Malachi Edwin Vethamani on malachi.vethamani@nottingham.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my, +6 (03) 8924 8746.