New Story Writing Competition for Students to Draw Inspiration from Late Composer's Songs

The Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee (MLLPC) launched a short story writing competition that seeks to provide an opportunity for students to appreciate the late local composer Zubir Said's songs, and translate the inspiration from his music into creative works. Dr Mohamed Maliki Osman, Second Minister of Education and Chairperson of the MLLPC was the Guest of Honour at the launch event at Woodlands Regional Library today.

2. Students will create short stories based on themes drawn from Zubir Said's songs, fostering their writing skills while deepening their appreciation for Malay cultural heritage. The competition, which is open to students across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, will run from February to April, with winners to be announced during the Fiesta Bahasa event on 26 July 2025.

3. At the event Dr Maliki Osman also launched two children's novels, 'Bukan Mimpi' and 'Kecoh Di Lereng Bukit'. The books were authored by local writers Amanah Mustafi and Nur-El-Hudaa Jaffar respectively (refer to Annex for details of the novels).

4. The two novels were a result of the MLLPC's first grant call in 2023 for the publication of Malay Language story books – an initiative to increase quality reading materials for students that reflect Singapore's context and culture, and enrich our Malay literary scene. Dr Maliki also announced a second grant call for proposals for writers to develop and publish new works.

5. For more information, please visit http://www.mllpc.sg.