Marshall Cavendish

27 September 2005, Singapore -- From a black and white bungalow that gave a young heart courage to press on, to a story of friendship set within the Tiong Bahru flats during World War II, the WORDS + Art Creative Writing Competition 2005 produced well-written and vivid stories from student writers as young as seven years old, despite the apparently uninspiring subject of cold brick, steel and glass. Though this was the first time that they had to weave in architecture into the plot, 30 winners captured the hearts of the organiser Marshall Cavendish and the panel of judges with their admirable efforts and story telling skills, leading to the publishing of the fourth WORDS + Art Book.

The creative writing progamme, organised by international publisher Marshall Cavendish for youths aged seven to sixteen, offered the theme " Building Blocks -- Inspiration from Architecture" this year. It was organised in collaboration with the National Arts Council and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore. Through a calendar of activities ranging from architectural tours to creative writing workshops and assembly talks, the fourth WORDS + Art Programme aimed to nurture literary talent among Singapore youths, while engaging them to explore the art theme of architecture and to actively participate in creating drama and suspense with words.

The panel of reviewers appointed by the organizers was: Mr. Felix Cheong, Literary Resource Panelist, National Arts Council; Dr K. K. Seet, Department of English Language and Literature, NUS; and Ms Ang Hwee Suan, Head of Public Relations, URA. Judges’ praised the winners for their " matured and creative perspective ", "[their ability to] weave personal memory with architecture deftly ", and their " excellent writing skills and language ability ".

" Given the "heavy" topic of architecture, the theme was challenging for the youths. However, they surprised us with their good grasp of plot development and we saw very good stories from across the levels and a marked increase in the number of entries from the secondary schools. We stretched the skills of our young writers across the three categories and they rose up to the challenge very well, so much so that we decided to double the number of merit awards for the secondary school category to recognize their effort and skill, " said Elsa Tan, Corporate General Manager, Marshall Cavendish .

The merit prizes were increased from 15 to 20 this year, due to the good response and quality of the entries in Category C for the secondary school students. The winners received book vouchers and trophies during the awards ceremony cum book launch on 27 September, which was graced by Mr. Zainul Abidin Rasheed, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. The special Magnolia Literary Supporter Award was awarded to Nan Chiau Primary School who was the second time winner for the highest number of entries from a school.

The fourth WORDS + Art Book was launched today, providing quick facts on 10 selected buildings in Singapore in an easy-to-understand manner, published together with stories of the top three winners from each of the three categories. Previous three years saw different art themes being introduced to the students, namely, paintings, Asian artefacts and sculptures.

Pearl Samuel, Deputy Director of Audience Development at the National Arts Council, said , " WORDS + Art exposes students to a creative way of learning, by experiencing an art form, and then using that experience as a basis for creating their own piece of literary art. Such aesthetic engagement fuels imaginations, cultivates new ideas and can be a powerful source of inspiration for young people as they interact with others and the environment in which they live. This is crucial as we work towards building Singapore becoming a vibrant and distinctive global city for the arts."

"An estimated 50 per cent of the submissions focused on the Esplanade, showing that such iconic buildings do catch the attention of the young and can fire their imagination. The submissions ranged from straight stories about outings there to creative renditions of how the place was given its name or how it came to exist. The other five buildings gathered a substantial number of stories as well and we are pleased that through the WORDS + Art programme, young people have been shown the art in the environment we live in. Hopefully, the winning stories will inspire others to see the beauty and richness of our built heritage," Ang Hwee Swan, Head, Public Relations of URA said.

" Magnolia is very excited to have contributed once again to the appreciation of the arts with Singapore’s youth through WORDS + Art for the third consecutive year. In conjunction with the programme this year, we worked with three local schools to create a unique Magnolia architecture display showcasing iconic buildings in Singapore built entirely from milk cartons. This year’s theme of architecture has received great response from the students and I’m sure that the Magnolia WORDS + Art initiative has enabled children to find joy in learning and appreciating art and innovation, both in local buildings and with Magnolia Milk," said Lye Jit Hui, General Manager of F & N Foods Pte Ltd.

Pictures from the event

Arrival of Guest-of-Honour, Mr. Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

Hip-hop dance performance by Bukit Panjang Government High School

Winner of Magnolia Literary Supporter Award – Nan Chiau Primary School

Book reading by Category A Winner, Nurul Liman Bte Said of Ang Mo Kio Primary School

CEO of Times Publishing Limited presenting the Words + Art Book to Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed

The Words + Art book sale

WORDS + Art 2005 Book

Priced at $4.20 per book, the book is sold individually at all major bookshops and school bookshops. This year, Marshall Cavendish has bundled four WORDS + Art books featuring different art themes on paintings, sculptures, artefacts and architecture as a limited edition pack of art resource books priced at a special price of $9.90.

Six Selected Buildings

The six selected buildings in the WORDS + Art programme were the Thian Hock Keng Temple, St Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) flats at Tiong Bahru, Black and White Bungalows i.e. the NUS Guild House, Wheelock Place and The Esplanade Theatres On the Bay. The buildings were chosen to illustrate the diversity in Singapore’s architectural landscape. Students were invited to submit creative stories based on the theme and their interpretation of the architecture. A total of 1,417 entries were received this year.