POEM WRITING COMPETITION Poetry gives your mind a new way of thinking01

        The  Poem Writing Competition is now in its third year. The overwhelming 213 entries caught the ELC teachers with surprise and joy. The appreciation of English literature has started to sprout in response to the effort that ELC has put in since 2019, when the poetry workshop was first introduced. 

        The primary objectives of this competition are to inculcate a love of poem writing among students, to promote creativity, resourcefulness and self-expression, and to promote universal values in a fun and creative way, through the medium of poetry writing.

        The competition is open to Junior One to Senior Three students with any poetic style and on any subject. Overall, it could be seen that many students were motivated to write the  poem with the encouragement, guidance and motivation from the English teachers. Hence, this has made the judging more challenging as there were quite a number of exceptional pieces written by students. 

        Six English teachers were invited to shortlist the six best poems from each level and it was indeed challenging to decide on the top best entries. We were also greatly honoured to have Associate Professor Dr. Too Wei Keong, from the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, to be the judge for placing the winners. 

        The judges commented that there was a good and appropriate use of literary devices which include rhetorical questions, comparison, simile, imagery, inversion and rhyming schemes in the poem. Besides, there were a range of subject matter or themes, some of which intended to entertain the readers while others had significant life values added to it. However, it is encouraged for the future writers to come up with poems that require imagination and explore the use of assonance and alliteration in creating a more pleasurable experience and a meaningful atmosphere for the reader. 

        We appreciate all participants for their active involvement and hard work, and we congratulate all winners on their outstanding achievements. To read the winning pieces, please visit the ELC Google Site:

Chan Xiang En (J2 Washington)

        First and foremost, I would like to thank the ELC for organising this amazing competition and providing everyone a chance to participate in it. I had never thought of entering a Poem Writing competition, but I’m glad that I did. I was absolutely shocked to see that I had won first placing as I didn’t think I could even make it in! I truly encourage everyone to enter competitions like this one. You never know, you might end up surprising yourself with the result you got.

Elyse Ong Jia Xin (S2 London)

        First off, thank you ELC for organising this competition! Poems are a beautiful way to express our thoughts as shortening lengthy sentences into enriching phrases requires time and effort. I like to write down any memorable details from my life, so when writing my poem, those fragments of reminiscence always help me all the way through. I highly encourage and promote poem writing to everyone as it is one of the most interesting ways to convey life's warmth and coldness. 

《兴华月报》2022年8月号
http://www.hinhua.edu.my/ebook/2208hinhuamonthly/mobile/index.html