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“ Cheating in tests , bullying his classmates and vandalising the walls are misdemeanours the author forces upon Xiao Ming . Feeling misunderstood by his bad reputation , he only hopes that his fate changes for the better . He hopes for once – just once – that the author lets him do good …”
Both the synopsis and the script resonated with the adjudicators . Out of almost 400 entries submitted by over 980 students from 56 secondary schools , junior colleges / Millennia Institute and polytechnics , Gregory and Ping Yuan were among the five teams that received the Creative Script Award “ 创意剧本奖 ” ( Commendation Script )! Their script has been made into radio dramas by the DJs from UFM100.3 . The radio dramas were broadcasted during the awards ceremony and will also be aired on UFM100.3 from July to August this year .
CREATE YOUR OWN NEWSPAPER COMPETITION
The annual Create Your Own Newspaper Competition is organised in collaboration with Singapore Press Holdings . It draws students from all over Singapore who share a common interest – to share about societal issues close to their hearts .
With the global pandemic raging last year , two groups of SJI students from lower and upper secondary levels took the opportunity to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on student life . The groups however met with an unexpected spanner in the works when they were tasked to engage in home-based learning in April 2020 as the number of COVID-19 infections had surged exponentially .
The student reporters gathered their wits about them as they moved to platforms online that supported their conversations with each other as well as their interviewees . Although these changes were unexpected , they adapted quickly to the situation .
After conducting a series of interviews with their peers , the SJI reporters found out about just
how much lives had changed quickly within months of COVID-19 . Interviewees reflected on the upheavals to their lives as they could neither meet with friends nor focus on lessons at home .
At the same time , the interviewees expressed similar sentiments about the changes to their views on life . They all felt appreciation for the things they once took for granted as much as they realised the importance of adaptability to shifting situations .
As this was the first time SJI took part in this Competition , the groups found it challenging to equip themselves with the skills necessary for the demands of newspaper article writing . Nevertheless , the groups pushed through their uncertainties and one of their works was selected for the finals .
Although Team A ( represented by Isaac Matthias Teo ( FN402 ), Brandon Tan ( FN402 ), Glenn Ong ( FN403 ), Xavier Quek ( MN403 ), Jasper Sim ( MN403 ), Bernard Lim ( LE402 ) who were mentored by Ms Tan Lay Moi did not make it into the finals , the chance to participate was a learning opportunity for them . Through the process , they learnt to be creative and resort to online platforms such as online surveys and meeting calls for the interviews and group discussions . All in all , the competition was undoubtedly rewarding as it allowed them to recognise the importance of teamwork and perseverance .
Members of Team B - Richard Tu Ruichen ( MN203 ), Noah Yang Shanwei ( ML201 ), Yang Jiasheng Jayden ( ML201 ), Lu Junlong ( LE301 ) and Ng Yan Yu ( MN302 ) - reflected on their journey throughout the competition , “ This competition lasted for 4 months , the exact number has been long forgotten . During that time , we faced many difficulties , one of which was gathering information , and finding interviewees to obtain information . Eventually ,
Facing page ( bottom ): Group members of ‘ Script It Right ’ at a meeting discussion via Zoom . Top row : Ms Tan Lay Moi , Phua Ping Yuan , Woon Kang Xiang . Bottom row : Reyes Tan Boon Xian , Euan Lim , Chooi Jie Rui , Gregory
This page ( top ): The newspaper produced by Team B that was submitted for the Competition .