By Norrasyidah Arshad
SHAH ALAM, Sept 11 — Political changes will have limited impact on the nation if there is a lack of effort in strengthening its cultural aspects, said Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari.
He said the output of works including books, poetry, films and music should be in touch with the times, so as to enable both contemporary society and future generations to comprehend the changes taking place.
Citing the spread of Covid-19 in early 2020 as an example, Amirudin said the pandemic is not merely something that ought to be remembered but should be recorded as well, so it can be looked at from various perspectives
“In facing Covid-19, Selangor and Malaysia were left floundering as a result of the Emergency declaration and the Movement Control Order (MCO). Our recordings, fictional depictions of the relevant experiences, and associated creative output is sorely lacking.
“From the MCO to the Endemic phase, we hope to record these experiences so that in the future our children and grandchildren will be able to understand what we went through, and can use them as a guiding hand,” he said.
Amirudin was speaking at the 2021 Selangor Literary Prize event at Hotel Saujana Kuala Lumpur yesterday evening, which was also attended by National Laureates Datuk Seri A Samad Said and Datuk Anwar Ridhwan.
The prize, which was first awarded in 2015 for short stories, poems and essays, was introduced by Amirudin when he was serving as state executive councillor for youth development, sports, culture and entrepreneurship.
The works that have been evaluated every year since the prize’s launch are published in SelangorKini’s weekly newspaper and news portal, under the state government’s official information agency Media Selangor Sdn Bhd.
Starting in 2021, the Selangor Literary Prize now features three more publishers, aimed at expanding writers’ involvement and improving the quality of works for the awards.
It is held in cooperation with Dewan Sastera under Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, the cultural journal Svara, and social media page Tukang Puisi.
Each of the prize’s categories consists of one grand winner and four prize winners, who are awarded RM5,000 and RM1,000 respectively. Their works are catalogued in the Si Pena book, and will be launched during the prize ceremony the following year.
