Jointly reported by:
Chloe Chan Po Yi Jr1Z(3)
Rachel Koh Huey Shin Jr2Z(3)
Tee Jia Xien Sr3D
On 24th July 2021, Kuen Cheng Chinese Language Society and the Academic Department jointly organized a webinar featuring Mr. Lee Xuan Chun about prose. He initially graduated from the Chinese Department of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) with a Bachelor’s Degree. Subsequently, he obtained a Master’s Degree in Chinese at National Central University, Taiwan. Currently, he is working as a writer, and having a book published named Take a Walk（《散散步》）. The webinar was held on Zoom video platform from 10 a.m. till 12.30 p.m., a Q&A session lasted for another 25 minutes. It was also broadcasted live on Facebook. This webinar was held to improve students’ writing skills and prepare students for the upcoming Kuen Cheng Xiao Sheng Chinese Literature Contest, a writing competition.
Mr. Lee started by sharing his past experiences which inspired him to write. During his adolescent years when he was feeling restless and insecure, he found a way to express himself through writing. Throughout the years, he tried writing poems as well and the work was even published in Xuehai (学海), a weekly Chinese magazine. Later, he was inspired to become a novelist when he watched a movie adapted from Stephen King’s novel.
Our guest speaker first brought the audience to the world of literature through a novel named Elephant Herd (《群象》) written by Mr. Chang Kuei-hsing (张贵兴), originally born and raised in Malaysia. Through this novel, he learnt to interpret historical events from a new perspective, and had later broadened his view of his hometown. By showing the audience how reading contributed to his success, he emphasized the importance of making reading a habit to students. “Treat reading as a new adventure where you try and learn new things”, he urged passionately.
Mr. Lee then recommended some outstanding authors like Chang Man-chuan (张曼娟), a former Professor of Chinese in Taiwan, who released several excellent collections of essays. Her writing is characterized by a combination of Chinese classical literature and modern literature. He also shares his sensation and ideas when he consciously started writing literature. “Don’t limit your thoughts and imagination, just let your thoughts drift freely ” Later on, he explained the definition of prose and how he became an author.
The first step of becoming a young writer is to work hard, seize every opportunity, and establish long-term and a stable partnership with editors. Winning a Literary Award is one of the best ways to prove your skills and talent in writing essays. Thus, you are able to sustain your living by writing. Lastly, Mr. Lee discussed the purpose and the meaning of writing. Some students speak out and express their thoughts with him.
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Tips on becoming a prose writer.
The talk then entered the Q&A section. Mr. Lee also gave tips and tricks while answering them. He even suggested students submit their prose for publication. One of the students even asked him to judge a newly completed prose. Due to time constraints, he was not able to do so, but if the student can participate in the upcoming writing competition, he might be able to see the student’s prose there. This put an end to the talk by having a group photo taken together with Mr Lee.
Group Photos