A short story - ‘Future of Malaysia and COVID-19’
PhD student Matthew Yap Tuck Mun from the School of Arts and Social Sciences is the winner of KISAH Futures writing competition organised by Think City. The competition was designed to gain an inside view of the experiences and thoughts occupying the Malaysian psyche during the COVID-19 pandemic. His story was published in the KISAH Futures Anthology. The Business Station (BFM 89.9) interviewed Matthew in April in conjunction with World Book Day, and the book was featured in The Star.
“The organiser wanted stories about the future of Malaysia and COVID-19. I was preparing for my Final Review milestone for my PhD, and though I was busy, I told myself it was an excellent opportunity. I had never written a short story before nor entered a writing competition. So I took it as a creative challenge.
I wanted to write a story where I could combine my research into an engaging examination of the future. Part of my research is on surveillance and narrative theory. So I imagined a possible future where our daily lives as Malaysians had become subject to surveillance technologies thanks to the pandemic. I wanted to tell the story from the unique perspective of the surveillance technologies itself as an inhuman narrator that is commenting on how Malaysians experienced the challenges and struggles of 2020,” Matthew shared.
Matthew is currently working on his research project titled "The Reality of TV: Identity, Authenticity and Personal Power within Reality TV-based Science Fiction".
Excellent achievement, Matthew. Congratulations!