Folktales Storytelling Competition

The Folktales Storytelling Competition was an initiative of the National Library of Malaysia, state libraries and state public library corporations in Malaysia. The program was initiated in 2005 and implemented in 2006. The competition was open to children and young adults and it required the participants to present folklores of their choice for 15 minutes. A panel of judges would assign scores to the participants based on certain pre-determined criteria. The participant with the highest score would declared the champion.

Our Practice

Participant from Samarahan Division

Participant from Betong Division

In Sarawak the competition was held simultaneously in all the 11 Division on 5 May 2006. It was centrally coordinated by the Offsite Services Unit of the Information Services Division of Pustaka and facilitated by 11 event managers comprising mainly of senior officers of Pustaka. The local authorities played a vital role in facilitating in the implementation of the program. These local authorities were involved in the program were

a) Council of the City of Kuching South b) Sri Aman District Council c) Sibu Municipal Council d Limbang District Council e) Sarikei District Council

f) Kapit District Council g) Simunjan District Council h) Bintulu Development Authority i) Dalat and Mukah District Council j) Betong District Council

On 13 May of the same year, the champions from all the 11 divisions competed at Pustaka capital to determine the state champion, who would then represent Sarawak at the national level bout. The Divisional Champions were

Participant Names		School Names		Divisions
Liyana Amira Askan		Sekolah Kebangsaan Tabuan Ulu, Kuching		Kuching
Shannon Sebon		Sekolah Kebangsaan Abang Ain, Sri Aman		Sri Aman
Jennifer Tiong Yae Jen		Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Sulai, Sibu		Sibu
Kevin Yapp Jun Hao		Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Chung Hua, Miri		Miri
Nur Farhana Yusop		Sekolah Kebangsaan Limbang		Limbang
Qurratu Aini Aniqah Sekaria		Sekolah Kebangsaan Methodist Anglo-Chinese		Sarikei
Fienbergson Wong Tiong Lik		Sekolah Kebangsaan Kapit		Kapit
Mac Han Agan		Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Chung Hua, Sebuyau		Samarahan
Ling Li Qian		Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Chung Hua, Bintulu		Bintulu
Zarina Zainuddin		Sekolah Kebangsaan Penakub Ulu		Mukah
Frevirra Pearl Francis Gundum		Sekolah Kebangsaan St. Augustine		Betong

Event Management

Each panel of judges consisted of 1 officer from Pustaka and 2 officers from the local authorities. The judge responsibilities were to evaluate the performance of the participants based on the following criteria and assign scores.

Criteria		Scores
PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE Calm, confident, exciting and natural		20
FEELING AND EMOTION Smooth storyline and fully engrossed		20
LANGUAGE AND PRONUNCIATION Precise and clear pronunciation, application of intonation and creative usage of language		20
EYE CONTACT ABD VOICE CONTROL Fully articulated eye movement with level of voice		10
SUITABILITY OF THEME The theme is in tandem with local folklores and loaded with social values		10
TIME CONTROL Ability to make full use of the time given		10
CREATIVITY Creative use of attire. Usage of poems, poetries and folksongs		10
Total		100

The judges would be giving scores independent of each other. The total scores given to a participant by the 3 judges would then averaged and aggregated to reach the final score. The participant with the highest score would be declared the winner.

Follow Up

The following year, the program was restructured and renamed Folktales Storytelling Competition and Academy.