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Dinty W. Moore’s books include a popular spiritual inquiry, The Accidental Buddhist, and an award-winning, nontraditional “generational memoir,” Between Panic and Desire. His new book—his sixth—is Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction (Writers Digest Books, 262 pages).

“The personal essay is a gentle art,” he writes, “an idiosyncratic combination of the author’s discrete sensibilities and the endless possibilities of meaning and connection. The essay is graceful, wise, and always surprising. The essay invites extreme playfulness and almost endless flexibility.”

Indeed, Moore discusses many types of essays, including: contemplative, memoir, nature, lyric, spiritual, gastronomical, humorous, and travel. To show how they work, he dissects some, inserting commentary in places; this includes some of his own work, and throughout the book he includes parts of an essay he’s currently writing to show his thinking and decisions as he tries to practice what he’s preaching. The essay-in-progress is about walking, specifically Moore’s quixotic attempt to walk to a campus in Boca Raton, Florida, where he was a visiting writer, only to find himself almost getting squashed like a bug on six lanes of concrete. While poking fun at himself, Moore exposes the unfriendliness of much of suburban America to walking and to human-scale, neighborly life. His enjoyable essay is printed in full at the book’s end.

Crafting the Personal Essay also propelled me belatedly after two great essays I hadn’t read, Virginia Woolf’s famous “The Death of the Moth” and Richard Rodriguez’s poignant study of cultural assimilation “Mr. Secrets,” both available online through google searches.

The second part of Moore’s book deals with practical writing issues, such as forging a regular routine, blogging, overcoming writer’s block, getting useful feedback from other writers, effective revising, and persevering through life’s vagaries. “Well first, you have to love the work itself,” Moore writes. “If you don’t truly enjoy moving words and sentences around on the page—similar to the way you delighted in moving wooden blocks and plastic trucks around on the living room carpet when you were five—then you are going to have a hard time persevering through the ups and downs and inevitable setbacks. . . . The rewards of publication are fleeting, while the rewards of a regular writing practice are countless.”

Crafting the Personal Essay will make a terrific textbook for students of all levels; I’m a fiftysomething writer and found it interesting and inspiring. It makes me want to try writing different types of essays than I’ve attempted and to develop new skills, to grow. Like all of Moore’s work, it is characterized by a light touch, good ideas, a wry sensibility, and a deft concision.

He answered some questions for Narrative.

RSG: What did you learn writing this book?

DWM: I’d advise that a writer examine the familiar patterns he or she finds in her writing—I am always funny, I am always ruminative, I am always logical, whatever—and gradually try to introduce new modes into works in progress. You don’t need to juggle the whole set of fifteen balls at once, but you won’t grow as a juggler if you stick to the same three balls every time you take the stage. Eventually, putting research or reporting into your nonfiction—even if you haven’t been doing it up to now—will become a common move in your repertoire, one that you can call on whenever needed.

RSG: Much of your own work is characterized by pursuing something you notice that interests you, such as the explosion of the internet or the growing practice of Buddhism in America. You’ve leaped into the unknown with only an idea, and you’ve participated, interviewed, and traveled. Do you have any advice for writers who want to attempt such a fusion of the personal essay and old-fashioned reporting?

DWM: Left to my own mental devices, I only have one or two interesting thoughts a year, and that’s not nearly enough to sustain a writing career, but I find that I can increase the number of interesting thoughts that I have by trying new things, learning new facts, visiting new places, attending lectures, getting lost in a zendo for five days.  Sometimes the reporting, or observing, ends up in my writing, but at other times it just leads to a fresh thought – fresh for me, at least – and suddenly I have an idea. This has, as you pointed out, led me to a few book ideas, but it also leads sometimes to a 500-word essay. Keep the mind nimble by constantly throwing new experiences in its direction, in other words.  I’m not the first writer or artist to note this, of course, but it sure works for me.

RSG: There seems currently to be a surge of interest and enthusiasm for the personal essay. Great talents are experimenting, playing around, melding influences such as lyric poetry and the classical contemplative essay pioneered by Montaigne. Is this upwelling real from where you sit, or is this simply the effect of those with passion for personal nonfiction seeing what they’re looking for?

DWM: I think you are noticing an actual phenomenon. This goes back to my earlier answer.  New Journalists like Didion, Wolfe, Talese helped to create an explosion of fact-based literary writing in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and a few years later Lee Gutkind helped to popularize “true-story as literary narrative told cinematically” with his journal Creative Nonfiction, and suddenly there were dozens of graduate programs and hundreds of undergraduates classes springing up in creative nonfiction. Much of that activity focused on memoir until certain people started to say, “Wait, the genre is older than that, and there is more flexibility that that.” So in academia, at least, and in literary journals (but actually I think the phenomenon goes beyond that to commercial magazines and book presses), the field is in an opening-up phase, which is good, good, good, I think, for writers and for writing.

RSG: You write, “Self knowledge is the true prize for the writer.” Could you elaborate a bit?

DWM: Why do so many people devote themselves to writing, or to the arts in general?  It is not the monetary rewards, certainly, or the support and praise one gets from one’s family when we announce our love for poetry or dance.  No, we are drawn to art because it makes us feel more alive, makes us feel that we are experiencing and engaging life, makes us feel that we are looking at our lives and making choices based on our hunger and passion for understanding, rather than merely being dragged along by circumstances beyond our control. That’s what I believe, anyway.

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Step One: Brainstorming

Step Two: Selecting a Topic

Step Three: Writing the Essay

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Step One: Brainstorming
The most important part of your essay is the subject matter. You should expect to devote about 1-2 weeks simply to brainstorming ideas. To begin brainstorming a subject idea consider the following points. From brainstorming, you may find a subject you had not considered at first.

1. What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments? Do not limit yourself to accomplishments you have been formally recognized for since the most interesting essays often are based on accomplishments that may have been trite at the time but become crucial when placed in the context of your life.
2. Does any attribute, quality, or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this attribute?
   Consider your favorite books, movies, works of art, etc. Have these influenced your life in a meaningful way? Why are they your favorites?
3. What was the most difficult time in your life, and why? How did your perspective on life change as a result of the difficulty?
4. Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
5. Have you ever struggled mightily for something and failed? How did you respond?
6. Of everything in the world, what would you most like to be doing right now? Where would you most like to be? Who, of everyone living and dead, would you most like to be with? These questions should help you realize what you love most.
7. Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something you were previously blind to?
8. What is your strongest, most unwavering personality trait? Do you maintain strong beliefs or adhere to a philosophy?
9. How would your friends characterize you? What would they write about if they were writing your admissions essay for you?
10. What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by universities? Of these, which means the most to you?
11. What are your most important extracurricular or community activities? What made you join these activities? What made you continue to contribute to them?
12. What are your dreams of the future? When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would it take for you to consider your life successful? What people, things, and accomplishments do you need? How does this particular university fit into your plans for the future?

If these questions cannot cure your writer’s block, consider the following exercises:

1 – Ask for help from Parents, Friends or Colleagues
If you cannot characterize yourself and your personality traits do not automatically leap to mind, ask your friends to write a list of your five most salient personality traits. Ask your friends why they chose the ones they did. If an image of your personality begins to emerge, consider life experiences that could illustrate the particular traits.

2 – Consider your childhood
While admissions officers are not interested in reading about your childhood and are more interested in the last 2-4 years of your life, you might consider events of your childhood that inspired the interests you have today. Interests that began in childhood may be the most defining parts of your life, even if you recently lost interest. For instance, if you were interested in math since an early age and now want to study medicine, you might incorporate this into your medical school admissions essay. Analyze the reasons for your interests and how they were shaped from your upbringing.

3 – Consider your role models
Many applicants do not have role models and were never greatly influenced by just one or two people. However, for those of you who have role models and actually aspire to become like certain people, you may want to incorporate a discussion of that person and the traits you admired into your application essay.

4 – Read Sample Admission Essays
Before you sat down to write a poem, you would certainly read past poets. Before writing a book of philosophy, you would consider past philosophers. In the same way, we recommend reading sample admissions essays to understand what topics other applicants chose.

5 – Goal determination
Life is short. Why do you want spend 2-6 years of your life at a particular college, graduate school, or professional school? How is the degree necessary to the fulfillment of your goals? When considering goals, think broadly. Few people would be satisfied with just a career. How else will your education fit your needs and lead you to a fulfilling life?

If after reading this entire page you do not have an idea for your essay, do not be surprised. Coming up with an idea is difficult and requires time. Actually consider the questions and exercises above. Without a topic you feel passionate about, without one that brings out the defining aspects of you personality, you risk falling into the trap of sounding like the 90 percent of applicants who will write boring admissions essays. The only way to write a unique essay is to have experiences that support whatever topic you come up with. Whatever you do, don’t let the essay stress you out. Have fun with the brainstorming process. You might discover something about yourself you never consciously realized.

Step Two – Selecting an Essay Topic
Having completed step one, you should now have a rough idea of the elements you wish to include in your essay, including your goals, important life experiences, research experience, diversifying features, spectacular nonacademic accomplishments, etc. You should also now have an idea of what impression you want to make on the admissions officers.

We should remark that at this stage, undergraduate applicants have a large advantage over graduate school applicants. Whereas nobody questions a high school student’s motivation to attend college, graduate and professional school applicants must directly address in their essays their desire to study their selected field.

You must now confront the underlying problem of the admissions essay. You must now consider topics that will allow you to synthesize your important personal characteristics and experiences into a coherent whole while simultaneously addressing your desire to attend a specific institution. While most admissions essays allow great latitude in topic selection, you must also be sure to answer the questions that were asked of you. Leaving a lasting impression on someone who reads 50-100 essays a day will not be easy, but we have compiled some guidelines to help you get started. With any luck, one or two topics, with small changes, will allow you to answer application questions for 5-7 different colleges, although admissions officers do appreciate essays that provide convincing evidence of how an applicant will fit into a particular academic environment. You should at least have read the college’s webpage, admissions catalog, and have an understanding of the institution’s strengths.

Consider the following questions before proceeding:

1. Have you selected a topic that describes something of personal importance in your life, with which you can use vivid personal experiences as supporting details?
2. Is your topic a gimmick? That is, do you plan to write your essay in iambic pentameter or make it funny. You should be very, very careful if you are planning to do this. We recommend strongly that you do not do this. Almost always, this is done poorly and is not appreciated by the admissions committee. Nothing is worse than not laughing or not being amused at something that was written to be funny or amusing.
3. Will your topic only repeat information listed elsewhere on your application? If so, pick a new topic. Don’t mention GPAs or standardized test scores in your essay.
4. Can you offer vivid supporting paragraphs to your essay topic? If you cannot easily think of supporting paragraphs with concrete examples, you should probably choose a different essay topic.
5. Can you fully answer the question asked of you? Can you address and elaborate on all points within the specified word limit, or will you end up writing a poor summary of something that might be interesting as a report or research paper? If you plan on writing something technical for college admissions, make sure you truly can back up your interest in a topic and are not merely throwing around big scientific words. Unless you convince the reader that you actually have the life experiences to back up your interest in neurobiology, the reader will assume you are trying to impress him/her with shallow tactics. Also, be sure you can write to admissions officers and that you are not writing over their heads.
6. Can you keep the reader’s interest from the first word. The entire essay must be interesting, considering admissions officers will probably only spend a few minutes reading each essay.
7. Is your topic overdone? To ascertain this, peruse through old essays. However, most topics are overdone, and this is not a bad thing. A unique or convincing answer to a classic topic can pay off big.
8. Will your topic turnoff a large number of people? If you write on how everyone should worship your God, how wrong or right abortion is, or how you think the Republican or Democratic Party is evil, you will not get into the college of your choice. The only thing worse than not writing a memorable essay is writing an essay that will be remembered negatively. Stay away from specific religions, political doctrines, or controversial opinions. You can still write an essay about Nietzsche’s influence on your life, but express understanding that not all intelligent people will agree with Nietzsche’s claims. Emphasize instead Nietzsche’s influence on your life, and not why you think he was wrong or right in his claims.
9. In this vein, if you are presenting a topic that is controversial, you must acknowledge counter arguments without sounding arrogant.
10. Will an admissions officer remember your topic after a day of reading hundreds of essays? What will the officer remember about your topic? What will the officer remember about you? What will your lasting impression be?

After evaluating your essay topics with the above criteria and asking for the free opinions of your teachers or colleagues, and of your friends, you should have at least 1-2 interesting essay topics. Consider the following guidelines below.

1. If you are planning on writing an essay on how you survived poverty in Russia, your mother’s suicide, your father’s kidnapping, or your immigration to America from Asia, you should be careful that your main goal is to address your own personal qualities. Just because something sad or horrible has happened to you does not mean that you will be a good college or graduate school student. You don’t want to be remembered as the pathetic applicant. You want to be remembered as the applicant who showed impressive qualities under difficult circumstances. It is for this reason that essays relating to this topic are considered among the best. Unless you only use the horrible experience as a lens with which to magnify your own personal characteristics, you will not write a good essay. Graduate and professional school applicants should generally steer clear of this topic altogether unless you can argue that your experience will make you a better businessman, doctor, lawyer, or scholar.

2. Essays should fit in well with the rest of a candidate’s application, explaining the unexplained and steering clear of that which is already obvious. For example, if you have a 4.0 GPA and a 1500 SAT, no one doubts your ability to do the academic work and addressing this topic would be ridiculous. However, if you have an 850 SAT and a 3.9 GPA or a 1450 SAT and a 2.5 GPA, you would be wise to incorporate in your essay an explanation for the apparent contradiction. For example, perhaps you were hospitalized or family concerns prevented your dedication to academics; you would want to mention this in your essay. However, do not make your essay one giant excuse. Simply give a quick, convincing explanation within the framework of your larger essay.

3. “Diversity” is the biggest buzzword of the 1990′s. Every college, professional school, or graduate school wants to increase diversity. For this reason, so many applicants are tempted to declare what makes them diverse. However, simply saying you are a black, lesbian female will not impress admissions officers in the least. While an essay incorporating this information would probably be your best topic idea, you must finesse the issue by addressing your own personal qualities and how you overcame stigma, dealt with social ostracism, etc. If you are a rich student from Beverly Hills whose father is an engineer and whose mother is a lawyer, but you happen to be a minority, an essay about how you dealt with adversity would be unwise. You must demonstrate vividly your personal qualities, interests, motivations, etc. Address specifically how your diversity will contribute to the realm of campus opinion, the academic environment, and social life.

4. Don’t mention weaknesses unless you absolutely need to explain them away. You want to make a positive first impression, and telling an admissions officer anything about drinking, drugs, partying, etc. undermines your goal. Why admit to weakness when you can instead showcase your strengths?

5. Be honest, but not for honesty’s sake. Unless you are a truly excellent writer, your best, most passionate writing will be about events that actually occurred. While you might be tempted to invent hardship, it is completely unnecessary. Write an essay about your life that demonstrates your personality.

Step Three – Writing the Essay, Tips for Success
Even seemingly boring topics can be made into exceptional admissions essays with an innovative approach. In writing the essay you must bear in mind your two goals: to persuade the admissions officer that you are extremely worthy of admission and to make the admissions officer aware that you are more than a GPA and a standardized score, that you are a real-life, intriguing personality.

Unfortunately, there is no surefire step-by-step method to writing a good essay. However, we have compiled the following list of tips that you should find useful while writing your admissions essay.

1 – Answer the question
You can follow the next 12 steps, but if you miss the question, you will not be admitted to any institution.

2 – Be original
Even seemingly boring essay topics can sound interesting if creatively approached. If writing about a gymnastics competition you trained for, do not start your essay: “I worked long hours for many weeks to train for XXX competition.” Consider an opening like, “Every morning I awoke at 5:00 to sweat, tears, and blood as I trained on the uneven bars hoping to bring the state gymnastics trophy to my hometown.”

3 – Be yourself
Admissions officers want to learn about you and your writing ability. Write about something meaningful and describe your feelings, not necessarily your actions. If you do this, your essay will be unique. Many people travel to foreign countries or win competitions, but your feelings during these events are unique to you. Unless a philosophy or societal problem has interested you intensely for years, stay away from grand themes that you have little personal experience with.

4 – Don’t thesaurize your composition
For some reason, students continue to think big words make good essays. Big words are fine, but only if they are used in the appropriate contexts with complex styles. Think Hemingway.

5 – Use imagery and clear, vivid prose
If you are not adept with imagery, you can write an excellent essay without it, but it’s not easy. The application essay lends itself to imagery since the entire essay requires your experiences as supporting details. Appeal to the five senses of the admissions officers.

6 – Spend the most time on your introduction
Expect admissions officers to spend 1-2 minutes reading your essay. You must use your introduction to grab their interest from the beginning. You might even consider completely changing your introduction after writing your body paragraphs.
- Don’t Summarize in your Introduction. Ask yourself why a reader would want to read your entire essay after reading your introduction. If you summarize, the admissions officer need not read the rest of your essay.
- Create Mystery or Intrigue in your Introduction. It is not necessary or recommended that your first sentence give away the subject matter. Raise questions in the minds of the admissions officers to force them to read on. Appeal to their emotions to make them relate to your subject matter.

7 – Body paragraphs must relate to your introduction
Your introduction can be original, but cannot be silly. The paragraphs that follow must relate to your introduction.

8 – Use transition
Applicants continue to ignore transition to their own detriment. You must use transition within paragraphs and especially between paragraphs to preserve the logical flow of your essay. Transition is not limited to phrases like “as a result, in addition, while . . . , since . . . , etc.” but includes repeating key words and progressing the idea. Transition provides the intellectual architecture to argument building.

9 – Conclusions are critical
The conclusion is your last chance to persuade the reader or impress upon them your qualifications. In the conclusion, avoid summary since the essay is rather short to begin with; the reader should not need to be reminded of what you wrote 300 words before. Also do not use stock phrases like “in conclusion, in summary, to conclude, etc.” You should consider the following conclusions:
- Expand upon the broader implications of your discussion.
- Consider linking your conclusion to your introduction to establish a sense of balance by reiterating introductory phrases.
- Redefine a term used previously in your body paragraphs.
- End with a famous quote that is relevant to your argument. Do not try to do this, as this approach is overdone. This should come naturally.
- Frame your discussion within a larger context or show that your topic has widespread appeal.
- Remember, your essay need not be so tidy that you can answer why your little sister died or why people starve in Africa; you are not writing a “sit-com,” but should forge some attempt at closure.

10 – Do something else
Spend a week or so away from your draft to decide if you still consider your topic and approach worthwhile.

11 – Give your draft to others
Ask editors to read with these questions in mind:
- WHAT is the essay about?
- Have I used active voice verbs wherever possible?
- Is my sentence structure varied or do I use all long or all short sentences?
- Do you detect any cliches?
- Do I use transition appropriately?
- Do I use imagery often and does this make the essay clearer and more vivid?
- What’s the best part of the essay?
- What about the essay is memorable?
- What’s the worst part of the essay?
- What parts of the essay need elaboration or are unclear?
- What parts of the essay do not support your main argument or are immaterial to your case?
- Is every single sentence crucial to the essay? This MUST be the case.
- What does the essay reveal about your personality?
- Could anyone else have written this essay?
- How would you fill in the following blank based on the essay: “I want to accept you to this college because our college needs more ________.”

12 – Revise, revise, revise
Revise, Revise, Revise. You only are allowed so many words; use them wisely. If H.D. Thoreau couldn’t write a good essay without revision, neither will you. Delete anything in the essay that does not relate to your main argument. Do you use transition? Are your introduction and conclusions more than summaries? Did you find every single grammatical error?

Allow for the evolution of your main topic. Do not assume your subject must remain fixed and that you can only tweak sentences.
Editing takes time. Consider reordering your supporting details, delete irrelevant sections, and make clear the broader implications of your experiences. Allow your more important arguments to come to the foreground. Take points that might only be implicit and make them explicit.

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The Competition is open to all Malaysians aged 18 to 25, regardless of their student status. Prizes up for grabs include a RM7,000 cash prize, E-Readers, Netbooks, and MPH book vouchers.

Titles for this year’s Essay Competition are:

1. Malaysia’s global competitiveness ranking dropped three places to 24 for the period 2009-2010. What do you understand to be global competitiveness and what do you think should be done to raise Malaysia’s global rank?
   Tahap persaingan global Malaysia telah menurun ke tangga ke-24 dalam tahun 2009-2010. Apakah yang anda fahami mengenai persaingan global dan apakah yang harus Malaysia lakukan untuk meningkatkan tahap persaingannya?
2. In the latest Budget, the Prime Minister stated the goal for Malaysia to become a high-income economy. What do you think are essential ingredients for Malaysia to achieve high-income status?
   Di dalam Bajet yang terkini, Perdana Menteri telah mensasarkan Malaysia untuk menjadi sebuah negara ekonomi berpendapatan tinggi. Pada pendapat anda, apakah ciri-ciri utama yang perlu dimiliki oleh Malaysia bagi mencapai status negara berpendapatan tinggi?
3. Vision 2020’s deadline is less than a decade away. Compare Malaysia’s current position with the aspirations of Vision 2020 and outline the most important gaps that need to be addressed for the nation to achieve the goals of Vision 2020.
   Tahun 2020 akan menjelang. Bandingkan kedudukan semasa Malaysia dengan aspirasi Wawasan 2020 dan pastikan jurang-jurang yang kritikal yang mesti diberi perhatian bagi negara mencapai sasaran Wawasan 2020 tersebut.

For more information of the Essay Competition and to submit your entry, visit www.PerdanaEssayCompetition.com.my

Good luck!

The speakers include Datuk A Kadir Jasin, Editor-in-Chief of Berita Publishing, Ms Olivia Tan Swee Ling of Sunway University College and Mr. Tan Lee Seng, also from Sunway University College. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Foo Yin Fah will moderate the session.

For more information please contact Ms. Maizatul Kartini (03-8885 8965 / maizatul@perdana.org.my ) Ms. Imanizah (03-8885 8960 / imanizah@perdana.org.my ) and Mr. Eugene Chang (03-7491 8622 / eugenec@sunway.edu.my ).

Ms Lydia Teh showing her acronym "ICE SASH"

Lydia kicked off the session with a catchy acronym that encapsulates her guide to personalising essays:  A SASH ICE, which stands for:

A : Using the ACTIVE voice rather than the passive to power up your writing

S : SIMPLIFYING your narrative by avoiding jargon, obscure words and convoluted sentences

A : Ensuring your facts and figures are ACCURATE

S : Appealing to all the five SENSES (sight, smell, touch, audio and taste)

H : Opening with a HOOK (an intriguing situation or interesting premise to draw readers in)

I : ILLUSTRATING with anecdotes and personal insights

C : Making the CONNECTION between anecdotes and stories with the subject matter

E : Injecting your own EXPERIENCE into the narrative

Professor Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican sharing writing tips with the audience

Dr. Murad then elaborated on the writing process, explaining that writing is an “art” and is a manifestation of the writer’s self. He started writing 37 years back, he told the audience, and from that time, he has since written more than 200 essays on various subjects.

Dr. Murad likened the writing process to that of cooking: the dish will turn out right if the ingredients and temperature are “right” and when the “cook’s” own imagination influences the cooking process through the selection of ingredients, colours, etc. If the combination is right, then the output will be a flavourful, colourful and altogether interesting “dish”!

He advised the twenty-odd audience to put themselves in their writing and to not be too detached from the process and the output. In other words, the writer has got to personally connect with the writing that he or she is producing. To have this connection, a writer needs to have full consciousness of the world around him, to notice the elements of his world, and to ask the right questions.

Dr. Murad, who is also a regular NST Learning Curve contributor, finished his talk by reminding the audience that writing, or prose, has the power to influence the world.

During question and answer session

During the Question and Answer session, a student posed the question of whether adding personality would detract from the seriousness of the issue, to which the panelists responded that a good way to add a personal dimension to a serious issue is to create composite characters who are affected by the issue or situation in question. This would make the issue come alive for the reader without making light of the issue.

On the issue of Writer’s Block, both writers urged the audience to write everyday, and to write through so-called mental blocks, even if the output seems to be gibberish. It’s also important, Dr. Murad stressed, to engage both left brain and right brain in the writing process.

The two writers then also shared with the audience their research organisation tips and techniques, where Lydia keeps a virtual file on all the research materials she comes across on the Internet, and Dr. Murad keeps physical files of contacts as well as sources of research.

Among the audience attending the public talk

To end the session, the audience were advised to check the verifiability, authority and validity of all facts they include in their essays; to always read back and reflect on what they have written, and to edit as often as necessary. “Bad writing,” said Dr. Murad, “is bad reflection.”

This Public Talk was organised in conjunction with the PLF-MPH Essay Competition 2010 “Nurturing the Minds of Future Leaders” which is currently running until the 30th of September 2010.

Kuala Lumpur, 12 August 2010 – The promise of an evening of invigorating intellectual discussion was fulfilled on Thursday, 12 August during a forum hosted by UCSI University’s Faculty of Economics and Policy Science where multiculturalism, freedom and intellectualism were the focused themes. Held at UCSI University Kuala Lumpur Campus, the forum entitled “Nurturing the Minds of Future Leaders,” was moderated by Dr. Ong Kian Ming, a lecturer from the Faculty of Economics and Policy Science to highlight how to better prepare today’s youths to take on the challenges of tomorrow as the nation’s leaders and to help them to compete nationally and globally.

This forum was also held in conjunction with the Perdana Leadership Foundation’s essay-writing competition, “Malaysia in a Globalised World”, which is opened to Malaysians between the ages of 18 and 25 to help develop awareness in today’s youths on nation building in preparation for their future leadership. Established in 2003 to support the country’s future developments, the Perdana Leadership Foundation, aims to provide Malaysian youths insight on the contributions of the nation’s leaders by showcasing the history and work of Malaysia’s previous prime ministers.

The panellists for the forum were Zarina Nalla, policy and project development consultant with the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, Wan Mohamed Firdaus Wan Mohamed Fuad, director of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and Zarina Abu Bakar, general manager of the Perdana Leadership Foundation.

Zarina Nalla believes that children need more interaction and exposure to other races from a young age to inculcate a more tolerant way of thinking for leadership requires an appreciation and understanding of other cultures.

“(A child) needs to live the experience, and she won’t have the experience if she is in her comfort zone all the time,” she said. “You need to see and hear the other and see them as your own. We are all part of one society.”

Malaysian children, she said, are often separated by race during primary school, making it difficult for them to overcome stereotypes. Likewise, she feels that Malaysian youths are often exposed to racial stereotypes and power plays from a young age, which leads them to similar thinking as adults.

Thus, Zarina Nalla reiterated, “The concept of equal citizenship can be taught to a 7-year-old”.

Wan Mohamed Firdaus felt that the problem with Malaysian society today is its lack of encouragement for natural born leaders to assume leadership roles. Specifically, he said those who are smart and would make the best leaders are encouraged to enter into medicine or law instead of politics, thereby leaving important government decisions to those who may not be as well-qualified.

This, according to Wan Mohamed Firdaus is related to today’s youths lacking the freedom to make their own decisions regarding their future and their restraint in challenging family pressure to enter into a specific field. He said young people need the ability to make these decisions from young to prepare them for the more difficult future decisions – decisions which normally fall on the shoulders of leaders. He was also critical of the Malaysian media because Malaysian youths, he said, also need exposure to more analytical and informative newspapers and other media sources – such as those in the United Kingdom – to be effective leaders.

Zarina Abu Bakar was of the opinion that today’s youths need to be more politically engaged in order to become better leaders.

“I think responsible leadership starts from being responsible citizens,” she said. “To become leaders of the future we have to start by being aware of current concerns.”

Zarina Abu Bakar then spoke about Vision 2020 – Malaysia’s goal to create a fully-developed economy and unified society within the next decade – and the need to develop a knowledge-based economy to achieve it. Thus, she felt today’s youths need to develop their knowledge base and be aware of current events, thinking about them critically and to vote. For this, Malaysia, she said, needs to develop a culture that encourages intellectual freedom, creativity and innovation.

The forum became more interactive when the students in the audience shared their own ideas what they needed to become better leaders. They also echoed many of the panellists’ concerns for more freedom to voice their opinions and to make mistakes, without fear of family condemnation.

UCSI University biotechnology student Ngizan Nomishan who agreed that students need the ability to make their own decisions said, “My parents wanted me to study medicine, but I chose biotech”.

Fang Hong, who studies business administration at UCSI University, and who learns from the ideas of others agreed, “I think leadership is important”.

Although the forum ended around 7.30pm in honour of breaking fast, the stimulating discussion continued on to the dinner table for many of its audience and the three panellists.

UCSI students who have a flair for writing are encouraged to take part in the essay competition organised by the Perdana Leadership Foundation by submitting their entry before 30 September.  More information could be obtained from www.PerdanaEssayCompetition.com.my.

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Time: 6.00pm – 7.20pm

Venue: Auditorium, UCSI University

Speakers:

1. Mr. Wan Mohamed Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuad (Special Officer to the Chief Minister of Johor)
2. Ms. Zarina Nalla, (Policy and Project Development Consultant of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, IAIS)
3. Ms. Zarina Abu Bakar (General Manager Perdana Leadership Foundation)
4. Dr Ong Kian Ming, Malaysiakini columnist and UCSI lecturer (Moderator)

The Malaysian economy and youth leadership issues were thoroughly discussed by three panelists, Ms. Zarina Nalla, Mr. Wan Mohamed Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuad and Ms. Zarina Abu Bakar during the UCSI-PLF Joint Forum on “Nurturing the Minds of Future Leaders”, held on 12 August 2010 at UCSI University. The three speakers also commented on the environments in schools and universities pertaining to leadership development.

Ms. Zarina Nalla representing IAIS

The first speaker, Ms Zarina Nalla, the Policy and Project Development Consultant of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS), questioned the suitability of schools in Malaysia to raise and nurture capable leaders. She illustrated an example, from her personal observations of sending her children to national schools where most of the students are Malays and don’t get the opportunity to mix with students of other races. This, she said, prevents a lot of young Malaysians from appreciating diversity and understanding people different from themselves. In a multi-racial environment like Malaysia, the mono-ethnic national school environments hamper bonding between the races.   She also thought that creative programmes should be introduced to schools and universities curriculums to nurture creative minds and to compel these students to come out from their ‘comfort zones’.

Mr. Wan Mohamed Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuad, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Johor

Wan Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuad, Special Officer to the Chief Minister of Johor opined that leaders are born rather than “created”. He believed that it is difficult to create leaders particularly with the environment that Malaysians are exposed to. He also raised some interesting points, when he said, “We (Malaysians) don’t expect smart people to be leaders, we seldom allow young people to make decisions and that is why we need to train and nurture leadership skills at young age.”  He strongly believed that leaders are also decision-makers and they need to gain knowledge to cultivate their leadership skills. The knowledge culture in Malaysia, he believed, is still absent.

Puan Zarina Abu Bakar representing Perdana Leadership Foundation

Puan Zarina Abu Bakar reminded the audience of the goals for Malaysia (Vision 2020 and a High Income Economy) and stated that Malaysia still lacks the human capital necessary to reach knowledge economy status, where key ingredients  are brain power and innovation. She also highlighted that Malaysia only spent 0.7% of GDP on research and development in comparison to other countries. Vision 2020’s aim to create united Malaysian nation by 2020 was also touched, that envisioned Malaysia to have a mature liberal democratic society by the year 2020.

During question and answer session

More than 60 audience comprising of UCSI University Vice Chancellor, Dr Robert Bong, UCSI academic staff and students as well as interested members of the public attended the forum. The audience had a dialogue with the panelists and gave out their opinions on leadership issues. For example, they thought that Malaysian youth live in fear and their opinions are not heard by the adults. They felt that society must understand their position and the society must also hear their voices more often. Wan Firdaus commented that Malaysian society accepted the nature of being ‘patronised’ in their culture and young leaders needed to change the environment if they wanted to nurture their leadership skills and they should be given more roles to encourage young Malaysians to help shape Malaysia’s future.

Dr Robert Bong, Vice Chancellor of UCSI presenting memento to Puan Zarina Abu Bakar

The Forum’s aim was to encourage UCSI students to participate in the Essay Competition, but along the way it also  revealed some thoughts and frustrations of young Malaysians on Malaysia.

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While writing your personal statement is usually the most challenging part of your application, it presents you with an opportunity to distinguish yourself from other candidates. It gives the selection committee a glimpse of your thoughts, priorities, dreams, fears, and inner voice that a transcript just can’t convey. For that reason, you have to make your personal statement exactly what the name implies: personal. Your personal statement should not be your resume in paragraph form; it should be a compelling and intriguing invitation for a selection committee to get to know you better.

Before you start writing, do some thinking. Who you are and who you want to be? Where have you been and where you are going? Why and how do you want to get there? This is naturally going to involve thinking about your academic and career experiences. While you shouldn’t shy away from them, you do want to place them in the broader context of you as a person. It’s wonderful if you can articulate your goals to study medieval literature at Princeton with Dr. X; it’s more wonderful if you can articulate which particular aspects of your personality and life experience draw you to medieval literature, Princeton, or Dr. X. Some intriguing prompts for this kind of thinking include the Willamette University website and the Proust Questionnaire. If you keep a journal, you might want to review it to glean some insights and ideas. If you don’t keep a journal, consider starting one.

Give yourself plenty of time to write. No matter how well it may work for you in some of your classes, a personal statement is not something to dash off a few days before deadline. As Ernest Hemingway famously noted, “The first draft of anything is **%#.” Assuming this is true, you probably do not want to hand a selection committee your first draft. You shouldn’t even hand them a second or third draft for that matter. The longer you let yourself write and revise, the more compelling and revealing your personal statement will become. Write early and often.

That said, don’t be hard on yourself as you first set down to write. Even Hemmingway didn’t get it perfect the first time around. Since it’s only your first draft, you don’t need to worry about making mistakes, sounding stupid, or even spelling correctly. Let your thoughts roam and shut that imposing childhood grammar teacher’s voice out of your head for the moment. Just write.

Once you’ve got your ideas down on paper, run it by some trusted readers. Professors (particularly those who are writing your recommendation letters), advisors, and Jane Morris are all excellent resources. Try to solicit feedback about the ideas, structure, and coherency of your essay rather than simple proofreading. Having other people rewrite and rethink for you is not the idea; having other people ask you questions that push you to think more broadly is. If you’re going to do this, however, be ready act upon such questioning and thinking. At this stage in the game revising often means more than inserting commas and adding a paragraph here and there; it sometimes means rethinking and revising an entire essay. You may have to give your personal statement a complete overhaul because you suddenly discover a better structure, focal point, or slant. This is normal. Do not despair.

As your thoughts become more and more polished, your writing should too. Check out a writing manual for guidance. Strunk and White’s eminently readable The Elements of Style is an excellent (and concise) starting point. Kurt Vonnegut’s short essay “How to Write with Style” frankly and humorously speaks to what he sees as the essential components of good writing. Call that imposing childhood grammar teacher if you need help with the mechanics of your essay, or find a friend with a particularly good grasp of the English language. However you accomplish it, your final draft must be free of grammatical and spelling errors, and should be as compelling and insightful as you can make it. It sounds like a tall order, but you are more than capable of doing it. Give yourself plenty of time, plenty of reflection, plenty of revisions, and plenty of help from trusted advisors, and your personal essay will do its job: present an intriguing glimpse into your mind and person.

Happy writing!

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