KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Yayasan Pembangunan Buku Negara (YPBN) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports will work together to plan several activities to produce more young writers, says YPBN president Dr Hasan Hamzah.
He said the matter was discussed with Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh after he received a special industry award in conjunction with the 2023 National Book Awards.
“This is because… some remain unemployed even after earning a degree, so it’s not as if a person who is smart enough to graduate cannot write a book, and now we have a new e-book platform, a market that can generate billions in the creative industry.
“This means that the written novels could be adapted into films and dramas while non-fiction works could be made into documentaries… this is all a new paradigm shift following the leap in information technology with the presence of 5G and applications that will further stimulate this industry,” he said when met at the awards ceremony here today.
He said he hoped the MADANI government could bring about this new change to generate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the creative industry through literary works by youth.
“Therefore, ministries like KBS will focus on sports writing and various other ideas can be developed and we want these young writers to come through the Rakan Muda programme,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hannah said Rakan Muda had 10 lifestyles, and two of them were relevant to the efforts discussed with YPBN, namely ‘Rakan Ekspresi’ and ‘Rakan Mahir’.
“So next year, we will look at activities that are suitable to be carried out as workshops in partnership with the foundation.
The National Book Awards ceremony also witnessed the launch of the National Book Development Foundation’s Writers’ Club which was officiated by Yang Dipertua Negeri Melaka Tun Mohd Ali Rustam accompanied by YPBN board chairman Tan Sri Prof Abdul Latiff Abu Bakar.
A total of 46 award recipients were present at the awards which comprise of two categories, namely the Higher Education Award and the Industry Award.
