Siroshini (right) receiving her award from Hazami Habib.
UTAR year-three Biomedical Science student T. Siroshini bagged the second prize of the Young Scientist Network-Academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM) 2nd Creative Science Writing Competition, organised by the Science Journalism Committee of the YSN-ASM.
Siroshini took home RM700 and a certificate for her efforts. She received her rewards from the Acting CEO of ASM Hazami Habib at a prize giving ceremony held on 2 November 2015 in Menara Matrade, Kuala Lumpur.
The national level essay competition, carrying the theme of ‘Climate Change’, managed to attract many entries from across the country. Siroshini emerged as winner for her essay titled ‘When There Is No Turning Back’, drawing on the memory of floods which occurred back in 2014. Participants were required to write an 800-word discourse on environmental issues and rapid climate change dilemmas.
Her essay focused on the risk of water-borne pathogens that flow into sources of drinking water which eventually result in the transmission of diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, leptospirosis, melioidosis, malaria, and dengue. Adding on, she emphasised that contaminated water from floods is a highly conducive environment for bacterial growth and encourages many more potential diseases.
When asked to elaborate on her writing and experience, Siroshini enthused, “My essay might stand out among the rest due to the information related to our country Malaysia, which are not widely known by the public. Apart from that, using simple English could draw the public’s attention to read and understand the content better as this issue should be spread to the young and old; and to the educated and uneducated. Furthermore, the impact of my story may be greater to the many victims of floods as they identify parallels of their past experiences with what they are reading, and therefore find it more interesting and relevant.”
She added, “This achievement equipped me with broad knowledge in the studies of science. Applying the knowledge gained from the university syllabus helped in the understanding and explanations of the diseases.”
Organised for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015, the national level of YSN-ASM Creative Science Writing Competition was open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students of higher learning institutions.
About UTAR
Established in 2002 with just 411 students, today, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) offers more than 110 programmes in fields including Accountancy, Actuarial Science, Agriculture, Arts, Business and Economics, Creative Industries and Design, Engineering and Built Environment, Information and Communication Technology, Life and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Process Management, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Social Science and Education to over 26,000 students in its nine faculties, three institutes and three centres located in the Sungai Long Campus and Kampar Campus. UTAR has more than 40,000 alumni. For more information, go to www.utar.edu.my
拉曼大学 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
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