By Foo Ming Li

Have you ever wished to write a script based on your true-life events to dictate the outcome of a situation or wished your fantasy would come true? Scriptwriting enables anyone to be creative in crafting our stories without restrictions. 

It was an unbelievable feeling for Kim after winning the Xuan Original Story Scriptwriting competition and she will pursue scriptwriting after finishing her studies.

Kim Rui Yu, a Year 1 Semester 1 student from Han Chiang University College of Communication (HCUC) studying Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Chinese Studies recently won the Xuan original story scriptwriting competition.

Kim said she had been interested in television drama production since she was a child. She thinks scriptwriters play an important role because without them the television dramas would be neither attractive nor interesting. Moreover, she has always been curious about the crew working behind the scene whenever she watches a drama. 

“After graduating from Diploma in Chinese Studies, I was aware that I could get the assistance from the lecturers of the School of Chinese Studies to help me get a job. Thus, I put in a lot of effort to further explore my interest in scriptwriting,” Kim said

She discovered the scriptwriting competition on Instagram which was shared by Cheryl Lee who is also a scriptwriter and one of the judges for the competition. Her interest in wanting to try something new in her life and to gain some experience had driven her to take part in the competition. She feels fortunate that her lecturers have consistently encouraged her and other friends to participate in external competitions to learn something beyond the textbook.

The organiser of the competition required the participants to write a story on a new world concept of either one or all three elements of friendship, love, science fiction or fantasy. She wrote her script on a love story that happens in a new generation where social media abruptly stops working and what awaits next.

“I use social media as my inspiration because nowadays it is important to everyone and we need it to survive in this digital age and wonder what will happen if we cannot live without it.

Kim (right) said she admires the local scriptwriter, Chan Yoke Yeng (left), who wrote “The Journey” and “Ola Bola” as a role model to become a better scriptwriter.

“I also infused some traditional Chinese folk-beliefs in the script to make the story more interesting as it was set in the future,” Kim said. 

When the judges gave their feedback to Kim, they said the scenes of the script have a good flow and transition, the story is creative and the message is clearly delivered. They applauded Kim for constructing a story that has a clear background and settings for each scene.

After she was announced as the winner of the scriptwriting competition, she could not believe it and was amazed that she had won the competition as her main objective of participating in the competition was to try her best in it. Kim said her future plans are to pursue her interest in scriptwriting. 

She advised the people who want to write a good script to follow their hearts and try to experience other feelings or emotions by reading books, watching television programmes or movies, and listening to other people’s stories.

“Everyone’s experience including our own experience can become a part of our story but it must be logical and creative,” said Kim.