This is the fifth year that the Junior Writers Programme has been held and in your hands is the latest book. While the classes were conducted over seven months, completing their stories took an additional month or two. This year’s batch of young writers had a chance to have a few classes in the classroom, with two young writers travelling to Kuala Lumpur all the way from Penang and Melaka. It’s heartening to see writers willing to make the journey to participate in the programme.

While most of our classes were still held online, it didn’t stop the 20 youngsters from being vocal and sharing ideas every time we saw each other.

The theme for this year’s book is lies and secrets. The writers had many ideas and some of them have been turned into stories for this book. Among them are stories of family secrets, friends concealing things from each other, conformity and breaking all rules. Isn’t that what being teens and young adults is about after all?

All 20 writers worked hard to produce a story for the book — some had to amend their stories until the plot holes plugged and the flow improved. Along the way, they learned how to develop a story and explore all angles while collaborating with an editor.

As with previous years, the royalties from the sale of this book go to charity. This year’s recipient is Thrive Well’s (formerly SOLS Health) community centres.

I wish the young scribes from Junior Writers Programme 2022 all the best. Not all of them want to go into writing. However, they now have some knowledge and experience in producing good stories and improving their writing. Good writing skills are always a plus in any profession. The future is yours to grasp; don’t squander opportunities and don’t look back with regrets.