I would like to thank...

Friday the 23rd of March was historical for me in a way or two. Throughout my entire life, I have entered and participated in many competitions, especially when I was in school. I have won quite a few awards in several competitions. I remember helping my school team to come in second for the whole state of Johor in 1984 in a BM Quiz, and again second for the whole state of Johor in 1985 in an English Quiz. I also remember participating in numerous quizzes when I was in secondary school - either coming in first or runner-up in most of these competitions. The most memorable competition that I entered was perhaps the 1990 English Debating Competition in Sungai Petani, where our school who was defending champion managed to retain the championship, and I was announced as best debater. Truth be told, I never really wanted to enter the debating competition in the first place, but I was instructed to do so by the Principal. I never liked and was never interested in debates, but in retrospect, the experience was indeed beneficial.

All these achievements were stories from my past. Since then, I have not entered any competitions. That is, until 2006. I put up a challenge to myself to participate in a script-writing competition organised by IKIM. I was not eligible to participate when I was a staff there. So, when I left the organisation, I took myself to task in coming up with a script for a television drama. I have written short stories, a novel, countless academic working papers, hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines, and God knows what else - but I've never penned down a television drama script. It was quite a challenge, but on Friday, I supposed it paid off, literally and figuratively.

As a novice in script-writing, imagine my pleasant surprise that my entry - the first ever (and so far, only) script I've ever written - came in second in the competition. The prizes were given away by the Yang Dipertuan Agong.

Therefore, at the risk of sounding very much like the Academy Awards, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported this endeavour. In particular, I would like to thank my lovely wife, my loveable son and my doting parents for their understanding in my staying up late on most nights which are spent on writing. I would also like to thank IKIM for giving me the exposure needed to comprehend the issues at hand, so much so that I could incorporate them in the script that I wrote. And my thanks to all who have directly or indirectly motivated me to continue writing.

And continue writing, I will... insya-Allah.