INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN AN ESSAY COMPETITION – WAR IS A CRIME – SCIENCE FOR PEACE PREAMBLE The essay competition is a collaboration between MajalahSains.Com and PGPF. It is align with UNESCO’s World Science Day for Peace and Development which falls on 10 November 2018. The organisers are reaching out to the public by opening 2 categories in which Essays can be written in Bahasa Malaysia or the English language. “There is something wrong with our way of thinking, with our value system. Kill one man, it is murder, kill a million and you become a hero. And so we still believe that conflicts between nations can be resolved with wars.” Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 73rd UN General Assembly, New York 28 September 2018 “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first steps. We have taken many steps. Let us march forward in this struggle to achieve true civilisation, to criminalise war.” Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, “Expose War Crimes – Criminalise War” 5 February 2007 Where are we in human civilisation when current global settings are moulded by what can be seen as “might is right” and “victors writes history”? In the past centuries, human civilisation has witnessed how science and technology has been exploited to wage war against conflicting parties, thus create separation and tension across different region and culture. Weapon technologies have been commercialised and become the major highlight to showcase a nation’s strength, while chemical weapons can easily wipe out a population and recently autonomous drone technology is being used to kill innocent people. It is important to understand that it is not science and technology but the person behind the creation that can make a difference, which in this case the focus is to promote global peace and harmony by using science & technology. THE CATEGORIES First category in English and Malay (2500 words) 1st Prize Essay = RM 5,000 2nd Prize Essay = RM 3,000 3rd Prize Essay = RM 1,000 This category is open to University students and the public. PGPF operates by advocating one of our main objectives which is to CRIMINALISE WAR. Since its inception, PGPF has taken many steps, thus how do we move forward in a world without aggression? Second category in English and Malay (1500 words) 1st Prize Essay = RM 2,000 2nd Prize Essay = RM 1,500 3rd Prize Essay = RM 1,000 This category is open to secondary school students where the theme is SCIENCE FOR PEACE. The essay should answer the question of how science can promote global peace & harmony. JURY A panel of jurist for both categories will be announced by the organisers. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS First Category Entry is open to all Malaysian citizens aged 18 years old or higher before the closing date of the competition. Essay shall not be less than 2500 words, not inclusive of abstract, diagrams, tables of data, footnote, and bibliography or authorship declaration. Only one submission per person is allowed either in English or in Malay. Essay must not have been published prior to the competition and originally written solely by the author. Second Category Entry is open to all Malaysian secondary school students. Essay shall not be less than 1500 words, not inclusive of abstract, diagrams, tables of data, footnote, and bibliography or authorship declaration. Only one submission per person is allowed either in English or in Malay. Essay must not have been published prior to the competition and originally written solely by the author. CRITERIA Essays will be judged by the level of knowledge and understanding of the theme, the quality and clarity of argumentation, the structure, the writing style, and persuasive force. Judges decisions are final. SUBMISSION DATE 29th November 2018 – Submission dateline 20th December 2018 – Short-listed candidates notified 31th December 2018 – Winners announcement All submission must be emailed to pgpf.ms.essaycomp@gmail.com SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 1. Submissions should be as softcopy in .doc or .docx format to the orgaorganiser email. 2. The essay should be preceded with an abstract. 3. Font type: Arial, Size: 12, Line spacing: 1.5, Footnote size: 10 4. In the email submission, the author should give an undertaking statement that the essay sent have not been submitted for any other competition or publication. 5. The author is also required to state his/her full name, address, contact number, and institution of learning (if attached to one as student, academics or staff) NOTES 1. The winning essays (and short-listed essays) will be published in the organisers’ websites. The whole or a portion of the essays can be used by the organisers for future publications. 2. The author of the winning essays is the sole copyright holder of the essay while the organisers will hold the usage right to publish the content.