A couple of weeks back, I was invited to the awards, which occurred yesterday. It was actually really fun! I met some people that I've talked to before, as well as some other really cool people that I met for the first time yesterday. It was a wonderful event altogether!

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 100 budding journalists and authors aged between 8 and 17 were honoured yesterday at the inaugural NST-Niexter Young Writers' Awards 2009-2010.
Decked in matching black-and-white clothes and accompanied by proud parents, the writers were recognised for their contributions to Niexter -- a two-year-old teen lifestyle supplement produced by teens and published every Thursday in the New Straits Times.

The winning contributors included wheelchair-bound Alicia Loh, 14, a published author whose love for writing had helped her cope with her disability, a genetic disease which causes muscle degeneration and limits her movement.

"Writing allows you to recreate the world into anything you want it to be," said Loh, who won the Special Contributor Award.

The awards were grouped into editorial categories, including the 10 most prolific authors of last year and 2010, the 10 best articles of last year and 2010, best team effort, readers' choice for best article and best issue, and special awards for outstation editorial teams.

Anusha Vijeyandran, 16, a mathematics enthusiast currently studying for her A-levels in the United Kingdom, won the coveted Niexter of the Year 2009 award.

"I'm very surprised and honoured. And even though I'm more focused on studying at the moment, I hope to continue writing in the future. It's a wonderful outlet to express yourself and bring to light different views and issues," she said in a telephone interview.

Among the prizes given out were Golden Screen Cinemas movie vouchers, MPH book vouchers, Tune Money from Tune Group and hampers from Nestle and Well Again Healthcare. The winning articles and issues were selected by a panel of judges who took into account criteria such as topic, organisation, content, writing and effectiveness of the stories or issues.

The judges included NST executive editor (production) Lee Ah Chai, Ancasa Hotels and Resorts senior general manager Syed Nazri Syed Kamaruzaman, NSTP branding consultants from Spiral Effects Sdn Bhd Dharma Somasundran and Jordan Bracker, and SMK Subang Utama student affairs senior assistant Jacob Matthew.

Lee and Syed Nazri, along with NST managing editor Nuraina A. Samad, Tune Money chief executive officer Peter Miller and Tune Talk chief executive officer Jason Lo, presented the awards to the recipients.

The ceremony, held at Ancasa Hotel here, also featured music and dance performances by the teens.