Malaysiakini ’s interview with two winners of the maiden Selangorkini literary prize was supposed to be about the fruits of their success, but instead it turned into a tale of disappointment and anger at how they were treated by the organisers.

“It felt like we are beggars,” said Roslan Jomel, the winner for the main category of the Selangorkini 2015 Literary Prize, for his work titled ‘Telefilem’.

The reason behind their discontent is perhaps easy to understand, as all winners of the main awards and consolation prizes have yet to receive the cash prizes promised by the state government.

At the official ceremony early this month, winners were only given plaques and unsigned certificates by Youth, Development, Sports, Cultural and Entrepreneurship Development exco member Amirudin Shari.

Indeed, even the certificate awarded was a source of disappointment for at least one other winner.

For his feature piece ‘Beban puisi dan tanggapannya’, Karl Agan ( photo ) was announced as the main winner beating four other finalists, though the certificate that bore his name listed him only as a consolation prize winner. Another finalist also received a certificate bearing the wrong category.

“Errors and problems like these should not have happened. These are the basics and is not rocket science,” said Karl, who came from Miri, Sarawak.

‘RM70 in my pocket’

Other than writing, Karl does not have a steady job. He described himself as a full-time writer.

There are three categories in the awards - short stories, poems and essays. With five finalists shortlisted by the jury panel, the main winner was promised RM5,000 while the rest were to receive RM1,000 each as consolation.

For the poetry category, another ‘full-time writer’, Arafat Hambali, was chosen as the winner for his poem ‘Hujan’. The piece was published in Selangorkini weekly.

Arafat arrived from Perlis two days before the announcement ceremony on Dec 8 and went back home in Arau with a certificate, a plaque, and less than RM70 in his pocket.

Roslan ( photo ) warned that such shortcomings in organising the Selangorkini 2015 Literary Prize may cause a misunderstanding of the real purpose of the state government in organising the awards.

“Don’t let us think that the state government has a hidden agenda. If this is how it is, we may ask what are the real motives behind politicians wanting to get close to writers and poets?” he said.

He said that the shortcomings made it look as if the organisers are insincere and treat writers sordidly.

Fulfilling postponed dreams

While Karl is baffled how such errors could have occurred with the small number of participants and finalists.

“All that happened showed that even such small things can’t be managed properly. Indeed, after the announcement was made, the state government once again sought our particulars like account numbers, our full names and identity card numbers.

“They should already have all those details because it was submitted when we sent our work to Selangorkini ,” he lamented.

Arafat ( photo ) added that when the organisers organised the awards, they should be ready to “deliver”.

“The promises of politicians are as transitory as the rainbow. Beautiful to behold, but they don’t last long.”

As a full-time writer, Arafat said that RM5,000 is a significant amount to him, and would help fulfil “his many long-postponed dreams”.

Prior to this, the media reported Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali as saying that the issue of the cash prizes should have been solved last Monday.

Similarly, Amiruddin had been reported to have admitted that they may have been technical errors, though he was confident that they would be sorted out soon.

In a statement in response to Malaysiakini , the awards secretariat has assured all concerned that their cash prizes will be handed to them before the end of the year.

The secretariat explained that the delays incurred were because of financial procedures and regulations that must be adhered to.