Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Aspiring writers still have time to finalize and submit their entries to the 62nd Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (Palanca Awards). The Palanca Awards, the Philippines' most prestigious and longest running literary competition, is accepting submissions until 12:00 m.n. of April 30, in the following regular categories: English Division – Short Story, Short Story for Children , Essay, Poetry, Poetry for Children , One-act Play, and Full-length Play; Filipino Division – Maikling Kuwento, Maikling Kuwentong Pambata , Sanaysay, Tula, Tulang Pambata , Dulang May Isang Yugto, Dulang Ganap ang Haba, and Dulang Pampelikula; Regional Languages Division – Short Story-Cebuano, Short Story-Hiligaynon and Short Story-Iluko. Young writers below 18 years old are encouraged to submit essays in the Kabataan Division. This year's theme for the Kabataan Essay is “In the advent of e-books, do I still consider printed books to be an important part of education?” The theme for the Kaba...

Singapore, 20 April 2012 – Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts launched the National Library Board's (NLB) Asian Children's Literature Collection at the Woodlands Regional Library. This is the first time a library will be housing a comprehensive thematic collection. Mrs Elaine Ng, Chief Executive Officer, NLB, said, “The Asian Children's Literature Collection will serve a range of users like researchers with scholarly needs, teachers assembling lesson materials, parents looking for bedtime reads for their children, and the young who love fascinating tales. We can use these fairy tales, folklores and fables to help our children understand our values, beliefs and customs.” With the inclusion of this collection, Woodlands Regional Library has about 181,000 books and other materials in the children's section. Visitors can borrow from a selection of 7,200 books including Chinese, Malay, and Tamil books. There are another 800 books for vis...