Passion in writing lands Fredo, 17, bronze medal in international art festival
25 Nov 2021
By Jacquline Ebit
A Keningau Vocational College student, Fredo Foo Sau Yi proves that being passionate will get you somewhere you can never imagine.
Fredo, 17, with a passion for writing clinched a bronze medal as well as a diploma for his animated tale titled “The Dragon of Mount Kinabalu” at Magic Bridges of Budapest, an online art festival hosted by Festival Bridges, Hungary on 10 to 16 Nov.
It was one of his achievements in writing so far, besides getting his short story published in a British Magazine, Margate Bookie, earlier this year.
This achievement shows that all his hard work and passion, and a lot of writing competitions and hackathons in the past, have finally paid off.
According to the culinary arts student, he did not expect to win the competition and that he’s thankful for the guidance he received from both of his parents and teachers.
“At first, I was surprised because I didn't expect to get any medal. But I’m glad I did. My parents were very happy for me, so were my teachers. I’m thankful for their guidance.
“It was my teacher who told me there's an upcoming event and he would like me to enter one of the categories listed,” he told Nabalu News.
Fredo stated that he started writing at the age of 13 as a hobby and since then, he has been writing whenever he’s free as he aspires to become an amazing writer.
“I think I was around 13 that I began writing. I find that writing allows me express my feeling. Whenever I feel down, I could just release it by writing sad stories.
“I plan to keep writing short stories and get them published or performed,” he said.
When asked about whether or not he wants to venture into animation in the near future, he strongly agrees with the idea.
“Yes, absolutely! If I were given the chance, I would love to create another animated tale or series. But of course, my main ambition is to be a chef. Writing is just a hobby.”
Fredo explained to Nabalu News that he worked alongside with another former student Roziwell Rusilin to create the animated tale that won them the bronze medal.
“I only did the voiceover, script and video editing. Other than that, Roziwell Rusilin, a former student of construction technology that has already graduated from the college, helped me on the animation.
“He was credited as the art director in which he also received certificates for this,” he said.
He further explained that the idea of creating the animated tale was actually from his teacher.
“Our school had a project on folklore and my teacher encouraged me to write a cultural story that I could relate to.
“I did a brief research on the internet and discovered several blogs that chronicled the story of a dragon in Mount Kinabalu that guarded a gem and how three princes from China planned to steal it,” he said.
Fredo also opined that younger generation like him should learn as much knowledge or skill at an early age to help them identify what they’re good at so that they can plan their career later on.
“From the learning process, we are able to identify what we are good at and improvise it on a daily basis,” he stated.
Fredo also wishes that his stories could be shared across the world through publication, social media platforms and movies one day.
Fredo’s animated tale can be accessed via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjNvounoxJg
